Archive for category Competitions
World Book Night Books Have A New Home
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Successes on June 6, 2011
The draw has been made and my World Book Night books now have a new home. I will be posting them off to Dorinda Cass in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Dorinda says about herself:
I am about to start the final year of a BA(Hons) degree in Creative Writing at the University of Hull. For the degree I have done all different types of writing including plays, short stories, poetry. Next year I will be concentrating on one of my favourites – either short stories or novel. I am just starting to write with publication in mind. I have been a member of Scarborough Writers’ Circle for five years and, for my sins, I am now the treasurer of the group! We have a website at: http://scarboroughwriterscircle.wordpress.com and anyone interested in writing is welcome to come along.
I hope you enjoy the books, Dorinda!
I also want to give a mention to two fellow bloggers:
- Bev Morley is giving her blog a makeover and is looking for guest book reviewers – so pay her a visit if you’ve read a good book recently.
- I had intended to award Mel Hammond a Versatile Blogger Award but unfortunately she didn’t get my message about it in time for me to include her in my original post. So this is a belated mention for her!
Finally I have a couple of small successes to report (which go some way towards making up for rejections from The Oldie and The Weekly News):
- Star letter in the July edition of Writing Magazine
- Long-listed in the Emerald Writing Workshops ‘Novel Opening Competition’ . I have made the long list of 16 from an original entry of 54. A short list of 6 will be chosen shortly – fingers crossed!
Novel Writing Competitions 2011
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on May 30, 2011
We all know how hard it is to get a novel published from the slush pile. However, if you’ve won a competition with your manuscript (or even just been placed) it will make your covering letter stand out from the masses. So if you’ve got an unpublished manuscript in the drawer why not polish it up and try one of these competitions (or you could write something from scratch…)
Nemesis Debut Novel Competition
Nemesis is a small publisher looking for a debut novel to publish in 2012.
Manuscripts for the competition should ideally be between 70,000 and 130,000 words with no restriction on genre. There is no entry fee and email submission is preferred. All entries must be accompanied by a synopsis of no more than 1,000 words and an author bio of no more than 500 words.
The closing date is 14 August 2011 and the winner will be announced by 30 November 2011. Full details are here.
Mslexia Novel Writing Competition
Mslexia is looking for novels by commercially unpublished women novelists. Any genre is acceptable apart from books aimed at under 13s. The finished novel must be at least 50,000 words.
First prize in this competition is £5,000 plus Mslexia’s stamp of approval, which will ensure agents and editors are keen to read your full manuscript.
Submit the first 5,000 words of your novel in the first instance but the manuscript must already be complete. Short-listed entrants will then be asked to submit their full manuscript.
Closing date is September 30th and the winner will be announced in the MAR/APR/MAY issue of Mslexia. Full details are here.
World Book Night Books
If reading novels rather than writing them is more your thing then see here for a chance to become the next owner of my World Book Night books. There’s only a day or so to subscribe to this blog and thus get yourself in the draw.
Poetry Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry on May 23, 2011
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The library was full of leaflets for poetry competitions. I only do poetry very badly so I won’t be entering but here are the details for the rest of you:
- Sonnet or Not organised by Cannon Poets. Choose one of the traditional sonnet forms or experiment with alternative 14 line forms. First prize £250 and entry fee is £4 for the first poem and £2.50 for each additional poem. Closing date is 31st October 2011. For full details email martin@cannonpoets.co.uk.
- Nottingham Open Poetry Competition. First prize £300 and entry fee is £3 per poem or £10 for 4 poems. Closing date is 6th September 2011. Full details plus last year’s winners are here.
- Torbay Open Poetry Competition. This is organised as part of Torbay Poetry Festival and has a huge £800 first prize plus a Prizegiving Party in Torquay. Entry is £4 per poem or £10 for 3 poems. Closing date is 31st August 2011. An entry form is required and I suggest you use the contact form on the Festival website to request one.
In case you’re wondering – the illustration is William Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’.
If you’re not yet signed up for a free email subscription to this blog, use the box on the right to enter your email address and you could become the next keeper of my World Book Night books.
Competition Entry Fees
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Uncategorized on May 16, 2011
How much are you prepared to pay to enter a writing competition?
Entry fees can range from nothing to £10+ and if you enter a lot of competitions (which many of us do due to the dearth of short story markets) it can get very expensive.
In the June issue of Writers’ Forum, Sally Quilford writes that she thinks in terms of 10 per cent i.e. if the entry fee is £5 then she expects the first prize to be over £50.
Personally, I prefer a smaller percentage ratio given the large amount of entrants that most competitions attract – if I’m paying £5 then I’d like the first prize to be £100. However, if the money is going to charity or a critique of each entry is included in the fee then I am happy to make an exception and pay more.
