1.1. Acceptance of Terms. Submission of a literary work (the "Work") to the KISA 2026 Short Story Anthology constitutes the author’s unconditional acceptance of and agreement to these Terms and Conditions.
1.2. Originality and Provenance. All submissions must be original, unpublished, and entirely the author’s own creation. Plagiarism in any form, including the utilization of AI-generated text presented as original work, is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification.
1.3. Language and Format. Works must be written in English and maintain a word count between 1,500 and 7,500 words.
1.4. Submission Limits. Each author is restricted to a single (1) submission. Simultaneous submissions (submitting the Work to other publishers or competitions while under review by KISA) are not permitted.
1.5. Deadlines. Submissions must be successfully ingested by the platform on or before the explicitly stated deadline. Late submissions will not be processed or considered.
2. Intellectual Property and Licensing
2.1. Warranty of Ownership. The author warrants that they possess sole and exclusive ownership of all intellectual property rights to the Work, and that the submission does not infringe upon the copyright, trademark, privacy, or proprietary rights of any third party.
2.2. Copyright Retention. The author retains full underlying copyright ownership of their Work.
2.3. Rights Grant. By submitting the Work, the author grants KISA a non-exclusive, worldwide licence to publish, distribute, and sell the Work within the KISA 2026 Anthology in both print and digital (electronic) formats. This grant includes the right to utilize excerpts of the Work for promotional and marketing activities associated with the anthology.
2.4. Exclusivity Period. For Works selected for publication, the author grants KISA a first-publication exclusivity period of three (3) months commencing from the official public release date of the anthology. The author agrees not to republish, license, or distribute the Work elsewhere during this period.
3. Editorial Discretion and Selection Process
3.1. Finality of Decisions. All entries will undergo a structured evaluation by the editorial board. The decision of the editorial team is final, binding, and absolute. KISA will not enter into correspondence or appeals regarding rejected submissions.
3.2. Editorial Revisions. Selected Works may undergo editorial modifications for grammar, style, clarity, consistency, and structural formatting. KISA will collaborate directly with the author if substantial structural alterations become necessary.
4. Compensation and Contributor Copies
4.1. Attribution. Selected authors will receive formal credit in the publication matching the precise identity/pseudonym metadata provided during the submission process.
4.2. Regional Fulfillment (East Africa). Authors residing within East Africa whose Works are selected will receive one (1) complimentary printed contributor copy of the anthology.
4.3. International Fulfillment (Outside East Africa). Due to logistical constraints and high international freight overheads, authors residing outside East Africa whose Works are selected will receive a complimentary digital copy of the anthology. KISA intends to scale its physical distribution capabilities to accommodate global print fulfillment in future editions.
5. Indemnification and Liability
5.1. Indemnification. The author agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless KISA, Literary Editors Africa, and their respective affiliates, officers, and employees against any third-party claims, liabilities, losses, damages, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from a breach of the warranties outlined in Section 2.1.
6. General Provisions
6.1. Reservation of Rights. KISA reserves the right to withhold publication of any submission that fails to comply with the platform guidelines or these Terms and Conditions.
6.2. Force Majeure and Modification. KISA reserves the right to postpone, modify, or cancel the anthology project due to unforeseen technical, operational, or logistical disruptions.
6.3. Execution. By executing the submission pipeline on the platform, the author certifies that they have read, understood, and consented to the legal parameters governing this project.
