How to submit your entries for the Writers’ Village International Short Fiction Competition 2013

1. Prizes total £1500 ($2400 approx)

The prizes are: First Prize £1000 ($1600) and Second Prize £250 ($400). Five shortlisted entrants will win £50 ($80). A further five Highly Commended entrants will gain a free entry in the next round. 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 International Short Fiction Competition 2013', when approaching agents, publishers, editors (etc). Other winners will be entitled to use the phrase: ‘Shortlisted [or Highly Commended] in the Writers' Village International Short Fiction Competition 2013'.

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 short story may be submitted up to 3000 words and in any genre (eg. mystery, romance, fantasy, crime, science fiction, children’s, etc).

The work should not have been previously published in print media at the time of its submission to the contest. Prior publication on a blog or website is acceptable. Contestants are free to submit their stories to other contests, whether or not the stories win.

Entrants must be 18 or over.

Playscripts, non-fiction articles and poetry may not be entered. (True, the definition of a ‘script’, 'non-fiction article' or ‘prose poem’ may be arguable. But to ensure a level playing field for all entrants, anything that clearly appears to be a script, article or poem - or otherwise not a short story - will be excluded and the judge’s definition of the term ‘clearly’ will be final :))

To be fair to new entrants, a story will not be considered for a cash prize if it has previously been entered in the competition or has otherwise received critical feedback from John Yeoman. For the same reason, the same contestant cannot win a cash prize at Writers' Village more than three times.  Winners of cash prizes must agree to their stories being showcased at the Writers' Village site.

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 midnight (GMT) Saturday 30th November 2013. Winners will be informed and the stories displayed on the Writers’ Village website by end-January 2014.

4. Presentation format

Prepare your stories exactly as you would for submission to an agent or publisher, with your full contact address plus e-mail and telephone number, included in the same file as the story.

The subsequent text should be in Times Roman or similar (no exotic fonts, please!), 11 or 12-point. Single spacing is acceptable. Put your story title 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. Or use cwriting [insert the usual bit] btinternet [another punctuation mark] net. 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: 2013 entry: [your name]’. That way, the system will recognize it as a competition entry rather than spam.

E-mailed attachments must be in the format: Word.doc, .docx, rtf, txt (plain text), pdf or .odt (Open Office).

Alternatively, hard copy entries can be posted to: Village Guild, The Old School House,  Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9DP, UK, enclosing a cheque drawn on a UK bank and payable in pounds sterling (GBP), payable to Village Guild. 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, drawn upon an account held in pounds sterling.

6. How to pay for your entries

The entry fee is just £15 (approx $24). You may submit as many stories as you wish but each story must be accompanied by a fee of £15 (approx $24), paid either by PayPal or cheque.

Every entrant, winner or not, will receive a detailed analysis of how their story was assessed.

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 more than one entry, please make each subsequent entry 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.

If the form asks you to add 'instructions for merchant', include the note: "Writers’ Village entry 2013 [your name and the story titles]".

Or pay by cheque: If you pay by cheque, it must be made out to 'Village Guild', drawn on a UK bank 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. Cheques should be posted to: Village Guild, The Old School House,  Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9DP, UK.

Note: your submission can be enclosed as hard copy and mailed along with your cheque but it must also be sent electronically. as an attachment or on a CD or floppy, should you win a prize.

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.

The receipt of all entries will be confirmed by 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 by clicking here.

A tip: as always, start the Subject line ‘Writers’ Village’ so that your message will be given priority.

Deadline reminder: entries must be received with payment by midnight (GMT) Saturday 30th November 2013. 

Thank you! To email your story, click here. If that link doesn't work with your browser, use this address: cwriting [add the usual element] btinternet [the familiar punctuation mark] com