Rules for participation

Submission requirements

Authors can submit original stories, poems, and other writings. The maximum length is 8,000 characters including spaces. Stories can be of any genre (e.g. fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, etc). 

Comic artists and other artists can submit original works.

Specs for comics and illustrations

• Submissions must be black and white, with no more than one mid-tone shade of gray. The mid-tone gray should be 30-40% solid gray. If you are unsure your gray will be visible or solid, stick to black and white. Pens, solid markers, solid ink tones and digital illustrations have the best print quality.
• File must be JPG/JPEG/PNG with a minimum resolution of 175 dpi, and not exceed 6mb.
• The preferred resolution is 300 dpi with a maximum pixel dimensions of 800 by 12,000.
• Images printed by the short story dispenser will not exceed 7 cm wide x 100 cm long (2.75” x 39.25”).
• Comic strips must be vertical rather than horizontal and uploaded as a single file. 

Author information

Authors shall submit their work using a Short Édition account that they will need to create. The author should clearly indicate how they would like to be credited for their work. This name will appear next to the title of their story.

Rights, Guarantees, and Responsibilities

Guarantees and responsibilities

The author declares that they are the sole author of any text they submit, and that this same text is an original creation. The author declares that they control the copyright of the submitted text, meaning that they have never transferred these rights to a third person/entity.

The author agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Free Library of Philadelphia and the City of Philadelphia from and against all claims by third parties resulting from the author’s breach or alleged breach of any representations and warranties contained herein.

If submitting work on behalf of a minor, the submitter agrees with the following statement:

I represent and warrant that I am the parent/legal guardian of the minor named above. I grant a non-exclusive right to the Free Library of Philadelphia to reproduce, correct and publish this submission along with the minor’s first name and age via Short Édition dispensers owned by The Free Library of Philadelphia, as well as via websites owned by the Free Library of Philadelphia, and/or in print publications produced by the Free Library of Philadelphia. The copyright of the work shall remain with the minor. I represent and warrant that the minor owns the right to license this work in connection with the submission. I agree and acknowledge that in this specific case, publication and distribution of the minor’s work shall not result in the payment of royalties from neither Short Édition nor The Free Library of Philadelphia. I agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Free Library of Philadelphia and the City of Philadelphia from and against all claims by third parties resulting from my or the minor’s breach or alleged breach of any representations and warranties contained herein.

Copying and distribution

The author grants a non-exclusive right to the Free Library of Philadelphia to reproduce, correct and publish their stories via Short Édition dispensers owned by Free Library of Philadelphia, as well as on the websites of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and in any formal or informal print publications produced by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The copyright of the work shall remain with the author. The author agrees and acknowledges that in the specific case of submissions sent via this submission portal, publication and distribution of their work shall not result in the payment of royalties from either Short Édition or Free Library of Philadelphia.

Selection and publication

Representatives of the Free Library of Philadelphia have sole discretion in selecting works for distribution via Short Édition dispensers owned by Free Library of Philadelphia. They may also reject or remove works from the dispenser without giving any prior notice or justification to the author. The author can also ask for their work to be removed by notifying the Free Library in writing at ereflit@freelibrary.org.

Contact

If you have any request, please contact us!