2026 Contest Rules

Click for the 2026 Contest Rules as a printable checklist

• Entry must be submitted using the Gold Country Writers Contest Entry Form between noon Wednesday, February 18, 2026, and midnight Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
• Only Gold Country Writers members in good standing are eligible. Non-members are invited to join prior to submission.
• No entry fee.

• Limit ONE entry per member for EACH of 100-Word Story Contest and Poetry Contest.
• Submission must the sole work of the author, original and unpublished, with no part generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Entry must be formatted with:
  • Times New Roman font
  • 12-point size
  • One-inch margins (top, bottom, and sides).
• Submission must be a single Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat file.
• Author’s name and identifying information must not appear in the entry.
• Author agrees that the submission may be read aloud at the Contests Celebration and/or published on the GCW website, in GCW’s future publications, and in Gold County Media newspapers and online issues.
• Gold Country Writers reserves the right to make the final determination on all rules and decisions.
• In addition, for 100-Word Story Contest ONLY:
  • Length must be exactly 100 words. Title is excluded from word count. Hyphenated words count as one.
  • Lines must be double spaced.
• In addition, for Poetry Contest ONLY:
  • Maximum 42 lines. Title is excluded from line count. Blank lines are not counted.
  • Submit poem in its appropriate form.

Failure to follow any rule will result in disqualification from judging.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Contest Entry Form

(If you click on the link and don’t see the contest entry form open in a new tab, then you are outside the submission window.)