We need a few rules and guidelines to make sure the contest runs as smoothly as possible. Please, take some time to read through this chapter to find all the rules and guidelines that apply to the Language Awards. Do you have questions about these rules or something else? Don't hesitate to reach out to us in the comments!

Signing up

Signing up for the Language Awards is easy. It's important to take notice of the deadlines of your contest. Signing up works through a linked form that will be opened when the deadline is approaching. You can find the forms in the designated chapters, but we will also publish a new chapter with these forms and all the information you'll need when the deadline comes close. Below is a quick overview:

✾ Writing contest ✾

Stories and poems that want to participate in the Language Awards should be submitted before 30 November 2023. Signing up for the contest should be done between 23 November 2023 and 30 November 2023. Poems should be completed, stories should be completed, or should have more than 30.000 words. You'll find more information on this further down in this chapter.

✾ Art contest ✾

Book covers, illustrations, and/or videos that want to participate in the Language Awards should be submitted before 30 November 2023. Signing up for the contest should be done between 23 November 2023 and 30 November 2023. Your submission should be completed.

Judging

The three different contests will be judged by a trained and objective jury. Judges won't be participating in the contest. The results are not open for discussion. Our jury won't provide feedback on your entry. Keep in mind! We need a whole different jury for our "fan favourite" category... You!

The entries will be judged by the following criteria:

✾ Writing contest ✾

Stories and poems will be judged based on: spelling and grammar, narrative voice, relation to the theme/prompt, and creative execution. All stories and poems will be read from start to finish, so make sure you put all your love and care into your literary work, from the first word to the last sentence!

✾ Art contest ✾

We will call upon our graphic experts to judge the covers, illustrations, and/or videos. The entries will be judged based on: relation to the theme/prompt and creative execution.

Categories

During the Language Awards we will mention two contests, also called two categories. There will be a writing contest, an art contest, and a reading contest. Each of these categories has its own awards. More information about these awards can be found in the chapter "Awards and prizes".

Promotion list

We will feature a promotion list during the Language Awards. All writers, readers, and artists that want to participate in the Language Awards can sign up for the promotion list. Signing up for the promotion list is not required to participate in the Language Awards. Signing up won't guarantee a place on the promotion list. The contest hosts retain the right to refuse entries that don't adhere to the rules and guidelines of this contest. Entries that don't follow Wattpad's content guidelines will be reported.

Prompts

All the entries need to be based on two of our culture specific prompts. These prompts will be published in a separate chapter on 1 September 2023 in this book. When the prompts go live, you will get to pick a culture of choice and pick two of the corresponding prompts. More information on this will be found in the Prompts chapter. You're always free to use your creativity to alter the prompt, as long as the prompt can still be recognized by our jury.

Publication date

All entries for the Language Awards should be published after 1 September 2023. The challenge is to create something new in a relatively short time. Keep in mind that if you add your entry to a book that was published before 1 September 2023, it will be disqualified. The date of completion can be at any moment before the deadline of 30 November 2023 but should be after the start date of 1 September 2023.

Tags

To participate in the Language Awards, your entry should have the #LanguageAwards2023 tag. Not only will you show everyone that you're participating, but it will also be easier to be found by others.

Word count

The Language Awards uses different word counts. Make sure you know what word count is important for your entry. Here is a quick overview:

✾ Poems can have any word count. There is no minimum or maximum amount of words;

✾ Does your story have less than 30.000 words and is it not finished: your story will not be eligible for an award;

✾ Does your story have less than 30.000 words and it is finished: your story is a finished short story or novel and will be eligible for all the writer awards, except the "most promising story" award;

✾ Does your story have more than 30.000 words and is it not finished: your story is an unfinished novel and will be eligible for the "best introduction", "best characters", "most promising story" and "fan favourite" awards;

✾ Does your story have more than 30.000 words and is it finished: your story is a finished novel and will be eligible for all the writer awards, except the "most promising story" award.

Take a look at the frequently asked questions chapter to find more answers to possible questions!