Book Submission
Terms & Conditions

1. Agreement and Scope

These Book Submission Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) apply when an author, publisher, authorized representative, or rights holder (“Entrant”) purchases a PIHBA award-category entry or submits a manuscript, cover, or related information to The Prestigious International Hope Book Awards (“PIHBA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By checking the acceptance box and completing payment or submission, the Entrant confirms that they have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms.

If you do not agree, do not pay for an award entry or upload files. These Terms apply together with any category-specific rules, deadline notices, checkout terms, and privacy notices displayed on the PIHBA website.

2. Eligibility and Authority to Enter

• The Entrant must be at least 18 years old or submit through a parent, legal guardian, publisher, or other authorized adult.
• The Entrant must be the author, copyright owner, publisher, authorized agent, or other person with full legal authority to enter the book and grant the limited permissions described below.
• Traditionally published and independently published books may be entered unless a category states a different requirement.
• The Entrant is responsible for choosing categories that reasonably match the book’s content, purpose, audience, and genre.
• PIHBA may request reasonable proof of identity, authorship, publication, ownership, or authorization.

3. Copyright and Ownership — Your Book Remains Yours

PIHBA does not become the publisher, co-author, owner, or exclusive licensee of a submitted work. Submission does not prevent the rights holder from publishing, selling, licensing, revising, withdrawing from sale, or otherwise using the work.

4. Limited Permission Granted to PIHBA

The Entrant grants PIHBA a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free permission to receive, securely store, make necessary internal copies of, and share the submitted files with PIHBA staff, contractors, and authorized evaluators solely for:

• verifying and administering the entry;
• evaluating the book in the paid category or categories;
• maintaining reasonable backup, judging, integrity, and award records;
• communicating results and preparing applicable certificates or recognitions; and
• resolving technical, eligibility, rights, or payment questions.

This permission does not allow PIHBA to sell, publish, distribute publicly, adapt, translate, license commercially, or claim ownership of the complete manuscript. Any separate publishing, anthology, excerpt, audiobook, film, story-to-screen, or promotional use requiring additional rights must be covered by separate permission or agreement.

5. Entrant Promises and Responsibility

The Entrant represents that the submission is original or lawfully authorized; does not knowingly infringe copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, contractual, or other rights; and does not contain unlawful material. The Entrant must have permission for third-party text, photographs, illustrations, endorsements, personal stories, confidential information, or other protected content included in the files.

The Entrant is responsible for the accuracy of all names, titles, contact details, addresses, category selections, and award wording supplied. PIHBA may disqualify or pause an entry if ownership, authorization, identity, payment, eligibility, or content is materially misrepresented.

6. Fees, Categories, and Refunds

Each category is a separate paid entry at the price displayed at checkout. Payment does not guarantee a score, finalist placement, category win, Author of the Year recognition, review, publicity, certificate, trophy, attendance package, publication, or commercial result except where the purchased description expressly promises a particular deliverable.

Because administrative processing and evaluation preparation may begin after payment, category-entry fees are generally non-refundable once the order is verified or work has begun, except where required by law, where PIHBA cancels the applicable entry, or where PIHBA approves a correction or refund in writing. Duplicate or mistaken payments should be reported promptly.

7. Judging and Award Decisions

Books are considered according to PIHBA’s published standards, the entered category, genre and audience expectations, literary quality, presentation, message, impact, and the strength of competing entries. Evaluation necessarily involves professional judgment.

PIHBA does not guarantee that every entry will win. Scores do not alone guarantee an award. PIHBA may use more than one evaluator, correct clerical errors, move an entry only with appropriate notice or consent when practical, decline an ineligible entry, and protect confidential judging information. Award and finalist decisions are final unless PIHBA identifies an administrative or factual error requiring correction.

8. Secure Book-Submission Instructions

1. Prepare a safe copy. Keep your original manuscript and cover in your own secure storage. Upload a review copy without passwords, encryption, expiration controls, or digital-rights locks.
2. Remove unnecessary sensitive information. Do not include Social Security numbers, banking details, passwords, private medical records, unpublished access credentials, or information that evaluators do not need.
3. Use accepted formats. Upload one complete manuscript in PDF, DOC, or DOCX format, up to 20 MB. A cover may be JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, or PDF, up to 5 MB. Combined files may not exceed 25 MB.
4. Pay only through PIHBA checkout. Select the category or categories, read these Terms, check the acceptance box, and use the secure Stripe or PayPal checkout presented by the website.
5. Protect your access code. After payment, use the PIHBA category-order code with the same email address used at checkout. Do not publish the code publicly.
6. Check the details. Confirm the author name, book title, email, telephone number, mailing address, and exact certificate or trophy spelling.
7. Upload on a trusted connection. Avoid public or shared computers where possible, keep the page open during upload, and do not send the manuscript through social-media comments.
8. Save confirmation. A successful upload provides a PIHBA submission confirmation number. Save it for questions or follow-up.

9. Security, Confidentiality, and File Access

PIHBA uses reasonable administrative and technical safeguards designed to restrict manuscript access to people who need it for entry administration and evaluation. Files may be stored with a secure backup and transmitted to authorized evaluators or service providers who support the process.

No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Entrants should retain their own backup and notify PIHBA promptly if they believe a file or access code was sent incorrectly or compromised. PIHBA will not intentionally make the complete manuscript public through the submission process.

10. Retention and Deletion

PIHBA may retain submitted files and associated records for the period reasonably needed to complete evaluation, administer awards, handle questions or disputes, maintain business and judging records, comply with legal obligations, and protect the integrity of the awards. Backup copies may remain for a limited period after ordinary deletion.

An Entrant may request deletion of files by contacting PIHBA. A deletion request may not require removal of records PIHBA must retain for payment, fraud prevention, legal compliance, dispute resolution, or award integrity, and it may make continued evaluation impossible.

11. Publicity and Recognition

PIHBA may identify award winners and finalists using the author or pen name, book title, cover image, entered category, country or region when supplied, and the recognition received. PIHBA may display this award information on its website, magazine, directory, event materials, press releases, and social platforms to announce and celebrate the result.

The complete manuscript will not be published as promotional material under these Terms. Any use beyond ordinary award identification and celebration will require permission where legally required or a separate agreement.

12. Prohibited or Unsafe Submissions

Do not submit malware, corrupted files, executable programs, unlawful threats, content submitted without authorization, or files designed to disrupt PIHBA systems. PIHBA may reject, quarantine, or delete unsafe files and may disqualify entries involving fraud, plagiarism, rights violations, abusive conduct, payment reversal, manipulation of judging or voting, or material breach of these Terms.

13. Changes, Cancellation, and Events Beyond Control

PIHBA may make reasonable operational changes to deadlines, evaluators, schedules, categories, event details, or procedures when necessary. If a category cannot proceed, PIHBA may offer an appropriate alternative, carry-forward, credit, or refund depending on the circumstances and applicable law. PIHBA is not responsible for delay caused by events reasonably beyond its control, but will make reasonable efforts to communicate material changes.

14. Disclaimers and Limitation

PIHBA recognition is an independent literary-award determination and is not a promise of book sales, publishing representation, media coverage, employment, investment, legal compliance, or future commercial success. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, PIHBA is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss arising from participation.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability or consumer rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. If a court finds part of these Terms unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to the extent permitted.

15. Questions, Corrections, and Contact

Before paying or submitting, contact PIHBA if you do not understand a provision, need an accessibility accommodation, are unsure whether you have authority to submit, or need help with a category or file.

Email: hope@pihbawards.com
Telephone / WhatsApp: +1 763-301-3799
Website: PIHBA Contact Page