1. Eligibility

• Age: Open to individuals [Age, e.g., 18+] at the time of entry.

• Geography: Open to residents of [USA]. Void where prohibited by law.

• Exclusions: Employees of [Organization Name], their immediate family members, and contest judges are ineligible to participate.

2. Submission Guidelines

• Format: All entries must be submitted in [Format, e.g., PDF or .docx] via [Submission Link/Email].

• Originality: Work must be 100% original and written by the entrant.

• AI Policy: [Work generated by AI is strictly prohibited]

• Status: Submissions must be previously unpublished in any print or digital format.

3. Entry Fees & Deadlines

• Deadline: All entries must be received by [Time Zone] on [Date].

• Fees: [$15.00 USD]. Entry fees are non-refundable.

4. Rights & Intellectual Property

• Ownership: The author retains full copyright ownership of their work.

• Usage License: By entering, the author grants [Crescent Starr Multimedia] a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to publish, display, and distribute the winning entry (and finalists) in [CSM, e.g., our in our anthology and website].

• Publicity: Winners agree to the use of their name and likeness for promotional purposes related to the contest.

5. Judging & Selection

• Criteria: Entries will be judged based on [e.g., originality, voice, technical skill, and adherence to theme, Etc.].

• Finality: The judges' decisions are final and binding. We cannot provide individual feedback on non-winning entries.

6. Prizes

• Awards: [1st Place: $250; 2nd Place: $100 3rd Place: $50].

• Taxes: Winners are solely responsible for any taxes incurred on prize money.

• Substitution: [CSM] reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal value if the advertised prize becomes unavailable.

7. Disqualification & Liability

• Plagiarism: Any entry found to be plagiarized will be immediately disqualified.

• Technical Issues: [CSM] is not responsible for lost, late, or corrupted electronic files.

• Changes: We reserve the right to cancel or modify the contest if fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of the event.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Author shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless  Crescent Starr LLC, hereinafter referred to collectively as the “Rising Star Contest” and it’s Sponsors, including all of their employees and agents, from and against all losses, liabilities, penalties, fines, damages and claims and all related costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements and costs of investigation, litigation, settlement, judgments, interest and penalties), and also including any claims of infringement of United States copyright or other proprietary right of any person or entity, which right is enforceable under the laws of the United States, arising from or in connection with her or his participation in the Rising Star Writing contest. The Contest Sponsors shall hold an exclusive right to publish the winning Works in all physical and digital formats for a period of one year from the date the Rising Starr Contest winners are announced. Following that period, the Author may republish the submitted Work with any person or entity of his or her choosing.

1. A $15 entry fee is required, and all rights in the story remain the property of the author.

2. By submitting to Crescent Starr Rising Star Writer’s Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.

3. All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English. Plagiarism of any length or form will result in disqualification. The entrant’s work must be created in its entirety by the entrant and cannot be generated, in whole or in part, by Artificial Intelligence. Any work generated in whole, or in part, by Artificial Intelligence, as determined in the Contest Administrator’s sole discretion, will be disqualified and any prize awarded based on such submission will be forfeited. Excessive violence or sex and the use of profane, vulgar, racist or offensive words or images, as solely determined by the judges, will result in the story being rejected.

4. Eligible entries must be works of prose, short stories (under 1,000 words) We regret we cannot consider poetry, works intended for children, plays, screenplays, treatments, outlines, partial manuscripts, children’s picture books or grade school books, memoirs, , scholarship essays, and work that’s already published. Vignettes, writings of scenes without story elements and plot are also not accepted.

5. Entries may not have been previously published in professional media. The Contest is open only to those who have not professionally published. Professional publication is deemed to be payment of at least eight cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.