Paying a fee to enter a competition does sharpen the mind. If I’m paying for entry then I won’t send an existing story that ‘almost’ fits the requirements – I will write a new one that fully embraces the theme of the competition and, as far as I can tell, fits the style required.
But there’s nothing to beat the gay abandon induced by free competitions with email entry. There is literally nothing to lose with these comps (not even the price of a large letter stamp and A4 envelope). It is a terrible shame not to enter them – so if there’s no time to write something new then I dig an old story out of the archives and give it a quick polish.
Yesterday I did just that and sent an entry in to this competition:
Write a story for bedtime – this is sponsored by A. Vogel Herbal Remedies and it is an Adult bedtime story they are after (no, not that sort of adult). The story must be between 1500 and 3000 words and four prizes will be awarded – 1st: £500, 2nd: £300, 2 x 3rd: £100 each. Additionally, there is an extra £50 to be had if your entry is chosen as ‘Story of the Month’.
Womag writer Della Galton is one of the judges and ‘due consideration will be given by the judges on the appropriateness of the short story for bedtime’. The current ‘Story of the Month’ is written by one of the judges and fits neatly into the Womag mould with a nice, happy ending.
Closing date is 28th October 2011.
Passing on World Book Night 2011 Books
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Competitions on May 5, 2011
Regular readers of this blog will know that I attended a World Book Night event in Birmingham back in March. Several different books had editions specially printed to be given away on World Book Night (there were one million volumes in total). At the back of each book it states:
“Once you have read it, please pass the book on to someone else.”
So, now I intend to send the books I received on the next stage in their journey and I’d like them to go to a subscriber to this blog.
The books are:
- Killing Floor by Lee Child
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- New Selected Poems by Seamus Heaney
I will choose the lucky recipient by picking a name on June 1st from everyone on my email subscription list as at midnight May 31st.
If you are an existing email subscriber to this blog then you will be automatically entered into the draw to receive the 3 books. If you are not an existing email subscriber and would like to be in the draw for the books, please use the box on the right-handside of the screen to register for an email subscription – it is free of charge and you can un-subscribe at any time.
If the winner has anything writing-related that they wish to promote then I will also give that a mention when I announce the winner.
The winner will be contacted by email to obtain their postal address – if I get no reply within 14 days then I will draw another winner. The winner must have a UK postal address.
I’m looking forward to sending the books on their way!
P.S. The World Book Night event will be repeated again in 2012 but the date will be moved to 23rd April – the international day for celebrating books.
Bits and Pieces
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Successes on April 28, 2011
Hope you all had a good Easter and are dusting off your best frocks and morning suits for tomorrow’s royal nuptials. In the meantime here are a few bits from my world of writing over the last 10 days or so:
- Those of you who subscribe to The New Writer will have seen Simon Whaley’s piece about receiving 12 rejections from the same magazine, on the same day – each in its own stamped addressed envelope. This made me feel a whole lot better about my own rejections – my personal record being 4 stories turned down by My Weekly in the same email, which made me feel pretty bad at the time I can tell you.
- The results of the Readers Digest 100 word story competition are now out here. They are also showcasing several of the entries on a daily basis on their website – if yours has been selected please leave a comment with the link here so that we can all share your success!
- I had a phone call from the David St. John Charitable Trust this week to tell me that I had won a competition that I entered in November 2009 ! It just goes to show that you should never give up hope.
- If you’re feeling lucky there are 6 sets of 6 nature/outdoor books to be won in a Telegraph Prize Draw.
- Finally, I have a story in the April 30th issue of The Weekly News (2 short story acceptances within a month is something of a record for me!)
Call for Royal Wedding Submissions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Markets on April 21, 2011
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Louise Gibney is compiling an anthology of pieces about royal weddings. It might be about how you celebrate William and Kate’s nuptials at the end of this month or your thoughts about the event. Alternatively recollections about previous royal weddings are welcome. Can you remember what you were doing in 1981 when Charles and Diana got married or were you around in 1947 when the Queen and Prince Philip tied the knot? Did you have a street party or watch all the excitement on a brand new TV bought especially for the occasion?
I remember watching the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson through the window of a television showroom in my lunch hour from work (no bank holiday for them!) and when William’s parents got married I was part of a band that rang a quarter peal on our local church bells to mark the occasion.
Proceeds from the anthology will go to UNICEF and all successful entrants will receive a copy of the book.
Entries should be between 500 and 2,000 words, double-spaced in 12 point, typed in a Word document. Don’t forget to include your name, address, telephone number and email.
Post your submission to:
Louise Gibney
100 Avenue Road
Winslow
Bucks.
