1. No AI work accepted.
2. Finish your work by reading written work aloud before submitting, making minor adjustments if you hear something isn’t quite right.
3. Writing: No handwritten work accepted. This applies to writing and musical compositions.
4. Art: All art must be scanned on a scanner. Photos only accepted for larger pieces, in which case, the photo is also being judged for its quality.
5. Photography: Photography: If you have a title for it, please put that into the filename.
6. Parent or Guardian MUST sign the submission application: Your parent or guardian must give permission for you to submit your work for publication. You and your parent or guardian must also assure us that no AI was involved in producing your creative work in any way. That includes ideas for plots, titles, character names, etc.

No AI Work Accepted

StoneSoup.com is an HI (Human Intellegence) project. It is a literary project for creative people between the ages of 6 and 18. As a literary project for humans, we only publish work 100% created by humans. No AI writing. No AI help. No AI art. No AI videos. No AI readings.

One reason to send out work for publication is to challenge yourself. If your work is not accepted, then work harder. I am a writer. I write hours everyday. Writing is a craft. You have to practice. You are a unique persons. You are the only person on our planet who thinks like you, has had the experiences you have. And the talents you have. We want to hear from you. And as a writer you have make the decision to do the hard work of learning your craft. If you don’t have that drive, and are relying on AI to help you, then what I can say for this publishing venue is that this is not the place for you.

I am not saying that it is impossible to do creative things with the assistance of artificial intellegence. I am saying that StoneSoup.com is not the place for work produced with the assistance of an artificial intelligence. StoneSoup.com is an HI publication. Human Intelligence, only.

 Finish your work.

Be sure your work is finished. As a writer myself, I advise that you read aloud in full voice any story, poem, novel, blog post that you want us to consider. listen to your voice. Listen to the words. Stone Soup is a literary project. That means that we care about how your work sounds, as well as what it means. I always always find something to revise after hearing myself read aloud. It is often just one or two words that I want to add, or a couple words to change or delete. But we are artists. Think of this finishing read aloud as an artist stepping back from their canvas, brush still in hand, paint still on the pallets. After a few minutes studying their painting, they dip a brush into paint and make two marks. One of those marks is a speck of white in an eye. That tiny change draws our eye to that painted eye, that painted face, providing a focus for the whole painting. Try this for yourself. It is important to know that you tried your best.

Prepare your manuscript for publication.

Writing: We accept writing in Mac and PC formats, including PDF. No handwritten manuscripts.

Music compositions:  Music compositions must be produced by Sibelius or some other music composition software. No handwritten manuscripts. We encourage you to include a performance file. Midi is acceptable for pieces you cannot play yourself.

Art: Art must be scanned. The only exception to scanning is if your work of art does not fit on a scanner. IF you have no choice but to photograph your work of art, like a sculpture or very large painting, then be aware that the quality of the photograph matters.