NEO•GRIOT

First Crime Novel Competition 

Rules for the 2011 Minotaur Books/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition

Sponsored by St. Martin's Minotaur and Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

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1. The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, who has never been the author of a published novel, as defined by the guidelines below, (except that authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel. Only one manuscript entry is permitted per writer. 

2. All manuscripts submitted: a) must be original, previously unpublished works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language by the entrants; b) must not violate any right of any third party or be libelous, and c) must generally follow the guidelines below. 

 

GUIDELINES

a. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story.

b. WHAT CONSTITUTES PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED: For the purpose of this Competition, previously published material includes the publication or distribution of the entry, in part or whole, in paper or electronic format or in any other medium, including self-published works. This does not include a chapter excerpt on an author's website, subject to the conditions that: (i) the excerpt is the only text that exists for public viewing; (ii) the excerpt is not for sale to the public, and (iii) the number of words in the excerpt does not exceed 10% of the total number of words in the work as a whole.

(The decision of the Competition's judges as to whether or not a manuscript qualifies will be final.)

3. Nominees will be selected by judges chosen by MWA, with the assistance of the editorial staff of Minotaur Books, and the winner will be chosen by Minotaur Books editors on the basis of the originality, creativity and writing skill of the submission. The decision of the editors as to the winner of the Competition will be final. Minotaur Books reserves the right not to select any winner if, in the sole opinion of the editors, none of the manuscripts submitted are of publishable quality. 

4. An attempt will be made to notify the Competition winner, if any, no later than March 31, 2011. The winner will then be recognized at the Edgar Awards Banquet in New York City in April 2011. 

5. If a winner is selected, Minotaur Books will offer to enter into its standard form author's agreement with the entrant for publication of the winning manuscript. After execution of the standard form author's agreement by both parties, the winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000. THE WINNER WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY OTHER PRIZE AND WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY PART OF THE ADVANCE UNTIL THE STANDARD FORM AUTHOR'S AGREEMENT HAS BEEN EXECUTED BY BOTH PARTIES. Those terms of the offer not specified in the printed text of the Minotaur Books standard form author's agreement will be determined by Minotaur Books at its sole discretion. The entrant may request reasonable changes in the offered terms, but Minotaur Books shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes. Minotaur Books may, but will not be required to, consider for publication manuscripts submitted by other entrants. 

6. All requests for entry forms must be received by Minotaur Books at the address below by November 13, 2010. DO NOT SEND MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS TO MINOTAUR BOOKS. For copies of these rules and to request an entry form, please send a stamped, self addressed envelope to: 

Minotaur Books/MWA Competition
St. Martin's Minotaur
175 Fifth Avenue, 18^th Floor
New York, New York 10010

Each entrant will receive an entry form containing the address of the judge to whom he or she will send his or her manuscript. Entries must be postmarked no later than November 30, 2010 and received by judges no later than December 15, 2010 and must include: 

a) A double-spaced and neatly typed copy of the manuscript (photocopies are acceptable), with pages numbered consecutively from beginning to end.

b) A letter or cover sheet containing the name, address, email address and telephone number of the entrant and the entrant's previous writing credits, if any.

c) The application form, duly completed, and a self-addressed letter-sized envelope for our response.

d) A digital copy of the manuscript either burned to a CD or saved to a disk as a Microsoft Word document. All disks and CDs should be marked with the author's name and the title of the manuscript.

*Each entrant must keep a copy of the manuscript for his or her own protection. Minotaur Books will not be responsible for lost, stolen, or mislaid manuscripts. Because of the great volume of submissions we receive, the fact that judges are volunteers with full-time responsibilities elsewhere, and the fact that most writers now have the work in their computers, manuscripts, CDs and disks will not be returned. Please do not send return postage or envelopes for return of your manuscript. 

1. No critical evaluation or commentary will be offered by the judges or the editorial staff of St. Martin's Minotaur unless, in the sole opinion of the editorial staff, evaluation or commentary is appropriate in the case of a manuscript being considered for publication. 

8. This Competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law. 

*It is important that you submit your manuscript as early as possible. Our judges are volunteers who are extremely busy with their primary concerns, and it is inevitable that your submission will get a more careful reading if the judge does not have to contend with a flood of last-minute entries. However, it is not necessary to send it the most expensive way. We judge on-time delivery by the post-mark or equivalent, not by the date the judge receives the manuscript. 

Good luck!