Writing Guidelines for Contests & Community, & Your Copyrights

• No copyrighted content that isn’t yours (plagiarising)
• Content is in English
• Zero spam
• No formatting errors (get used to Grammarly and Hemingway Editor)
• No NSFW content at all in public areas. Mature themes welcome, subject to review. Check our graphic content area below for details.

Stories are reviewed before publication in an anthology by a mentor. This does not mean that we endorse or approve of all content contributed, or endorse activity by our contributors on other websites. All opinions from our contributors are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of LegendFiction, its mentors, or other contributors.

Contributors who display unkind or harmful activity in their interactions, or celebrated within their stories, will not be published. We have a zero-tolerance policy against trolls, and a 2-strike policy for members on flagged or toxic behavior.

• Your work is automatically protected under Copyright Law as soon you put it into a fixed format, like writing it down.
• If you believe your work has been copied improperly, you can submit a takedown request and we will immediately investigate to remove the infringing work.

Publication in the LegendFiction community or anthologies is no cost to you. You keep your copyright, but you’re allowing us to use your content too. By submitting your story to a contest, you are granting LegendFiction a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display your submission in connection with the contest and its promotion, including but not limited to publication in print or digital format, on websites, social media platforms, and any other promotional materials. You retain all copyright and other intellectual property rights in your submission.

By submitting your story, you affirm that you have the legal right to grant the aforementioned license and that your submission does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third party. Furthermore, you agree that LegendFiction shall not be obligated to pay you any compensation, now or in the future, for the use of your submission as described.

Judging happens in two rounds: When the deadline passes, the LegendFiction team of mentors will read through and identify all entries that:

1. 1. Best fit the contest requirements spelled out on this page
   2. Are well crafted according to our Short Story Checklist, and
   3. Respond well to feedback for change requests

Dominic, LegendFiction founder, will identify the First, Second, and Third place winners, and announce them in the community, along with any honorable mentions.

Naturally, LegendFiction mentors will not participate in the contest, but may be included in the anthology.

We provide feedback and editing recommendations on every finalist entry. Poorly written jumbles of words, or inexperienced entries, are passed over in favor of entries with demonstrated skill. The LegendFiction team reserves the right to not award a winner if the submissions do not reach a publishable standard.

A contestant continues to earn their place by incorporating feedback and demonstrating improvement. All our editors have been trained to help guide the development of each piece to reach its fullest potential in keeping with the author’s vision. We value your effort.

Preference is given to stories with solid storytelling structure, well constructed and written, and is consistent with the LegendFiction vision, as determined by contest staff and administrators, in their sole but reasonable discretion.

Overtly religious stories are welcome – but we are not here to write evangelistic fiction. We do not believe that our views, ideas, and personal witness are perfect. We understand that many who are not Christian may live the truth more faithfully than we do – which is how we treat our characters.

Our faithful Catholic and Orthodox writers are deep believers in the Gospel message. But we don’t confuse the ‘call to holiness’ offered to all humanity with a self-referential, self-congratulating ego. Fictional characters in can of course be religious, and we welcome stories and conversations that discuss religious living and themes. We do not welcome content intended to shame or divide members, or groups within the world.

We are here to encourage writers of mature faith, who understand the need for nuance, and who wrestle with the realities of our modern world.

Graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, or strong language are not appropriate for contest submissions, or for sharing in our general community. Mature themes are welcome, but within a relatively family-friendly context. We get that not every story should be for all ages.

Shaming language, glorification of self-harm, or hate speech of any kind will be rejected. Please ask if you have questions.