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“War of the Words” is the SciFiNow writing competition in association with Tor UK, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited (“the Competition”)
1. The winner will receive a publishing contract with Macmillan Publishers Limited for publication in 2010 dependent on publishing schedules. For the purposes of this competition we will pay the winning author a 20% royalty on net receipts but there will be no advance (i.e. an advance payment against future sales). Our contract is non-negotiable and we acquire world rights, with rights revenue split 50/50. We also reserve the option to publish the author’s second novel. The final book is intended to be published in the United Kingdom. Publication will be subject to the winner’s acceptance in writing of those terms and conditions and compliance with them.
2. All entrants must have a full length novel (being between 80,000 and 150,000 words long) completed and available upon request by the close of competition on 20 August 2009.
3. Entrants who have had a full-length novel previously published by a trade publisher anywhere in the world will not be eligible, (so you will not be excluded by virtue of having any previously self-published work). Additionally this competition is not open to employees or their immediate families of the Promoters and any companies within the Imagine Publishing Ltd. group of companies or the Macmillan Publishers Limited group of companies.
4. To be eligible, initial entries must comprise of a full synopsis and the first three chapters of a novel set in the fantasy or science fiction genre. There must be a novel completed and available for review by 20 August 2009 should the judging panel request to see the full novel. Entrants will not be put forward to the shortlist without a full novel. The synopsis and first three chapters should be double spaced and emailed to: warofthewords@imagine-publishing.co.uk to be received by SciFi Now Magazine at Imagine Publishing Limited on or before the closing date of 20 August 2009 17:30 GMT.
5. Entries from the first round will not be returned.
6. The Promoters assume no responsibility for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, illegible or misdirected entries or for any failure of the website during the competition period.
7. Entrants confirm the following in relation both to their entry and, where applicable, all further work supplied by them where they are selected for the shortlist as described below. Namely that all such work is their own original work and has not previously been published anywhere in the world; that it does not infringe any laws whether of the UK or elsewhere or the rights of any third party; that no other person was involved in the creation of such work; that they have the right to give the Promoters and their respective licensees permission to use it for the purposes set out below.
8. No purchase necessary.
9. Only one entry per person. No joint entries are permitted.
10. A shortlist of six candidates will be drawn up by the judging panel. The judging panel will consist of readers from SciFiNow magazine, the Tor imprint at Pan Macmillan Publishers and at least one person independent of the promoters. The identity of the judges will be made available on request. The shortlisted entrants will be notified no later than 07 September 2009. SciFiNow or Tor will notify the shortlisted candidates by telephone/email, and they will need to respond no later than 5 days from the notification otherwise another entrant will be selected from the remaining eligible entries.
11. Each shortlisted entrant will be sent a copy of the Macmillan Publishers Limited contract which they must agree to sign in the form in which it is put forward by Macmillan Publishers Limited in the event that they win the competition. Entering into the final stage of the competition is conditional upon such agreement.
12. Copyright in your entry and all subsequent work provided by you where you are selected for the shortlist will remain with you. The winner will be governed under the terms of the Pan Macmillan contract which they must sign as described above. By entering the competition, entrants irrevocably grant the Promoters the right to reproduce their entry or an edited form of their entry in any form or format for the purposes of advertising, marketing or point of sale as the Promoters shall determine. They also irrevocably agree to participate in such promotional activities and feature in such promotional and PR activities as the Promoters may reasonably require and consent to the use of their names, city of residence, photograph for publicity purposes in all media.
13. The winner will be the entry which, in the decision of the judges, shows a thorough grasp of narrative, pacing and characterization and additionally who, in the opinion of the judges, will create the most appealing and commercial book for the science fiction and fantasy readership and is the most suitable author to be published under the Tor imprint at Pan Macmillan Publishers. The judges’ decision in all matters will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
14. The winner will be announced no later than 25 November 2009. The winner will be notified by telephone/email, and will need to respond not later than 5 days from the notification as to whether they are able to accept the prize. If a selected entrant does not meet all of the terms and conditions, or does not reply by the deadline another entrant may be selected by the judges from the remaining eligible entries.
