The Rules

What

Write an open letter  to someone who positively impacted your life. It could be someone in your family or it could be a stranger in the grocery store. Make sure your letter has an inspiring or positive message.

Check out some examples on The Unsealed:

Dear Oprah

Dear Ruth Bader Ginsburg, your fight was my future

To Sammie, This is how our friendship made me feel

Who

You must be over 18 and a member of The Unsealed Community. You can sign up for The Unsealed Here

_{*no relatives or employees on The Unsealed are permitted to enter}

When

All Entries must be in by 11:59 ET on April 29, 2022

Our Finalists will be chosen by our judges and be announced May 16th

Our winner will be announced June 1st

You can submit your entry in the submission box below or email it to Contests@theunsealed.com

Letter Requirements

• Entries must be in English
• They must be typed and e-mailed to contests@theunsealed.com
• They must be true story about your life
• The letter can’t mention anyone’s name except yourself (Example: you can call someone a friend, a neighbor, a teammate or a family member but you can’t call them by their name, John Smith)
• The letter must be original writing from the person submitting the letter
• The letter must not have been published anywhere else
• The letter can’t can’t be defamatory toward another person
• The letter must be 500- 800 words
• Only one entry per person
• Include a headline for your letter and a photo that goes with your story. If someone else is in the photo, please get their permission to submit.

Rights

You will own the rights to your entry but by entering the contest you will give us permission/limited license to publish the letter and any pictures you provide on The Unsealed. You will also allow us to promote your entry on social media using your letter and the provided picture.

How it will be judged

The Unsealed will narrow it down to our finalists based on the following:

• Organization that is logical and effective, is the letter easy to read and understand?
• Creativity/originality, is there anything that makes this letter unique?
• Message/insight – does the letter offer a thoughtful message?
• Impact/Inspirational – is the story powerful and inspirational?
• Accurately addresses the topic – does this letter share a an inspirational message?

The Unsealed will post the finalists (judged by professional writers). The Unsealed community will vote on their favorite story for one of our two prize ($300)s. Voting will be counted from May 16th to May 31st at 6pm ET. Member votes will count 5x as much as readers who are not members. The other prize ($350) will go to the story  the judges choose.

Selected by Judges – $350

Most Votes – $300

*We pay via PayPal, Venmo or Zelle

Good Luck!