Guidelines
By entering the contest, you agree to these official guidelines, which constitute a binding contract between you and Short Édition.
1. Contest general information
Starting August 19, 2024, we are seeking (very) short stories of 7,500 characters or less (spaces included) that revolve around the theme of:
Showcase your creativity with an original work of fiction or a creative non-fiction story that works like a piece of fiction. We want to see a character or characters facing challenges or pursuing desires as it relates to money. We are looking for literary works that speak to financial tension and possibility, whether your story takes place in an alternate universe or is narrated by breadcrumbs on a kitchen table.
Do you remember the feeling of getting your first paycheck? Did someone in your family tree start with little or no money in their pocket and make something of themselves? What might it feel like for parents from one generation to make financial sacrifices for children of a new generation? What might produce quarreling in a family over finances? How might money bring people together or pull them apart? What might force a person to confront their own greed? How might a person battle financial shame or a scarcity mindset? What might cause a person to grow or change in relation to savings or investment? When we look around within our society, our friends and family, and our workplaces, what questions are worth raising and trying to answer when it comes to money?
Perhaps these questions will prompt a story that can shine a light on some aspect of personal money matters.
2. Organizer
Contest: Money Chronicles, Principal Foundation's Short Fiction contest, in partnership with Short Édition (hereinafter referred to as “Contest”).
Organizer: Short Édition Inc., whose registered office is located at 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Fl., New York, NY 100201 (hereinafter referred to as the “Organizer” or “Short Édition”).
Sponsor: Principal Foundation, whose headquarters are located at 711 High Street Des Moines IA 50392 (hereinafter referred to as the “Sponsor” or "Principal Foundation").
3. Stages of the Contest
Submissions
Once a work is submitted (hereinafter referred to as “Submission”) by an author (hereinafter referred to as “Author”) who qualifies according to the eligibility criteria set forth in Section 5, the Submission is checked and validated by the Organizer’s editorial team, who ensures that the Submission qualifies based on the minimum requirements (length, theme, category). Judgments and decisions made by the Organizer’s editorial team as to Submission eligibility or disqualification are at the Organizer’s complete discretion and are final. The Organizer cannot be held responsible towards any other due to a Submission’s qualification or disqualification.
As soon as a Submission is considered as complying with the guidelines and validated by the Organizer’s editorial team (hereinafter referred to as “Qualifying Submission”), it will be reviewed by Organizer's editorial team. For the whole contest duration, the Author is not allowed to delete the Qualifying Submission. If the Author's work is accepted elsewhere and he or she wishes to publish elsewhere, then the Author must inform Short Édition before the end of the submissions period (October 2, 2024), at which point Short Édition will delete the submission from the contest website.
Finalists
All qualifying submissions will be reviewed. The Jury panel will select a winner and up to 20 finalists.
The list of the winner and all finalists will be announced on the contest website around December 11, 2024.
The Prizes
The winner will receive a $1000 honorarium and each finalist, a $150 honorarium.
Monetary prizes will be paid to the recipients via PayPal or a wire-transfer by the Organizer.
The Jury
The winner will be selected by a panel of literary icons: Jury members
4. Contest duration
The Contest opens on August 19, 2024 (12:00 a.m. PDT) and will remain open until October 2, 2024 (11:59 p.m. PDT), or until 400 eligible applications have been received, whichever occurs first. The winners and all finalists will be announced around December 11, 2024.
5. Authors eligibility
Contest is only open to people who have reached the age of 18 and reside in the United States.
Any Sponsor's employees can enter the contest.
All Authors must create their author account online and submit their Submission(s) using a valid email address.
Authors shall choose their own username while creating their author account. This username will therefore be associated with their Submission(s) when published on the contest website and shall also provide their full name and contact information to the Organizer via their online account profile. The Organizer must be able to easily get in touch with each Author for any reason.
After Submission, each Author will be emailed a confirmation of receipt. Authors will receive an email if there is a change in the status of their Submission.
6. Submission conditions
General Submission Conditions
No purchase is required to submit to the Contest. All the Submissions will be reviewed by the Organizer’s editorial team to ensure they comply with the guidelines. Each Submission can be disqualified if it does not comply with the guidelines. Each Submission must be new, unpublished, original and written by the submitting Author and shall be written in English.
The submissions will close after 400 Qualifying Submissions are received.
The submission process is entirely electronic via the contest website.
No paper manuscripts will be accepted. The submission form is copy/paste format.
Specific Submission Conditions
- Submissions must revolve around the theme of "Money Chronicles"
- Submissions must be short stories or creative nonfiction pieces (poetry and comics excluded)
- Submissions must not exceed 7,500 characters (including spaces)
- All genres, except erotica, are accepted
- Submissions are intended for all readers regardless of age, maturity or sensitivity
Multiple Submissions
Authors can only submit one Submission.
7. Rights granted on the Submissions
Subject to the acceptance of the story as a finalist, the author grants the right to Short Édition and Principal Foundation to modify, edit, correct, translate, adapt, reproduce, distribute, and publish the submitted stories on the https://short-edition.com/en/contest/principal-foundation website and in Principal Foundation's Short Story Dispensers.
The author agrees that, in the above cases, no royalties or any other payment or remuneration is due in connection with publication with this contest, either online or in print.
The copyright of the work shall remain with the author.
However, the Organizer reserves the right to contact the Author to enter into a long-form license contract for the publication of their Submission in the Short Story Dispensers around the world, outside of the Contest framework.
8. Author’s personal data
Submission of the registration details and any prize notification documents (hereinafter referred to as the “Entrant Data”) constitutes the Author’s consent given to the Organizer to obtain, use, and transfer the Author’s name, address and other details for Contest purposes. By accepting a prize, all finalists give their consent for the use of their names, biographical information, including city, state and country of residence, for promotional purposes (hereinafter referred to as the “Promotion”) by Organizer, and Sponsor, including but not limited to the posting of their names on the Organizer’s website, in a finalists list, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. Such Promotion shall be solely under control of the Organizer and Sponsor, and all finalists hereby waive any right on the Promotion contents as well as any possible claims of misuse of their names under contract, tort or any other theory of law.
9. Author’s warranties
The author declares that they are the sole author of any text they submit, and that this same text is an original creation. The author declares that they control the copyright of the submitted text, meaning that they have never transferred these rights to a third person/entity.
The Submissions shall not violate or infringe any rights (including but not limited to privacy rights, copyrights, trade secrets, confidential information, trademarks, or trade names). Submissions shall not defame, libel, or slander anyone or any entity. Submissions shall not contain or describe any excessively obscene, vulgar, offensive, profane, or provocative violence or sex scene. Submissions shall not contain derogatory, racist, or sexist language or situations. Submissions shall not contain plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party poetry, song lyrics, characters or another person’s universe, without written permission. Each Author is responsible and shall defend and hold the Organizer harmless from and against any infringement claim related to its Submission.
10. Applicable law – Disputes
This Contest and these Contest Official Rules are submitted to the laws of France. In the event of difficulty over the validity, interpretation or performance of these Contest Official Rules, the Author or the Organizer shall reach the other for an amicable dispute resolution. In case such amicable dispute resolution fails, or no solution is found within thirty (30) days from notification, the Author or the Organizer shall bring the dispute before the competent courts of France.
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Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. (“Principal Foundation”) is a duly recognized 501(c)(3) entity focused on providing philanthropic support to programs that build financial security in the communities where Principal Financial Group, Inc. (“Principal”) operates. While Principal Foundation receives funding from Principal, Principal Foundation is a distinct, independent, charitable entity. Principal Foundation does not practice any form of investment advisory services and is not authorized to do so.