1. All contributing writers agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and the decisions of sinpets.com.
2. Employees of sinpets.com are not eligible to participate.
3. Winners must produce the necessary documents i.e. their identity card/work permit or passport when collecting their payment.
4. Selection Criteria:
   4.1   Your story should be in English, Chinese and Japanese only.
   4.2   The story should have content related to pets only.
   4.3   All stories should show readers how to:  
        4.3.1  care for their pets, 
        4.3.2  solve pet health and training problems,   
        4.3.3  enhance the pet/owner relationship,
        4.3.4  succeed in the pet business such as breeding of dogs, pet shop operations. 
    
5. If the story is posted from any other resources or reprints, references should be clearly mentioned.
6. Each story will be closely reviewed for its genuine content by our judges.
7. Our judges' decision will be final.
8. No pornographic content will be allowed.
   
9. In the event of any dispute, uncertainty or ambiguity relating to the terms and conditions or any matter relating to the publication of the story, the matter shall be resolved by sinpets.com in its absolute discretion.
10. sinpets.com reserves the right to add, delete or amend the terms and conditions & prizes at its absolute discretion without prior notice at any time.
11. The decision of sinpets.com will be final and no correspondence will be entertained.

What We're Looking for
Solid, worthwhile information.  Write about matters that you are genuinely interested, not "for the money."  Otherwise you will lose that spark and your writing will be dull.  

The 11 topics we want are:

1.  Health. Your experiences as a pet owner on the prevention of diseases and handling specific illness or injuries. For example, canine diabetes and how you handle it.
2.  Basic Care. Articles that make pet care easier, safer, healthier and happier.  Examples are grooming, nutrition, parasite control, how to make an obese cat lose weight, care for an older dog, ensuring your puppy get a balanced diet. 

3.  Training.  Focus on one life stage of the pet, e.g. puppy house-breaking, seasonal issues or special activities that require special training e.g. explosive dogs.
4. Environment. How to cope with special problems such as cat hair allergies.

5. Equipment. How the equipment is useful for the pet. For example, dog swimming pools.
6. Activities. New sports and activities e.g. hiking, camping, surfing, agility training. Involvement of family members like children or the elderly. Activities that enhance the public perception of pets such as search and rescue or temperament training. 

7.  Breed profiles. If you are an expert on certain breeds. For example, the Tibetan Mastiff is rarely seen in Singapore.
8.  Pets & People.  Heroic, special, unusual stories of human/animal interactions. Check local papers for such stories.

9.  Unusual Topics. Unique event. Fore example, a pet birthday celebration at Bishan Park for 50 Shih Tzus.  A rare breed, a historical pet, legislation affecting stray cats in Singapore.
10. Personal Experiences. "My Pet" Stories take up 80% of unsolicited submissions but they must be exceptional to be accepted. 

11. A combination of any of the 10 topics above make the articles acceptable and very interesting if you know how to do it. We want to promote responsible and compassionate pet care to pet owning families, individuals, breeders and exhibitors. Make sure that your pet (not you) is the centre of the story. An example is: The ugly duckling. 

In conclusion, please note that medical and technical terms (e.g. hip dysplasia, diabetes) should be defined.   Advertorials on products of use to pets may be acceptable.  No articles to discourage the purchase of the types of products advertised in the sinpets.com book, promoting indiscriminate breeding, unsafe pet care, hunting, my first pet, my dead pet, talking pets, irresponsible owners will be accepted.  Don't submit "My Pet" Stories unless it is extremely interesting or useful to readers.  

Length and Payment

1.  "How to" Stories - Pet Health & Education
The topics involve how to improve the health and welfare of your pets and to educate pet owners. Articles should be 800- 2,000 words.

2.  Personal Experiences Essays

• Entries should be personal essays focusing on how you resolve pet behaviour, welfare, education and health problems which are of great interest to  sinpets.com readers. 
• Entries must be no more than 500 words for Personal Experiences Essays, including title and byline. Don't submit "My Pet" Stories unless they are extremely interesting or useful to readers.  
• The essays must not have appeared elsewhere in print or online.
• Judging preference will be given to entries that are unique in subject and tone.
• Paste the ENTRY FORM directly into your e-mail. Attached files will not be opened. Due to the amount of spam, only e-mail with the word sinpets.com Stories in the title will be read.

Payment

• Entries will be accepted until the 25th of November 2005. The editor of  sinpets.com will select a winning entry to be printed in the  sinpets.com book - BE KIND TO PETS - 100 picture stories for young people. Dec 2005.  
• The winner will be contacted in advance to sign an agreement giving  sinpets.com first world electronic rights, one-time print rights and non-exclusive electronic archiving rights.
• You will be notified if your essay is selected for publication in the  sinpets.com book.
• An essay may be re-entered in different months if the writer re-submits it during the appropriate time period. A writer also may submit more than one essay per month.
• Longer articles are accepted, but payment is capped at Singapore Dollars $100, or 2,000 words.   Payment is 5¢/word for original articles and $20 for reprints, on acceptance. Major features may be paid $300- $500. Text with photos will be paid a higher rate. 
• We regret that we cannot offer critiques of entries, nor can we respond to e-mails, faxes, snail mail or phone queries regarding whether an entry has been received or why it has not been selected as a winner.
  
  Payment will be made by cheque. We are also more than happy to exchange advertising in the sinpets.com BOOK for articles or pet food. We prefer articles of great interest to Singapore pet-owning families, city folks, individuals or breeders but we accept articles from all over the world.   

Reprints
We welcome reprints of material that has appeared in other writing publications. Payment is $20. We also welcome book excerpts.

Rights
The winner will be contacted in advance to sign an agreement giving sinpets.com first world electronic rights, print rights and non-exclusive electronic archiving rights.

NOTE:  It often takes as long as six months to publish an article after acceptance.  Send a written query to judy@sinpets.com as we review unsolicited submissions for as long as six months before replying to you.

How to Submit
Query or send complete manuscript to judy@sinpets.com.  Please send your article within the text of your e-mail, NOT as an attachment. Also, PLEASE try to make sure that it isn't full of smart quotes and other format commands.

Pictures must be of high quality, at least 300 dpi and submitted in 600 X 450 pixels format.  Let us know by e-mail BEFORE you submit the pictures as attachments. We don't accept attachments generally.  We will acknowledge receipt of your e-mailed stories within  two weeks.

ENTRY FORM FOR STORIES WANTED - Be Kind To Pets. Story Theme:  Be Kind To Pets Name:  Address:  Age: Mobile phone: Fax:  E-mail:  Image Title if applicable:  Camera if applicable:  Film if applicable: Postal entries must be addressed to: Blk 1002, Toa Payoh Lor 8, 01-1477, Singapore 319074. E-mail judy@sinpets.com if you wish to submit your stories.

Undertaking
In submitting an article to sinpets.com for publication, I agree to accept and be bound by the terms and conditions of this contest. I understand that these terms and conditions are subject to change by sinpets.com and I will be notified in a manner sinpets.com deems appropriate.

The top10 stories will receive winning certificates from sinpets.com and be given a copy of the Dec 2007 sinpets.com Be Kind To Pets book.

This webpage:  sinpets.com/stories/writing_articles.htm

© sinpets.com 
Blk 1002, Toa Payoh Lor 8, 01-1477, Singapore 319074
Mobile Tel: +65 9668-6468, Tel: +65 6254-3326
Fax: +65 6256-0501, judy@sinpets.com

Copyright © SINPETS.COM
All rights reserved. Revised: May 17, 2007