Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

  1. The competition is organised by the DLR Mountains to Sea Festival.
  2. Entry to this competition is open to persons aged 15 years old or younger on the 1st Sept 2011 who are living in the Republic of Ireland, employees of the Mountains to Sea Festival, or the children or close relatives of any person closely connected with the competition. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested.
  3. Entrants must write a letter (no more than 200 words in length) to one of the listed authors who are reading at the festival. These authors are: Eoin Colfer, Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff, Roddy Doyle, Darren Shan, Judi Curtin, Cathy Cassidy, Derek Landy, Sarah Webb. Please write your letter to one of these authors – letters to other authors will not be accepted as entries.
  4. Entry is via post only and letters should be no longer than 300 words. Entrants are asked to include their name, address and date of birth. Their parent or guardian is asked to provide a contact name and telephone number. Failure to satisfy all of the above criteria will result in the entry being deemed ineligible.
  5. Entry closes on Friday 24th June at 5pm. Submissions received after this time will not be considered, so please do not wait until the last minute to post your entry.
  6. Entrants can only enter individually. Only one entry per person is permitted. If more than one entry is submitted, only the entrant's first submission will be considered.
  7.  Entries cannot be returned so please remember to retain a copy. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted and no feedback on any entry will be provided.
  8. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. Mountains to Sea Book Festival nor any of the competition media partners accepts no responsibility if entrants ignore these Terms and Conditions and entrants agree to indemnify Mountains to Sea against any claim by any third party from any breach of these Terms and Conditions.
  9. Entries must not contain defamatory, obscene, offensive, or any other unsuitable material. Entries must be suitable to be broadcast, published or used online by Mountains to Sea and the competition media partners for audiences of all ages, but in particular for a child audience.
  10. Entrants retain the copyright in their entries but grant to Mountains to Sea and the competition media partners a non-exclusive royalty-free licence to publish, broadcast (across all media) and post the entry online and on any other platforms yet to be envisaged. This licence will be deemed to include all the necessary rights and permissions to fulfil the prizes and to complete the administration of this competition.
  11. By submitting a letter the entrant agrees that Mountains to Sea and the competition media partners may at its discretion edit, adapt, abridge or translate the entry for the purposes listed in clause 10 above.
  12. In the event of the author not being available to read a letter in person on the radio, the letter will be read by the presenter or another nominated person.
  13. In the event that the entry is published online, for the avoidance of doubt, this will not be part of, or influence in any way, the judging process. Only the entrant’s name and county will be published with an entry.
  14. Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

    Originality

    Sincerity

    Knowledge of the author’s books

    Humour
  15. The judges’ decision in selecting the winners and runners up for this competition, is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  16. The three best letters as selected by the judges will be read out on radio and published on the Mountains to Sea Festival website. The winners will be notified of this. The three winners will also receive a very special set of books, personally dedicated and signed by their chosen author. This prize cannot be exchanged.
  17. The writers of the three best letters will be notified by 31st July. The books will be posted out to the winners. 
  18. Mountains to Sea reserves the right to disqualify any entry which breaches any of these Terms and Conditions, or to withhold a prize if in its opinion entries do not reach the required standard.
  19. Mountains to Sea reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions or cancel this competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
  20. Mountains to Sea cannot accept liability for non delivery of postal entries. Proof of postage is not proof of receipt.
  21. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ireland. Any reference made in these Terms and Conditions to "Mountains to Sea" or "competition media partners" refers to The DLR Mountains to Sea Book Festival and selected media partners