Do You Want to Write 12 Picture Books in 12 Months? | Learn More!

2025 Registration Is Open!

Member Login
Instagram Youtube
Contact

Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Your Privacy is important to us. This privacy policy for The 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge (“12 x 12”, “we”, “us”, “our”) details how we might collect, store, use, and/or share (“process”) your information when you use our website. Reading this policy will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use this website.

Who we are

This is the website for The 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge. Our website address is: https://12x12challenge.com.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

You can access our website anonymously without logging in, creating an account, or making a purchase, in which case we will not ask you to provide us with any personal information.

We may collect certain information automatically when you use our site, such as your Internet protocol (IP) address, device identifiers, browser type, operating system, Internet service provider, the date and time of your visit, information about the links you click, the pages you view, the general manner in which you navigate the Sites, and other standard server log information.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Contact forms

Information you provide to us through our contact form is used only for purposes of handling that request. Data from those requests is not kept or stored or used for any other purpose.

Opt-in forms

Throughout the website, you may find opportunities to sign up for newsletters, notification lists, events, or to receive free resources. When you sign up for any of these lists, we will ask you to provide us with your name and email address. We also collect some inferred data which is generated when you sign up for any of our lists. This includes, for example, your IP address and how you signed up for the list.

We keep the personal information you provide when you opt-in to a list for as long as you continue to be subscribed and unless or until you indicate that you no longer wish to be subscribed to that list. Procedures for opting out of any of our lists are provided at the bottom of every email you receive from those lists. You can also email us at kelli@juliehedlund.com to request removal from any of our lists.

Cookies

Cookies are small bits of information that are stored by your computer’s web browser. Pixel tags are very small images or small pieces of data embedded in images, also known as “web beacons” or “clear GIFs,” that can recognize cookies, the time and date a page is viewed, a description of the page where the pixel tag is placed, and similar information from your computer or device. To find out more above cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

We use cookies and similar technologies for technical reasons to enable the efficient operation of the Site, to enhance the ease of use of the Site, and to gather statistics on how you use our Site. By using the Site, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies. You may opt out of cookies and similar technologies, but please understand that certain functionalities on the Site may no longer function for you if you choose to do so.

In no event does the cookie we place on your computer tell us anything about your visits to other websites or your use of the Internet in any other way.

Do-Not-Track Signals and Similar Mechanisms. Some web browsers transmit “do-not-track” signals to websites. Because of differences in how web browsers incorporate and activate this feature, it is not always clear whether users intend for these signals to be transmitted, or whether they even are aware of them. We currently do not take action in response to these signals.

Links to Other Sites/Embedded content

12x12challenge.com contains links to other sites that are not under our control. Such other sites do not necessarily follow our privacy policies, and may place their own cookies on your computer. This practice is standard on the Web, and we do not control cookies placed on your computer by third parties whose advertising or links appear on our site.

Likewise, 12x12challenge.com may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

12x12challenge.com aggregates visitor information anonymously, which provides us with data on how many visits the site receives and on which pages, where the visitor is coming from (IP address, external links, etc.), and how long they stay on the site. None of this information is attached to any user-identifiable information. We use it only to make decisions about the content we provide on the site.

Data Sharing

We will not share, sell or rent your name or address to third parties not affiliated with 12x12challenge.com. No personal information will ever be provided to outside parties for marketing, advertising or other such uses without your explicit consent, or where we are obliged to disclose such information by law.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Your Rights

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

If you have provided your information to sign up for one of our lists, you may request to receive an exported file of the data we obtained from from you and any other data provided by our mailing list service. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

International Users

We maintain information in the United States of America and in accordance with the laws of the United States, which may not provide the same level of protection as the laws in your jurisdiction. By using the Site and providing us with information, you understand and agree that your information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside your resident jurisdiction and, to the extent you are a resident of a country other than the United States, that you consent to the transfer of such data to the United States for processing by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Use of the Website by Minors

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires that we not knowingly collect or share personal information from children under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent or guardian. If you are aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided personal information without such consent, please contact us at picturebooksubmissions.com so that we can delete such information. Any photographs published on this site that include children have been done so with the explicit consent of a parent or guardian or are stock photos we have purchased a license to use.

