How to submit your entry for the Writers’ Village Best Writing Award spring 2010
1. Prizes total £300 ($485).
The prizes are: First Prize £150 ($242); Second Prize £30 ($48); Third Prize £20 ($32). Ten further prizes will also be awarded of £10 ($16) each. Prize monies will be paid via PayPal (if entry was paid for by PayPal), or by a cheque payable in sterling pounds if entry was paid for by cheque.
The top three winners will be entitled to accredit themselves: ‘Winner, 1st prize [etc], The Writers’ Village Best Writing Award spring 2010’, when approaching agents, publishers, editors (etc). Other winners will be entitled to use the phrase: ‘Shortlisted for the Writers’ Village Best Writing Award spring 2010’.
Winning entries will be showcased here on the Writers' Village site.
In the unlikely event that insufficient entries of reasonable quality are received to provide a fair basis for judging, no prizes will be awarded but all entrants will be returned their entry fees.
2. Types of entry accepted & judging criteria
Any form of prose fiction may be submitted up to 3000 words and in any genre (eg. mystery, romance, fantasy, crime, science fiction, children’s, etc). These may be short stories or a section from a novel in progress.
If a section from a larger work like a novel is submitted, please include the title of that work and a terse - up to 200 word - description of it, to give your entry a context.
The work should not have been previously published in print media at the time of its submission to the contest.
Playscripts and poetry may not be entered. (True, the definition of a ‘script’ or ‘prose poem’ may be arguable. But to ensure a level playing field for all entrants, anything that clearly appears to be a script or poem will be excluded and the judge’s definition of the term ‘clearly’ will be final :))
In judging entries, particular weight will be given to their power to move the reader, their originality and their demonstration of the craft skills of creative writing.
3. Deadline & timings
Entries must be received with payment by 12 noon (GMT) Wed 31st March 2010. Winners will be announced by 30th April 2010 on the Writers’ Village website.
4. Presentation format
Prepare your story exactly as you would for submission to an agent or publisher: a cover sheet with the story’s title, approx. word length, and your full contact address plus e-mail and telephone number.
The subsequent text should be in Times Roman or similar (no exotic fonts, please!), 11 or 12-point, double or 1½ spaced. Put your story title, name and page numbering in the header. (Presentation rules for the professional submission of work can also be found in The Writers’ & Artists’ Year Book, and similar manuals.)
5. How to submit entries
We would greatly prefer stories to be e-mailed as an attachment. Click here to e-mail us. Payment may also be made from this site by PayPal, using the PayPal button below
Important: in the Subject line of your e-mail put ‘Writers’ Village: spring 2010 entry: [your name]’. That way, the system will recognise it as a competition entry rather than spam :)
E-mailed attachments must be in the format: Word.doc (not .docx), or RTF or txt (plain text).
Alternatively, hard copy entries can be posted to: Village Guild, PO Box 6336, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 6BJ, UK and a cheque payable in pounds sterling (GBP) enclosed with the entries. However, if you wish your work to be showcased on the Writers’ Village website, should you win a prize, your entry must additionally be e-mailed as an attachment around the time of entry or enclosed on a CD or floppy with your posted entry.
Entries will be accepted from anywhere in the world, provided that they are in the English language and that payment is received via PayPal or by a cheque in pounds sterling.
If an entrant makes more than one submission, the single best entry he or she submits will be selected to go forward for final judging. In this way, every individual will stand an equal chance of winning in the final round.
6. How to pay for your entries
The entry fee is just £5 ($8) per entry. You may submit as many entries as you wish but each must be accompanied by a fee of £5 ($8), paid either by PayPal or cheque.
Pay by PayPal: This is the fastest, easiest way to pay, especially if you want to be sure that your payment is received by the contest deadline. If you are paying your entry fee by PayPal, simply click on the PayPal button below and follow the instructions given. To submit several entries, please make each one a separate PayPal transaction.
Alternatively, you can send the fee directly from your PayPal account. Our PayPal address is: cwriting [at] btinternet.com (fill in the obvious bit in the middle!).
Or pay by credit card: Clicking on the "Buy Now" button below will also let you pay by credit card if you do not have a PayPal account.
Always be sure to include the note: "Writers’ Village entry spring 2010 [your name and the story title]" when the form asks you to add 'instructions for merchant'.
Or pay by cheque: If you pay by cheque, it must be made out to Village Guild and payable in pounds sterling (GBP). Enclose with the cheque a note that clearly indicates your name, postal address, e-mail address and telephone number plus the title(s) of the stories you are submitting.
Note: your submission can be enclosed as hard copy and mailed along with your cheque but if you wish your story to be showcased on the Writers’ Village site, should you win, it must also be sent electronically as an attachment around the time of entry or enclosed with your hard copy on a CD or floppy.
7. Disclaimer & Copyright
By the fact of entering, entrants attest that the work submitted is their own original composition, that they own the copyright, and that the work has not at time of entering been published in print media elsewhere.
Entrants will retain the copyright to their own submitted work and are free to submit it at any time for publication elsewhere, or for entry in other competitions.
Entries will not be returned. While every reasonable precaution will be taken for the safekeeping of entries, neither John Yeoman nor Writers' Village will accept responsibility for the loss or non-arrival of entries. Entrants are strongly advised to keep a copy of all entries.
If you would like confirmation that your entry has been received, either: for e-mailed submissions, tick 'Request read receipt' (under the Tools menu) when sending your email or, for posted submissions, enclose a stamped addressed postcard.
Queries
Please feel free to e-mail any queries you may have about the contest or the critique service by clicking here.
A tip: as always, start the Subject line ‘Writers’ Village’ so that your message will be given priority :)
Entry for Writers' Village contest spring 2010
£ 5
Please submit your entry fee here by PayPal or credit card for the Writers' Village contest spring 2010. If you are submitting several entries, please repeat this process for each entry. Be sure to add your name and story title in the 'instructions to merchant' when you submit each fee.
