welcome to summerfest challenge!
for summerfest, hintonverse writers have a challenge of submitting a fic with a minimum word count of three thousand words for any hintonverse canon (the books + two films). sign ups open june 7th, 2026, close on june 14th, 2026. posting begins on july 4th, 2026 and close on july 14th, 2026.
as stated, these challenges are meant for all of s. e. hinton's books, tim hunter's adaptation of tex and the two coppola films. characters and plots from the television show and the musical aren't applicable. you can do crossovers with hinton canons for this as well! (ie: you can cross over tex and hawkes harbor but you cannot submit a work involving any musical or television version of canon or any characters found solely in those canons.)
for this, the challenge is open. you can write about characters having fun during the summer, write about them being involved in summer activities. sky is the limit, as there's no real them to this one, if you want, there will be a bingo card available for prompts!
all works must be posted onto AO3 during the posting period. i will not accept any fics posted solely on tumblr.
the works are supposed to center on the canonical hintonverse characters. if you'd like shipping in your work, that is okay! please tag your works accordingly for the ships and canons.
this challenge is also only for participants who are 18+. i will vet everyone who wants to participate; that's why it's semi-public. if you're underage, you will not be allowed to participate and i reserve the right to deny participation if harassment or bad behavior occurs.
entries must hit the minimum for 3,000 total words. when i say that, i mean if you want to write three separate one shots, all three would have to add up to 3k or more in word count. or if you wanted to do ficlets or longer pieces, they still need to hit the 3k minimum total when they're submitted. you aren't obligated to write one whole piece that is 3k — all you need to do is get there whether it's over one work submitted or multiple.
yes, you may submit multiple works! just please submit them and then post them during the week of posting.
as stated elsewhere, your works will not be policed. that means that if someone writes a ship or tackles are more controversial subject or has a rating higher than T/PG-13, your works are fine and allowed. the only thing that is required is that you tag appropriately and rate appropriately on AO3 and you treat fellow people who are involved respectfully.
do not post your works until posting week! i understand you might get antsy, but please wait until submission week.
if you have any questions, my ask box is open.
signups open june 7th, 2026 and close june 14th, 2026. all i require for sign up is your tumblr url, your ao3 user, and the ships you intend to focus on. that's it. once you sign up, you can more or less begin to write unless i have a follow up question/clarification.
pre week check in. we'll have a check in around june 25th to see how things are going. this is going to be a tumblr post with responses, and maybe shooting a message.
challenge close date and posting week. fics are to be posted starting at july 4th, and will go on until the july 14th. i'll be posting and promoting them, adding them to the ao3 collection if you haven't done yourself (please make sure your account is open for collections!). please feel free to comment others, give encouragement and engage.