Print Guidelines    |    Writing Tips    |    Contest Overview

Articles must be original works ranging from 800 to 1,200 words. Please include two to six photos of high resolution (JPEG, 300 dpi or higher).

To submit an entry, please email a Word document and your photos (JPEG) as attachments with your Legal Disclaimer Statement (copy/paste from bottom of this page) and cover page to catscontest@gmail.com. The cover page must contain the following information: Title of submission, author’s name, address, daytime telephone number, and email address. The submission deadline is midnight April 30, 2012. The winners will be notified by email or phone on or about May 30, 2012.

On or about May 8, all print entries that abide with the contest rules and terms will be presented online. Visitors to the CATS website will then be invited to vote for their favorite story online. Online voting is open to anyone. Online voting will close May 23, 2012. Our guest judge will then select a winner and a runner-up from the top ten stories. The winning entrant will be awarded $500. The People’s Choice Winner—the entry with the most online votes—will earn $250. All winning pieces will be featured in our online CATS Destination Guide.

Terms and Conditions

1. All information describing how to enter forms part of these terms and conditions. It is a condition of entry that all rules are accepted as final and that the competitor agrees to abide by these rules. Submission of an entry will be taken to mean acceptance of these terms and conditions.
2. Entries should be submitted by email and include an article title, photo captions, the entrant’s name, full address, and daytime telephone number.
3. All entries must be received by the published closing date to be entered.
4. The winners must agree for his/her work to be edited.
5. Copyright in all submissions remains with the respective entrant. However, each entrant grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to CATS to feature any or all of the submissions (with full credit given to the entrant) in any of its publications, its websites, and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.
6. Submission must not include material that is hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous, or libelous.
7. Submissions must be previously unpublished work. Entries that are shorter or longer, lack photos, or contain copied work will not be considered.
8. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that no element of their entry infringes the copyright of any third party or any laws.
9. Entries will be judged on which are the most original, interesting, and entertaining. Decisions of judges are final and binding in all respects.
10. Only one prize per person. If the Judge’s Choice and the People’s Choice are the same, then the entry with the second highest number of online votes will be awarded the $250 People’s Choice prize.

Legal Disclaimer

By participating in the contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless CATS and its respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the contest; (b) technical errors related to computers, servers, providers, or telephone or network lines; (c) printing errors; (d) errors in the administration of the contest or the processing of entries; or (e) injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the contest or receipt or use of any prize. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

Legal Disclaimer Acknowledgment

Contest entrants must include the following statement with each contest submission in order to accept the legal disclaimer:

By submitting my entry, I acknowledge that I am the copyright owner; each individual contained in any photos or video has granted me permission to use his or her likeness and it does not infringe on anyone's rights. CATS hereby has permission to use my entry for all purposes.  Additionally, I agree to indemnify CATS for any costs or damages, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, in the event that any claim is made against CATS regarding the use of the story, photo, or video.

Please read, copy/paste this statement into your email followed by your full legal name. Thank you.