How we protect your data

12x12challenge.com uses commercially reasonable precautions to protect users’ information. We do not take payments directly from the website (any such transactions would be routed through PayPal or Stripe), and therefore we do not store any such sensitive data. Please note that information collected by third parties may not have the same security protections as information you submit to us, and we are not responsible for protecting the security of such information.

Additional questions

If you have any further questions about this policy or the use of your data, email us at kelli@juliehedlund.com.

Financial Need Scholarship Guidelines

All applications will be accepted ONLY via the Financial Need Scholarship form HERE.

The application period is November 1 – 30, 2025.

You will need the following items to complete the application form:

  1. Your bio, written in third person using no more than 250 words. Please include any writing credits.
  2. A short statement about why you write picture books and what you hope your work brings to the children’s book market in no more than 250 words and written in first person.
  3. A short statement describing the nature of the financial need/circumstances using no more than 250 words and written in first person.
  4. A photo of yourself that can be used in 12 x 12 social media posts and communications, if you are awarded a scholarship.
  5. A query letter for the picture book manuscript you are submitting with your application saved as a WORD doc (.doc or .docx) using this naming convention: FIN_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_QUERY_LETTER.doc or .docx (Replace the first and last name with your first and last name.)
  6. One picture book manuscript of 1,000 words or less, saved as a Word doc (.doc or .docx). The title, art notes, and/or backmatter do not count toward the manuscript’s word count.
  7. Do not include illustrations or photos with your manuscript. Author-Illustrators are encouraged to apply, but applications will be judged based on writing only.
  8. Use this naming convention for your Word doc: FIN_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_TITLE_OF_YOUR_MANUSCRIPT.doc or .docx (Replace the first and last name with your first and last name. Replace TITLE OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT with the title of your manuscript.)
  9. Pitches for two additional completed picture books.
  10. One or more of the following must be included with your application: your Instagram handle, your Bluesky handle, your Twitter/X handle, your Facebook profile, or your website URL.

 

Ready to apply? Click the button below and submit your application by November 20, 2025.

I'm Ready to Apply Now >

Diversity Scholarship Guidelines

All applications will be accepted ONLY via the Diversity Scholarship form HERE.

The application period is November 1 – 30, 2025.

You will need the following items to complete the application form:

  1. Your bio, written in third person using no more than 250 words. Please include any writing credits.
  2. A short statement about how your work brings an underrepresented voice to picture books using no more than 250 words and written in first person.
  3. A photo of yourself that can be used in 12 x 12 social media posts and communications, if you are awarded a scholarship.
  4. One picture book manuscript of 1,000 words or less, saved as a Word doc (.doc or .docx). The title, art notes, and/or backmatter do not count toward the manuscript’s word count.
  5. Do not include illustrations or photos with your manuscript. Author-Illustrators are encouraged to apply, but applications will be judged based on writing only.
  6. Use this naming convention for your Word doc: DIV_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_TITLE_OF_YOUR_MANUSCRIPT.doc or .docx (Replace the first and last name with your first and last name. Replace TITLE OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT with the title of your manuscript.)
  7. A query letter for the picture book manuscript you are submitting with your application, saved as a WORD doc (.doc or .docx) using this naming convention: DIV_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_QUERY_LETTER.doc or .docx (Replace the first and last name with your first and last name.)
  8. Pitches for two additional completed picture books.
  9. One or more of the following must be included with your application: your Instagram handle, your Bluesky handle, your Twitter/X handle, your Facebook profile, or your website URL.

 
 

Ready to apply? Click the button below and submit your application by November 30, 2025. We can’t wait to read your application!

I'm Ready to Apply Now >