Contest Rules

Every contest has rules, so here are mine.

1. There are two assemblies awarded each semester, one for grades K-3 and one for grades 4-6.
2. Since the goal is to get the students to write, the story must be truly written by the student. If the student gets too much help from adults or students above their contest category, the student will be disqualified.
3. Students may write as a team as long as they are all in the same contest category.
4. Students may enter as many times as they want.
5. The email of student’s parent or guardian is required (a) to make sure the student has permission to enter online, and (2) to provide me with a way to contact the winner’s parents.  For safety purposes, it’s my policy to always correspond with the parents, not the students.
6. I read all of the stories that are submitted. Really! All feedback for the students will be sent through the parents.
7. Awarding the assembly is subject to approval of the principal. If the principal does not allow the award assembly at their school, every attempt will be made to make arrangements with the local library for the performance before choosing an alternate winner.
8. The assembly is also subject to my availability, especially if it’s more than an hour’s drive from Anaheim, CA.  For example, if the winner’s school is in Northern CA, we will schedule the assembly during a week where I am scheduled to perform at other schools in Northern CA.
9. The winner’s story will be posted on my website, making the winner a “published” author, at least on my site!
10. If I find the need for more rules, I’ll add them here.  Be assured that they’ll be reasonable.  But there’s only one of me, so I may have forgotten something important.