Please read and abide by these rules. Any entries that do not comply with the contest rules will be disqualified and the entry fees for them forfeited.
Following the 2026 Muse Awards Contest Rules, you will find the Special Awards Contest Rules. The contest will be open to submissions between April 22, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
2026 Muse Awards Contest Rules
- For the purposes of this contest, “cats” incudes domestic cats, pedigree and hybrid cats, rescue cats, stray cats, feral or community cats, working cats, wild cats, big or jungle cats and other feline-related subjects.
- Entrants must be the authors or creators (in the case of art) of the entered work. An editor may not be listed as the entrant except when submitting an anthology in the book categories, in which case the editor should be listed as the entrant. An entry may be submitted by someone other than the author or creator, provided the author or creator is listed as the entrant. Audiobooks must be entered under the name of the narrator, as the award recognizes the voice performance.
- In the event of a winning entry with multiple authors, a maximum of two Muse Medallions will be awarded. Additional medallions for other credited creators may be purchased for $100 each with prepayment required. Orders may be placed after the awards banquet.
- Second and subsequent editions of books are not eligible to enter unless at least 80% of the content is new compared to the original edition.
- AI-generated content is ineligible for entry into the contest. Read our full AI policy here.
- Entries must contain at least 50% cat-specific content. Applicability to cats is not sufficient.
- The first date of publication or broadcast must fall within the contest eligibility period of January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Entries may not have been previously published or broadcasted in any medium. For Fine Arts categories, the work must be completed within the eligibility period. Audiobooks are eligible based on the release date of the audiobook, regardless of the original publication date of the underlying work.
- There is no limit to the number of different entries a creator can submit in the regular categories.
- Verification of an entry’s publication date must be included with the entry (except in cases where the date is provided within the body of the entry).
- All entry materials in the regular categories must be in digital format
- Judges should not be required to join or register for a website or pay a fee to access an entry.
- The contest committee reserves the right to move an entry to another category if it determines that category is more appropriate. If an entry is moved due to insufficient entries, it will be judged using the original category criteria.
- Entry fees for Muse categories are:
- $30 per entry for non-members of the CWA
- $20 per entry for CWA members in good standing (renewed by February 28, 2026)
- $10 per entry for Professional CWA members who agree to serve as contest judges and return their judging assignments in a timely manner. You will only be assigned to judge categories that you have not entered.
- If Regular Category judging assignments are not returned by the deadline, entries will be disqualified and you will be charged the non-discoutned member entry rate.
- You will receive an email confirmation of each entry form you complete. Entries are not completed until payment is made; you must keep a tally of the number of entries you are submitting for your payment. Only one payment platform is being used this year; you can pay by card via Stripe (you do not need a Stripe account to do this).
- Please note that the closing date for entries, midnight eastern time on May 31, 2026, will not be extended under any circumstances.
2026 Special Awards Contest Rules
Please read and abide by these rules. Any entries that do not comply with the rules will be disqualified, and the entry fees for them forfeited.
- Entrants must be the authors, producers (in the case of video or film), or creators (in the case of art) of the entered work. An editor may not be listed as an entrant in any special award category. An entry may be submitted by someone other than the author or creator, as long as the author or creator is listed as the entrant.
- Instructions for the Michael Brim Distinguished Service Award and the Amy Shojai Mentor Award appear on their respective Entrance forms.
- AI-generated content is ineligible for entry into the contest. While it is accepted that most writers do use some AI tools, no work written or generated by an AI application will be accepted. Read our full AI policy here.
- Entries in the Special Awards must contain as least 50% cat-specific content. Applicability to cats is not sufficient.
- All Entries must be newly published or broadcast (or, for Fine Arts, created) between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025 and NOT previously published in any medium. Audiobooks are eligible based on the release date of the audiobook, regardless of the original publication date of the underlying work.
- There is no limit to the number of different entries a creator can submit in the Special categories.
- All entry materials in the Special award categories must be in a digital format.
- Judges should not be required to join or register for a website or pay a fee to access an entry.
- Entry fees for Special Award categories are:
- $30 for non-CWA members
- $15 for CWA members in good standing (renewed by February 28, 2026)
- There is no entry fee to nominate someone for the Michael Brim Distinguished Service Award or the Shojai Mentor Award.
- You will receive an email confirmation of each entry form you complete. Entries are not completed until payment is made: you must keep a tally of the number of entries you are submitting for your payment. Only one payment platform is being used this year; you can pay by card via Stripe (you do not need a Stripe account to do this).
- Please note that the closing date for entries, midnight eastern time on May 31, 2026, will not be extended under any circumstances.
To contact the Contest Committee, please email contest@catwriters.com.
