The Young Authors Writing Contest Rules

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I have always told my students that the best way to become a better writer is to write – a lot! In order to encourage young authors to write and to provide them with an opportunity to see their work in “print,” The Writing Tutor will sponsor several writing contests each year. For more information about The Young Authors Writing Contest, see contest information, fiction judging criteria, or nonfiction judging criteria.
You have 

to submit an entry!!!!

  1. Manuscripts submitted to The Writing Tutor Young Authors Writing Contest should be the writer’s OWN work. A writer may ask an adult to proofread his/her work, but the final work should represent the writer’s ability.
  2. Student authors must be in grades 5 through 12 to enter a manuscript.
  3. Manuscripts may be either fiction or nonfiction. Fiction and nonfiction entries will be judged in the same category. Nonfiction manuscripts should be factually accurate and credit must be given to any sources used by the writer. Credit should be incorporated into the text (as in a magazine or newspaper article), not provided in list form at the end of the manuscript. No poetry will be accepted.
  4. Manuscripts should be 1500 words or less (approximately 8300 characters including spaces). Entries longer than 1500 words will be cut off when the online entry form is submitted.
  5. Manuscripts should be appropriate for school. In other words, if you are not allowed to say something in a school setting, don’t say it in a manuscript that you enter in The Writing Tutor Young Authors Writing Contest. The Writing Tutor reserves the right to edit the content of any manuscript selected for publication on its website.
  6. Student authors may submit up to two manuscripts. No more than two entries per author will be accepted. Please complete two separate online entry forms.
  7. All authors must obtain parental approval in order to submit entries to The Writing Tutor Young Authors Writing Contest. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COOPA), parents of authors under the age of 13 must complete a parental consent form that must be mailed to The Writing Tutor before the author’s entry will be considered. A printable consent form may be obtained at TheWritingTutor.biz/contests.

The Writing Tutor voluntarily complies with the Children's Online Protection Act (COPPA); therefore, parents of authors under the age of 13 must complete a parental consent form that must be mailed to The Writing Tutor before the author's entry will be considered. Please read The Writing Tutor Privacy Policy before allowing your child to complete the online contest entry form.

Writing contest parental consent form
The Writing Tutor's Privacy Policy
(The above forms require Adobe Reader)


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