Prestigious Great Britain-Ireland Writing Contests

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Writing-Contest

Two writing contests call for entries, due in September – one for short stories, one for novels – attract British, or in the UK published writers.  One is for previously unpublished novels, the other for short stories of well-published authors, prizes range from £5,000 to £30,000 – the highest prize award every paid for a short story.

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MSLEXIA Women’s Novel Competition
MSLexia magazine is on the lookout for novels of at least 50,000 words written for adults (and young adults) in any genre by previously unpublished female novelists.  The first prize is £5,000.  Entry fee is £25.
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Judges, Winners, and Finalists
Judges will be: Marina Lewycka (novelist), Juliet Mushens (literary agent), Di Speirs (Books Editor, BBC Radio & Music Production).  The winner and four other finalists will receive manuscript feedback from The Literary Consultancy and an invitation to a special networking event with literary agents.

Placing in the competition can help you along the road to publishing success.  The 2011 winning novel The Palace of Curiosities by Rosie Garland was published by HarperCollins, and Lu Hersey’s Deep Water – the winning entry in our 2012 Children’s Novel Competition – secured a publishing deal last year.

To enter, please submit the first 5,000 words of your completed novel.
Deadline is September 21, 2015.

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2016 SUNDAY TIMES Short Story Award
Writers from around the world – who have been published previously in the UK or Ireland by a trade publisher – are invited to enter the 2016 Sunday Times Short Story Award.  No entry fee!
The prize is for stories up to 6,000 words in length.  The winner will receive £30,000 (ca. US$46,500), making this the most valuable prize for a single short story in the world.  Five runners-up prizes will £1,000 each.
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From the entries submitted, the judges will draw up a longlist of up to twenty (20) short stories.  The judges will then reduce this to a shortlist of six (6) outstanding entries, from which they will select the winning entry and five runners-up.
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Sorry – No Self-Published Authors
Stories can be either unpublished or published – but not earlier than 2015.  Writers can enter regardless of their nationality or residency,  but they must have an existing record of publication (print books or an established printed magazine) in creative writing in the UK and Ireland.  The Award is open to authors writing in the English language, aged 18 years or over at the time of submission.
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Carefully read the lengthy submission guidelines
Be aware that you practically give away your short story, albeit for a fantastic prize, as the conditions move all publishing rights indefinitely to the Sunday Times and its subsidiaries – worldwide.
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Moreover, by submitting an Entry, Entrants agree to make themselves available for public relations activities wherever possible, including participating in events in the run up to the Award in London and elsewhere.  In the event of being shortlisted for the Award, Entrants agree to attend the Award Ceremony (if one is held), and in the event of winning the Award undertake a mutually acceptable limited programme of activities to promote the Award – particularly immediately after the Award is made.

Deadline for entries is September 24, 2015.
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Also for British Authors:
Great advice about literary income and taxes by Natalie Butlin on MSLexia: Get paid before you are published. https://mslexia.co.uk/get-paid-youre-published/

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