15. Entrants must be 18 or over on 01 May 2009 and there is no geographical restriction.
16. There is only one prize which is the opportunity to have your novel published under the Tor imprint by Macmillan Publishers Limited in 2010 dependent on publishing schedules. The prize is subject to the winning author committing to strict deadlines for publication purposes.
17. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. The Promoters reserve the right to amend the specification of the prize, and to amend the terms of, or to withdraw this competition without notice, although every effort will be made to avoid undue disappointment to entrants and to provide a prize of similar quality and value. Details of any such changes will be posted on http://www.scifinow.co.uk/
18. The name/country of the winner will be published on http://www.scifinow.co.uk/ and published in SciFiNow magazine on 25 November 2009.
19. The email address and phone number you provide on entering this competition will only be used by us to contact you if necessary, and will not be shared with other companies.
20. The Promoters have organised this prize in good faith and do not accept liability relating to the prize.
21. These competition Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising therefrom.
22. Promoters: SciFi Now Magazine, part of Imagine Publishing Limited, Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ and Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited of Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire (“Pan Macmillan”) (together “the Promoters”). Please email warofthewords@imagine-publishing.co.uk if you have any queries that are not covered by any of the terms and conditions contained here.
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Can one enter this contest if one does not reside in the UK? I am an American citizen currently living in Singapore. Am I eligible?
Nevermind. I just saw it. Thanks anyway.
Any chance this competition could be opened to residents of the Commonwealth? Say, residents of Australia, Canada, NZ… so on and so forth.
After all, what’s the point of being a member of the Commonwealth – which you English guys started with your empire, by the way – if there are no practical advantages? (I mean seriously, the Commonwealth games offer no advantage to the average sci-fiction or fantasy reader now, do they? You can’t brandish them around as a consolation prize…)
Here’s hoping you open the competition boundaries – aand at the same time stretch the boundaries of the world.
Regards,
Vic K.
Are self-published books eligable? I’d like to enter mine.
Are self-published books eligible for your competition? I really want to enter mine but self-published just before Christmas.
Hi Robin,
The terms and conditions state that to be eligible, you cannot have had a book published anywhere in the world before, and that the book you are submitting must not have been published anywhere in the world before. We assume that this includes self-published novels, however, we will check for you.
Update: This does include self-published works, we’re afraid.
The synopsis and the three chapters. Are they to be pasted into the body of the email or as an attachment? and if so, which format RTF or Doc etc?
Thanks for your time.
Sending them as a .doc attachment will be fine.
Have submitted my entry. Am I supposed to recieve confirmation it has been recieved because I haven’t as yet?
Hi Paul,
Please assume that it has been received. Due to the volume of entries that we are receiving, it’s not possible to reply to every one.
However, I just checked, and we definitely have had it in.
- James.
How long do you want the synopsis? Agents I’m querying’s desires range from 3-10 pages?
Is there a way of withdrawing your entry if your current queries result in publication or is there an exclusivity clause until the end of the contest date?
I have a contract to publish an ebook, but it is not yet released and is not contracted on paper. Where does that fall on the published/not divide? With e-publishing being what it is, I can’t possibly be the only one who wonders!
The rules said:
“Entrants who have had a full-length novel previously published by a trade publisher anywhere in the world will not be eligible, (so you will not be excluded by virtue of having any previously self-published work). ”
So self-published novels won’t exclude entrants – as neither do short stories collections…
What about small press? I have a novel that’s published by a new small press (one man band) does that count me out for submitting another un-published novel?
Given that it’s a contest, you might consider sending an acceptance email. Your techies ought to be able to whip up some kind of automated reply system. You do have techies, right? I mean, what kind of sci-fi magazine doesn’t have techies? :D
One question about clause 12: even if my entry doesn’t make the shortlist, do the Promoters still have the right to use it for promotional purposes? The first two sentences of this clause made it sound like it only pertained to shortlisted entries, but then sentence three starts with “By entering the competition, entrants irrevocably grant the Promoters the right to…”, hence my confusion.
How long would you like the synopsis to be?
I have a novel of 187000 words. Am i still elidgable?
