WINTERLIGHT SHORT STORY SEARCH

The fine print!

SUBMISSION TERMS AND RELEASE

Effective Date: July 30, 2026

These Submission Terms and Release (“Terms”) govern your submission of a short story and related information to the Winterlight Short Story Search (the “Search”), operated by Winterlight Pictures, Inc. (“Winterlight,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

By checking the acceptance box and submitting your materials, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms.

1. Eligibility

You represent and confirm that:

You are at least eighteen years old and legally able to enter into this agreement.
You are the sole author and owner of the submitted short story, or you have obtained written authorization from every co-author and rights holder necessary to make the submission and agree to these Terms.
The story complies with all eligibility, length, genre, format, publication, and submission requirements stated on the Winterlight Short Story Search website.
You are submitting only one story to the Search.
All information you provide in the submission form is complete and accurate.

Winterlight may reject or disqualify any submission that is incomplete, inaccurate, ineligible, misleading, fraudulent, or inconsistent with the published guidelines.

2. Submitted Materials

For purposes of these Terms, “Submitted Materials” means:

the short story linked in your submission;
your logline, synopsis, character descriptions, adaptation analysis, and written answers;
your biography and rights information;
any other material or information voluntarily provided through the submission form.

The story must remain accessible through the submitted Substack link during the evaluation period. Winterlight is not responsible for materials that become unavailable, restricted, deleted, placed behind a paid tier, or otherwise inaccessible.

3. Ownership and Retention of Rights

You retain all right, title, and interest in and to your story and Submitted Materials.

Submission to the Search does not:

transfer any copyright, publishing right, film right, television right, dramatic right, sequel right, remake right, merchandising right, or other ownership interest to Winterlight;
grant Winterlight an option, shopping right, producing attachment, exclusive negotiating right, or right of first refusal;
prevent you from continuing to publish, promote, revise, submit, represent, option, sell, or otherwise exploit your story;
create any obligation for you to enter into a future agreement with Winterlight.

Any future development, producing, shopping, option, acquisition, representation, or other business relationship must be set forth in a separate written agreement voluntarily negotiated by the relevant parties.

4. Limited Permission to Review and Administer the Search

You grant Winterlight a limited, nonexclusive, royalty-free permission to access, read, internally reproduce as reasonably necessary, evaluate, discuss, and retain the Submitted Materials solely for purposes of:

administering the Search;
determining eligibility;
evaluating the story;
selecting stories for further engagement;
maintaining internal records;
contacting you regarding the Search or a possible separate business discussion.

This permission does not authorize Winterlight to publish, publicly display, adapt, sell, license, distribute, or commercially exploit your story.

If Winterlight wishes to publish or repost a selected story, circulate it outside the internal evaluation team, submit it to industry parties, or pursue development or production, Winterlight will first obtain separate written permission or enter into a separate written agreement with you.

5. No Confidential Relationship

Your submission is voluntary and is not made in confidence.

Winterlight does not agree to keep the existence, premise, themes, ideas, characters, settings, plot elements, or other contents of the Submitted Materials confidential.

No fiduciary, confidential, advisory, agency, employment, partnership, joint-venture, representation, producer-author, or other special relationship is created by your submission, payment of the submission fee, participation in the Search, or any communications connected with it.

Winterlight may nevertheless use reasonable care in limiting access to Submitted Materials to people involved in administering or evaluating the Search.

6. Similar and Independently Developed Material

You acknowledge that Winterlight and the people evaluating submissions regularly receive, review, develop, write, produce, acquire, and encounter many stories, projects, ideas, themes, characters, premises, settings, and concepts.

Those materials may be similar or identical in part to elements contained in your submission.

You agree that:

similarities may result from coincidence, common sources, public-domain material, genre conventions, independent creation, prior development, or exposure to other material;
Winterlight has no obligation to disclose projects or materials it has previously received, developed, or encountered;
your submission does not restrict Winterlight from developing, producing, acquiring, representing, or exploiting material that is independently created or obtained from another source.

Nothing in these Terms permits Winterlight to copy protectable original expression from your story without authorization. Nothing in these Terms prevents you from bringing a legitimate claim based on actual unauthorized copying of protectable expression.

