Polaris Writing AWard

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Entry fee is $25 and includes a digital copy of Star Belt Press's first publication,  Happy Iceland, written by Anne Marie Wells.

- Manuscripts must be the sole work of one author -- no co-authored works. 

- No illustrations or photography please. (Though if the author wants an illustration or photograph incorporated into their cover design, the author must be the sole creator and have full rights to the image.)

- Works may include memoirs-in-verse, collections of essays, hybrid and experimental works. 

- All memoirs must be true stories that the author experienced, not fictionalized accounts, not novels based on a true story, and not biographies or retellings of someone else's story.

- Authors must identify as women or non-binary people.

- All entries are judged anonymously by a panel of readers. Please do not have your name on any part of the manuscript including the file name, or your entry will be disqualified with out a refund of the entry fee. If your name appears in the text as part of the work, please replace with "[redacted]"

- Work that has already been published (including self-publishing) is not eligible.

- Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know immediately that your work has been picked up elsewhere.

- It is not mandatory, but we highly encourage having your manuscript *professionally* edited before submitting. Work with typos and grammatical errors in the first few pages are unlikely to be selected. The winning manuscript will receive a final proofread, but will NOT receive developmental, content, line, or copy edits. If your manuscript is clearly in need of  this kind of editorial feedback, it will simply not be selected.

Please query with any uncertainties.