Since the rules and regulations clearly state 80,000 – 150,000 words, I’d imagine it would have to be edited.
I’m wondering too about the definition of a “full” synopsis. Do you mean a chapter-by-chapter breakdown? Or is a detailed summary of the main storyline sufficient?
I’m also wondering about the synopsis as well…if it’s going to be a mere summary of the storyline it would say little about the novel, maybe an “explanation” on the philosophy of the novel would work as well?
i was wondering whether the prologue, which has the beginning of my story, counts as a chapter, in which case i would have to submit the prologue and chapter one and two. right?
Sorry to repeat other people but is there any answer on how long you want the synopsis to be? What agents and publishers require can vary massively.
Re: length of the synopsis.
Have you decided what you prefer? An overview or a storyline? If a storyline, how long?
Thanks.
Just putting the finishing touches to it.
Regarding questions about the synopsis, Tor submission guidelines specify between three and ten pages in standard manuscript format, so I expect you want a storyline synopsis?
Can you send confirmation that you have received my entry (Sisters Island : The Sixth Millennium)? I will hate to find out later that my email has gotten lost and my entry did not reach you guys. I don’t want to miss out on your competition. Thanks.
Tor UK, I just emailed my submission, the manuscript as an attached RTF file. Have you received it? Cheers, Ronald J. McIsaac
I have just submitted my entry, do I get a confirmation that is has been received? Also, I have sent them as attachments. Is that acceptable, or are they supposed to be in the mian body of the e-mail?
I just sent off my submission (Deadshot), before noticing that someone mentions in the comments above that Tor submission guidelines ask for a ten page synopsis. I am afraid that my synopsis is longer than that. Is this liable to be a problem, does anyone know?
Thanks.
Yeah, I sent mine on the… uh 10th, I think, as attachments (doc format). An acknowledgment might have been nice, just an auto-response, ya know? Us writers are nuerotic types (“Do they like me? Is it long enough? Is it too long? Is my nose too big? etc etc”) and any comfort, no matter how anonymous is welcome.
As it is, I trust in the internet gods (or “the memes”) that it got through. Praise the internet Gods! I R teh funnay!
Patrick H
In fact the seventh of August. In the interests of geeky sci fi accuracy.
P
Hi all,
Due to the hundreds of submissions we’ve received, it’s impossible to reply to every single one with an acknowledgment, as that in itself would practically require another set of hands. If you’re concerned that it hasn’t gotten through, please call SFN.
- J.
Come on, dude, this is sci fi! Don’t you have a sexy robot that does all that?!?!
Patrick H
Out of (burning!) curiosity, will you be requesting complete manuscripts before the short list is announced, or only looking at the complete manuscripts of the short-listed entries?
Patrick H
Hi James,
First, thanks for responding to some of our questions personally. That’s pretty cool. Second, I was curious to know what the next step is. Will you be announcing those who have advanced to the short list? Or is it a sort of, if we don’t hear back from you guys by a certain date, we can stop checking our email? I realize there are probably a ridiculous amount of submissions and that sifting through them will take time but any light you can shed on this would be awesome.
Thanks in advance.
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
Yes, we have the (slightly gruelling) task of sitting down over the next couple of weeks and reading every submission that’s been entered. From there, SFN will draw up a shortlist and Tor will do the same, we’ll meet to discuss what we think should go through, and we’ll announce what’s going forward. I don’t know the exact date, but I’ll try to find out later today for you!
Cheers,
James.
James, my sinopsis was just three pages, very syntethic, is that a problem for you?Did I burn the chance to become a published sci-fi writer? :)
Three pages is fine :)
Just wondering if the finalists have been notified yet?
I like to watch Supernatural and also Lost, becous the sexy cast lol. BTW found this site on google, searched for some TV Show Plot.
I just caught wind of this contest. Judging by the response it was a success. Do you know if there are any plans to make it an annual contest?
Very nice information and well laid out site with some great stargate universe info – just what i needed! Thanks xox
I’ve said that least 2485251 times. The problem this like that is they are just too compilcated for the average bird, if you know what I mean