7. Your Representations and Warranties

You represent and warrant that:

The Submitted Materials are original to you except for material clearly identified in the submission.
You own or control all rights necessary to submit the materials and grant the limited permissions stated in these Terms.
The Submitted Materials do not infringe or violate any copyright, trademark, privacy right, publicity right, contractual right, confidentiality obligation, or other right of any person or entity.
The Submitted Materials are not plagiarized.
The story is not subject to an existing option, exclusive shopping agreement, producing attachment, publishing restriction, representation agreement, court order, lien, assignment, or other encumbrance that would prevent your participation, except as fully disclosed in the submission form.
You have disclosed whether the story is based upon or incorporates:
- real people;
- true events;
- journalism or reporting;
- another person’s life story;
- preexisting copyrighted material;
- public-domain material;
- jointly created material;
- material generated or substantially assisted by artificial intelligence.
Your submission does not contain malicious code, fraudulent links, or material intended to interfere with Winterlight’s website or systems.

8. Artificial Intelligence

You must accurately disclose any material use of generative artificial intelligence in creating the story or Submitted Materials.

Winterlight may disqualify any submission that:

contains undisclosed AI-generated prose;
is substantially generated by artificial intelligence;
falsely represents AI-generated work as solely human-authored;
raises material ownership or authorship concerns.

Winterlight may request additional information regarding authorship or process.

9. Evaluation and Selection

Winterlight will evaluate eligible submissions according to the published criteria and procedures.

You acknowledge that:

evaluation necessarily involves subjective professional judgment;
not every evaluator will read or respond to material in the same way;
Winterlight may use employees, consultants, professional readers, producers, executives, or other qualified evaluators;
Winterlight may use the submission survey, story opening, full story, or any combination of Submitted Materials during the evaluation process;
selection is not guaranteed;
Winterlight is not obligated to select any minimum number of stories if the eligible submissions do not meet the stated standards;
Winterlight’s eligibility and selection decisions are final.

Winterlight may modify the evaluation schedule when reasonably necessary and will communicate material changes through the Search website or the email address provided by the entrant.

10. No Guaranteed Feedback or Opportunity

The submission fee does not purchase notes, editorial services, development services, legal advice, representation, access to buyers, an industry introduction, or a producing relationship.

Unless your story is selected for further engagement and you are specifically told otherwise:

no individual feedback will be provided;
Winterlight has no obligation to contact you beyond administrative communications;
Winterlight has no obligation to explain its decision;
Winterlight has no obligation to develop, produce, represent, option, purchase, submit, shop, circulate, or otherwise pursue your story.

Participation does not guarantee any film, television, publishing, representation, financing, employment, or other professional opportunity.

11. Selected Stories and Authors

If your story is selected, Winterlight may contact you regarding:

a development or rights-strategy conversation;
presentation of the story on the Max Winter Substack;
revisions or additional materials;
possible industry positioning;
a possible separate relationship with Winterlight.

Selection alone does not grant Winterlight any rights and does not obligate either party to enter into a further agreement.

Any reposting, publication, public promotion, external circulation, producing attachment, or development arrangement will require your additional written consent.

12. Submission Fee

The submission fee is $25.00.

The fee supports the reading, evaluation, administration, technology, payment-processing, and operational costs of the Search.

The fee does not purchase favorable treatment or guarantee that the submission will advance.

Except as expressly stated below, submission fees are nonrefundable.

Winterlight may issue a refund when:

Winterlight cancels the Search without evaluating the submission;
a duplicate payment is made;
a technical error causes an unauthorized charge;
Winterlight determines, in its sole discretion, that a refund is appropriate.

No refund is required because:

a submission is found to be ineligible;
a writer misunderstands or fails to follow the published guidelines;
a story is not selected;
the submitted link becomes inaccessible;
the entrant withdraws after payment;
the entrant disagrees with the evaluation or result.

A submission is not complete until Winterlight receives both the completed submission form and confirmed payment.

13. Submission Cap and Timing

The Search is limited to the first 100 completed and paid eligible submissions received by Winterlight.

Submitting a form without completing payment does not reserve a place.

Winterlight may close submissions without further notice once the cap is reached. If Winterlight accepts payment after the cap has already been reached because of a technical or timing issue, Winterlight may either evaluate the submission or refund the fee.

