Win a £400 ($660) cash prize for your short fiction in the summer 2012 competition

Cash prizes totalling £550 ($900) can be won in the Writers' Village summer 2012 'Best Writing' competition for prose fiction in any genre up to 3000 words.

The first prize is £400 ($660), with a second prize of £100 ($160) and a third of £50 ($80). 

A further five shortlisted entrants will receive a FREE entry for their story in the next round.

Prizes will go to those writers whose short fiction shows the greatest originality, mastery of the craft skills of creative writing, and power to move the reader.

The summer round of the 2012 contest follows the great success of the previous seven Writers' Village 'Best Writing' competitions, entered by writers from all over the world. 

Entries will be judged by Dr John Yeoman, MA Oxon, MA (Res), MPhil, PhD Creative Writing, winner of the Nemesis Award 2011, a university tutor in creative writing, and for forty years a successful commercial writer and publisher.

The new contest deadline is midnight 30th June 2012.

What contestants told us about the feedback on their stories

Jenny Heap. Warwickshire, England. "I was most impressed that you were able to give such genuinely considered, insightful and helpful feedback – a definite bargain at £10!"

Mary Jane Lick. Gatesville, Texas. "I appreciate the very helpful critique you have offered on my piece. This is the only contest I have found, so far, that provided a critique without charging extra for that. You offered some excellent suggestions that I will certainly consider."

David Hill, Eastbourne, England. "Your advice on short story competitions is excellent. I have followed it and won one competition and been shortlisted in two others so far."

Nancy Pawelek. Ottawa, Ontario. "Getting your critiques WAS worth the entry fee. I appreciated the conciseness of your advice and your encouragement. Seeing the points for each element now helps me focus in my re-writes."

Patsy Miranda. London. "This is the best website I have found so far especially if you are an aspiring writer. The free writing tips are invaluable, the critiques are extremely helpful and certainly more than their money's worth, and free access to the winning stories is a bonus. Absolutely well worth a visit, or two or more!"

Warren Glover. Woollahra, Australia. "I've both placed and been unsuccessful in Writers' Village contests and each time I've found the feedback fair, justified and extremely useful. I'd recommend Writers' Village contests as both a motivational and learning tool."

James Ward. East Sussex. "Out of the 66 writing competitions I've entered to date, yours is far and away the best organised, most competitor-friendly, and easily the best value for money."

Angela Johnson. Barcelona, Spain. "I treasure your valuable feedback and I'm glowing from some of the comments you made. I am sure I will enter a story again!"

Madeline Parsons. Southend-on-Sea, England. "I very much liked your marking system. It made me feel confident that the story had been judged against a set of criteria which had been applied to all the entries, and thus the competition was less subjective. I found your feedback to be just and insightful."

Barbara Leahy. Cork, Ireland.  "Competitions can be like black holes swallowing up stories so it is great to get feedback from someone who actually read and thought about my entries."

Joan Sonnenburg. Ontario, Canada. "Many thanks for your comments. These are more helpful than any cash award."

David Roberts. Westerham, England. "Your feedback was much appreciated and indeed well worth the entry fee. It's always good to know where exactly you fail in a competition otherwise it is almost impossible to improve oneself."

Charles Clennell. Gilberton, Australia. "Thank you for your very constructive feedback to my two stories. Failing to gain a prize was less important to me than receiving useful feedback to help improve my writing skills."

Susan Hartnell-Beavis, Yeovil, England. "[I'd like to record] my thanks for the tremendous value your critiques have for me. Not only does it help us improve as writers, but it is also obvious, from the winners that you choose, that your standards are very high. That is why we can trust what you say."

Ken McBeath. Ontario, Canada. "A critique such as yours is worth as much as a prize or more -  and very few competitions offer feedback without a hefty extra payment."

Helene Dolder. Newcastle upon Tyne, England. "It wasn't the taking part, it was the taking apart that most encouraged me! Your time to read, digest, regurgitate and comment was tremendous value at £10."

Sharon Birch. Aberfeldy, Perthshire. "Feedback such as this is invaluable to me as a writer and very helpful when I come to edit and put them right. I shall enter your future competitions and spread the word amongst fellow writers. Your helpful tips emails are extremely informative and a welcome insight."

Joyce Mackenzie. Dundee, Scotland. " I am delighted at the [feedback you gave me]. Its just as good as a win for me. Your marking system is extremely good. It lets the writer know where they have succeeded and where they have failed."

Hazel Martell. Keighley, West Yorkshire. "Thanks again for the kind comments - they really were appreciated! I'm also passing information about your competitions to various writing friends and hope they will also be encouraged to enter."

Alan Coley. Thames Ditton, England. "It was very good to receive your comments. It's so refreshing to receive constructive criticism rather than being left to stare at the short list and not be able to work out why my name wasn't on it. Many thanks."

Kim Kremer. Penrith, Cumbria. "Thanks for the feedback I received on my two stories. It was encouraging and helpful, and I'd definitely enter the competition again."

Donald Blair. Garve, Highland. "Thank you very much for your very encouraging comments on the stories."

Peter McGinniss. East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. "I found your comments to be very helpful, and illuminating in terms of what is being looked for in a short-story writing competition. I shall take the advice on board."

Nicola Young. Sevenoaks, Kent. "Thank you for your feedback. It was a great to help to me. It's just encouraging to know you're going in the right direction, especially as I'm new to this."

Lande Abudu. Eastcote, Middlesex.  "I really needed to hear an independent view of ways to improve my writing. It was helpful to get feedback as I am only just venturing into the world of writing competitions; I'll keep at it and hope to be a winner some day soon."

Valerie Bowes. Surrey. "Thank you very much for your comments, which I did indeed find helpful. Of particular use is knowing how I scored on the points system which you use to make your judgements. And the writing tips are very good, as well!"

Gail Richards. London. "John treated my stories with respect from start to finish, understood the theme and the characters and made some incisive and pertinent suggestions for improvement. I was impressed with the time and trouble he took and the insight he showed. If this is terse feedback I'd love to see a full critique!"

Paul Barron. Co Wexford, Ireland. "I found John's feedback exceptionally good.The breakdown and marks system is particularly good in focusing attention on parts that are not working. Most competitions offer no feedback or charge a fee. For my part I can't see how you can improve unless you know where you went wrong. Thanks again, John, for the feedback."

Doreen Stoneham. Oxford, England. "Your comments have helped me to identify points which appeared clear to me but not to the reader. I shall certainly be entering again. I have been recommending your site to my writing group. It’s the best I have found."

Amy, High Wycombe, England. "Your comments brought clarity to my doubts and renewed my interest in those two stories, which is fantastic. I really feel it is possible to make both those stories work now, whereas before I was unhelpfully despondent/irritated with the outcome."

Writers' Village 

helps new writers to achieve publishing success by providing:

• realistic advice
• practical encouragement plus
  
• tangible rewards

Winners spring 2012

Gain a FREE 'master class' in writing contest success...

You will receive immediately...

, How to Win Writing Contests for Profit, packed with practical tested ways to enter your short stories in writing awards world-wide, win cash prizes profitably - and improve your writing skills.

Winner winter 2011 

 Winner autumn 2011

Winner summer 2011

Winner summer 2010

 Winner spring 2010

 Winner summer 2009