MK18 3DB
or email: louisegibney88@hotmail.com
Closing date is 29th June 2011.
Alternatively, if you’re a poet (and can work to a tight deadline) have a look at the Royal Wedding sonnet competition mentioned on Helen Yendall’s blog.
Short Story Critiques
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Resources on April 4, 2011
A couple of weeks ago a follower of this blog contacted me for advice on obtaining a critique for a short story she was working on. Understandably, she didn’t want to pay a fortune and nor she did she want to risk the story being hijacked by someone else.
For a short piece of work like this the critiques offered by competitions are reasonably priced. These include:
- Writer’ Forum – a monthly competition with an open theme and maximum word length of 3,000. The critique is an extra £5 on top of the entry fee. I’ve used this service once and received a one page report covering: Presentation, Title, Opening, Dialogue, Characterisation, Overall. It pointed out my overuse of clichés, incorrect use of the word ‘indiscrete’, problems with characterisation and the fact that the ending was too ‘sudden’. So for £5 I had a lot to work on to improve the story before it went off to another competition.
- Meridian Writing run quarterly competitions and offer a basic critique for an extra £3. This is usually an A4 page in length. They are also offering critiques for noncompetition entries with the fee varying on whether a basic or detailed report is required and the length of the story.
- Flash 500 Competition is another quarterly open themed competition but the word limit is 500. The optional critique is £10. These competitions are run by Lorraine Mace and she also offers critiques on non-competition pieces (any length and including articles and non-fiction books), see here for more details.
A subscription to Freelance Market News includes a free critique on 3,000 words of prose or 120 lines of poetry. It costs £29 for 11 issues and includes free monthly writing competitions plus 20% off entry to The Writers’ Bureau Short Story and Poetry Competition.
Does anyone else know of a critiquing service that is good value?
Olympic Storytellers Wanted
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Markets on March 24, 2011
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BT is searching for people to become the storytellers of the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the 12 months leading up to the Games those chosen will capture and record what London 2012 means to them and the wider British public. Applicants may have a direct connection with the Games or simply be an enthusiastic observer.
They are looking for bloggers, social networkers, creative writers, poets, film-makers, photographers, musicians, journalists, artists etc etc – in fact anyone with a creative leaning and an interest in recording the build-up to and the events of both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics. Your creative output might focus on a personal experience or something in your locality or the national build-up.
I should say at this point that there is no mention of any payment. However, the announcement does say that there will be:
“the chance for our storytellers to experience the excitement that’s already building around London 2012. You’ll be able to attend sporting and cultural events, and meet some of the people who are directly involved, from athletes to celebrities. In addition, BT will be aiming to showcase some of your work online and even in the media.”
I don’t know exactly what this means but it sounds to me like a great way of getting involved in a once in a lifetime event and I’ve already got my application in.
Apply on-line here. There is a very simple form to complete but you do have to state in 100 words why you would like to be considered as a storyteller. Those chosen will be informed by the 26th July 2011.
Emerald Writing Workshops – Flash Fiction Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Successes, Writing on March 17, 2011
It was my birthday on Sunday and the day was made even more special by receiving an email from Eddie Walsh of Emerald Writing Workshops to let me know that I was a runner-up in his Airport themed 500 word short story competition. A book of crime short stories is on its way to me – an unexpected ‘extra’ birthday present!
The winner was Tracy Fells from West Sussex. Her story was set around the baggage reclaim carousel and you can read it here. Congratulations Tracy!
Eddie Walsh is an Irishman living in Nottingham. He mainly writes fillers and letters but has recently become interested in fiction writing. In his competitions he is aiming to encourage the hobby writer and believes even getting on a shortlist stops a writer from giving up. He provides critiques of entries whenever he can, as writers rarely receive independent feedback.
Eddie runs a 500 word story competition every three months with a £75 prize fund for each one (£50 first prize, £15 second prize, £10 third prize plus books for 3 runners-up). There are 3 competitions currently open to submissions:
- First 500 words of a novel – closes May 31 2011
- 500 words on an open theme – closes August 31 2011
- 500 word ‘Riches to Rags’ story – closes November 30 2011
The entry fee is 5 second class stamps (or a cheque to that value). There are discounts for multiple entries into the same competition. Entries are acknowledged on receipt and periodically the site is updated with the number of stories received for each of the competitions.
Eddie is also currently running a 4-sentence competition which is free to enter and has a £75 prize fund to be divided equally between the 3 best entries. However, entries will only be accepted from people who have previously entered one of the 500 word competitions.
So if you’re looking for a competition with a friendly feel try Emerald Writing Workshops . And remember that the cost of second class stamps will be going up in April, so buy them now to use for your entry fee or if you intend paying by cheque, get your entries in before the price increase takes effect.
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