Winterlight is not responsible for delayed, lost, misdirected, incomplete, inaccessible, or technically unsuccessful submissions or payments.

14. Withdrawal

You may request to withdraw your story by emailing chris@winterlightpictures.com

Withdrawal will remove the story from further consideration to the extent reasonably practicable. Withdrawal does not ordinarily entitle you to a refund.

Winterlight may retain the submission form, payment record, acceptance record, and limited administrative information for legal, accounting, compliance, and recordkeeping purposes.

15. Communications

You consent to receive communications reasonably related to:

your submission;
eligibility;
payment;
selection;
administration of the Search;
a possible separate conversation regarding the story.

Participation does not automatically subscribe you to unrelated marketing emails unless you separately opt in.

You are responsible for providing a working email address and checking spam or filtered folders.

16. Privacy and Data Use

Winterlight may collect and use the personal information submitted through the form for purposes of:

administering and evaluating the Search;
verifying eligibility and payment;
communicating with entrants;
preventing fraud and duplicate entries;
maintaining business and legal records;
considering a possible separate professional relationship.

Winterlight may share relevant information with service providers and evaluators involved in operating the Search, including Wix, Chase or another payment processor, professional readers, consultants, and technical vendors.

Winterlight will not sell entrant personal information.

Payment-card details are processed by the applicable payment provider and are not intended to be collected or stored directly by Winterlight.

These Terms should be linked alongside Winterlight’s general website privacy policy.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Winterlight Pictures, Inc. and its officers, directors, employees, representatives, readers, consultants, and agents from third-party claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, and reasonable costs arising directly from:

your material breach of these Terms;
your lack of ownership or authority;
an allegation that your Submitted Materials infringe or violate a third party’s rights;
false or materially misleading information supplied by you.

This obligation does not apply to claims caused by Winterlight’s own unauthorized exploitation of your story or its willful misconduct.

18. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Winterlight will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from participation in the Search, including lost opportunity, lost profits, loss of anticipated income, or reputational harm.

Except for claims arising from Winterlight’s willful misconduct or unauthorized commercial exploitation of your story, Winterlight’s total liability arising from the Search will not exceed the submission fee you actually paid.

Nothing in these Terms waives any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be waived.

19. Release

Except for claims arising from fraud, willful misconduct, breach of an express written agreement, or actual unauthorized copying or exploitation of protectable original expression, you release Winterlight and its officers, employees, readers, consultants, and representatives from claims arising solely from:

receipt and evaluation of the Submitted Materials;
rejection or non-selection;
subjective evaluation decisions;
similarities between the submission and independently created or separately acquired material;
suspension, modification, or cancellation of the Search;
ordinary website, form, link, or payment-processing failures outside Winterlight’s reasonable control.

This release does not transfer your rights or authorize Winterlight to exploit your story.

20. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Before filing a legal action, you and Winterlight agree to make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute informally through written notice describing the issue and requested resolution.

Any legal action arising from these Terms or the Search must be brought in a state or federal court located in Los Angeles County, California, and each party consents to the jurisdiction of those courts.

21. Changes or Cancellation

Winterlight may make reasonable changes to the schedule, administration, evaluators, or procedures when necessary.

Winterlight will not materially reduce the stated rights of an entrant after a completed submission without consent.

Winterlight may suspend or cancel the Search because of insufficient eligible submissions, technical failure, fraud, force majeure, legal or regulatory concerns, illness, or other circumstances that make fair administration impracticable.

If the Search is canceled before a submission is meaningfully evaluated, Winterlight will refund the applicable submission fee.

22. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, that provision will be modified or limited to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in effect.

23. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the published eligibility and submission guidelines, constitute the entire agreement governing your participation in the Search.

If there is a direct conflict between these Terms and informal promotional language, these Terms control.

No oral statement, social-media post, email, comment, or other informal communication modifies these Terms unless Winterlight expressly agrees in writing.

24. Electronic Acceptance

By checking the required acceptance boxes and submitting the form, you:

confirm that you have read these Terms;
agree to be legally bound by them;
adopt your electronic action as your signature;
consent to receiving records and communications electronically.