POF Participation Guidelines

Eligibility

The following are our ground rules for participating:

1. Participants should have basic English knowledge, be native English speakers, and have at least some degree of passion or interest in writing.

2. Minors who participate must be at least 13 years of age.

3. Published authors are not eligible for the competition.

Pennacle regards a person as a published author if they have:

a Published a 40,000-word book/novel, whether traditional or self-publishing

b Published a short fiction or a collection of stories of 10,000 words or more, whether traditional or self-publishing

c Sold 100 or more copies of their works

d Realized up to N 300,000 or more in profit from sales of their works.

Published authors may still be part of our community and take other courses/workshops/programmes offered by Pennacle.

4. People who have won the grand prize in previous POF editions are not eligible to participate.

5. People who have won other contests with prizes from N 500,000 and above are not eligible to participate in POF.

Document Privacy

We will not publish every submission we receive throughout the programme on our website. Your documents are kept private. We may reshare your content if you tag us in your shared post. Beginning from the group stages of the competition, we will share some submissions we like so that people can see what some of the winning entries look like. This is good publicizing for you if yours is chosen, no? Pennacle will NOT share your content or information with any third party.

Submissions and Entries

Over the course of the programme, participants must only submit unpublished works. A work is unpublished if:

a. It has never been featured in any magazine, anthology, newsletter, website or media accessible to the public

b. It has never been excerpted or revised

c. It has never been shared for reviews, criticism or feedback,

d. It has never been shared with any private group, whether in print or eCopy, either by themselves or any party.

Participants must also only submit their original works. By participating in this Workshop and Competition, you confirm that you own the rights to all works you share with us.

Submission Formats

"Submission" refers to any entry made by participants throughout this programme. This may include files, text, video or images, as requested. All submissions must be made in English and should follow the submission guidelines that shall be issued. Acceptable file formats are .doc., pdf, plaintext, docx, and epub.
By making a submission:

a. You affirm that you have read and agree to all of Pennacle's terms regarding POF.

b. You affirm that you hold all relevant authorization and rights to any content submitted, and/or consent from all involved parties.

Submissions that are incomplete, illegible, AI-generated or damaged will not be accepted in this programme.

Copyright

Participants retain all copyrights to their work.

Notification and Announcement

1. Winners are not notified individually. We publish a list of each edition winners on our website or/and on our social media channels.

2. Other announcements such as activity schedules and notifications regarding the competition and workshop are sent to involved participants either via email, DMs and any other medium as shall be forehand communicated.

3. Winners that shall be interviewed and whose works shall be featured in Pennacle's future issues will be notified ahead of time via email and phone.

4. Other notifications and new information regarding anything POF not already covered here shall be done via email and phone.

Conduct

The following are forbidden on all Pennacle mediums, and avenues for discussions and programme activities:

1. Offensive comments such as contempt based on religion, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender, or disability.

2. All forms of hate speech, threats, harassment and bullying.

3. Sharing of pornographic content, vulgar and obscene content, and sexually explicit or implicit content.

4. Defamatory or libellous comments or posts.

5. Comments and posts that promote illegal or criminal acts or threaten safety.

6. Inappropriate and socially irresponsible behavior of any nature, including rudeness and disrespect.

7. Comments and content regarding politics, religion or anything outside the scope of writing, literature and POF.

8. Advertising and sales of any kind.

9. Begging and soliciting donations.

10. Voice and video calls, and voice notes on our WhatsApp platform.

Violation of any of these codes is tantamount to disqualification or ban from Pennacle channels and affiliates, depending on the severity of the offence

Agreement

By participating in this programme, you:

1. Affirm that you meet all requirements for participation

2. Affirm that you agree to all rules and terms of participation

3. Agree to not abuse any aspect of this programme or violate participation rules, and to Pennacle's right to carry out due diligence in the event of any violation.

4. Agree to abide by Pennacle's judging rules and decisions.

Rights

Pennacle retains the right to store and use the personal data and content you provide such as name, profile information and feedback for promotional purposes, and other purposes for which you opted at the point of entry.

Pennacle retains the right to publish entries we like that are submitted in the competition stages without further consultation with you.

Pennacle reserves the right to amend programme rules, plans or schedules at will. Any such amendments will be announced and communicated beforehand to all involved parties.

Pennacle is freed of any obligations to recipients where such persons refuse to accept prizes.

Liability

Pennacle and all its affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, staff, agents and employees will not be liable for any loss, damage or injury sustained during participation in any stage of this programme.