RULES & CONDITIONS

This competition is being organised by Stylist, Shortlist Media, 26-34 Emerald Street, London, WC1N 3QA and Virago, Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ. LBBG is part of the Hachette UK group of companies. Virago is an imprint of LBBG.

THE PRIZE IS AS FOLLOWS:

The first prize is publication of your entry in Stylist magazine and on Stylist.co.uk and Virago.co.uk. The winner will also receive a six-day writing course or retreat of their choice with Arvon (arvon.org), to be redeemed in 2017 (travel and expenses are not included), and one copy of each of the four new Daphne du Maurier short story collections published by Virago in October 2016. Two runners up will also each receive one copy of each the books. The names of the winner and runners up will be announced on 19 October 2016 in Stylist magazine. They will be informed via email. The winner and runners up agree to the use of their name and photographs for publicity purposes in Stylist magazine in connection with the competition. Their names may also be publicised in other media or on social media sites by Stylist and/or LBBG. The winner agrees to grant LBBG the first option to publish the winning short story as part of a short story collection on terms to be agreed.

ELIGIBILITY

a) The prize is open to both unpublished authors and authors who have been published before.

b) The decision of the judges on the eligibility of a short story is final and binding.

c) Entrants must live in the UK.

d) All entrants must be 18 or over. Proof of age may be required.

e) As Virago is an imprint for women authors, the competition is only open to women.

f) The competition is not open to employees of LBBG or Shortlist Media or of companies within the same group of companies, their families, or to anyone professionally connected to the competition or to the judges either themselves or through their families.

ENTRIES

a) Each entrant should submit a fictional short story of no more than 2,000 words. The short story should be gothic in theme. Entrants should include their name, contact details and date of birth on the entry form.

b) The submission must be original, not previously published, and in English. Joint submissions will not be accepted.

c) Writers may submit only one entry. Second or subsequent entries will be disqualified. Entries will not be accepted via agents, third parties or in bulk.

d) If the submission is posted, please ensure that a copy is made because no entries will be returned.

e) Please submit work double-spaced on A4 paper, single-sided with page numbers.

f) Please include name/title on running header/footer.

g) Submissions must be received by 18.00 BST on 14 September 2016. Please email submissions to shortstorycompetition@stylist.co.uk or post to Stylist Magazine, Short Story Competition, Shortlist Media, 26-34 Emerald Street, London, WC1N 3QA.

h) The entries will be judged by an expert panel who will be looking for a story which excites, intrigues and surprises them. The panel includes author Stella Duffy, Stylist’s contributing literary editor, Francesca Brown. Editorial director of Virago Modern Classics, Donna Coonan and Virago publisher, Lennie Goodings. The decision of the judges is final.

i) The judges reserve the right not to award the prize if there is no submission of sufficient merit.

j) By entering the competition, the winner grants to Stylist and Virago a worldwide licence to publish the winning short story in Stylist magazine, on Stylist. co.uk and on Virago.co.uk. If the entry requires editing prior to publication, Stylist/Virago will consult the author on any amendments prior to publication. The winner waives all moral rights in the entry. Stylist/ Virago are under no obligation to use the entry and no payment will be made for any use.

k) By submitting your entry, you agree and warrant that (i) your entry is your own original work; (ii) nothing in your entry is defamatory, private or an infringement of copyright or other intellectual property right or in any way a breach of another’s right; (iii) your entry does not contain any material owned by a third party. Any entry in breach of this clause will be disqualified from participating in the competition and from winning any prize.

l) Stylist/Virago reserves the right to cancel or modify the competition and to alter the details of the prizes or judging panels without notice. No cash or other alternatives to the prizes will be provided. No purchase is necessary to enter.

m) Stylist Virago are not responsible for contacting or forwarding prizes to entrants who provide unclear or incomplete information or for entries misdirected, delayed or destroyed.

n) Stylist/Virago shall not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations where the failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, supervening legislation or any other circumstances amounting to force majeure.

o) The names and email addresses of entrants (“Information”) will be collected by Shortlist Media on behalf of itself and LBBG. LBBG may share the Information with companies within the Hachette group of companies. The Information will not be shared with other third parties. The Information will be used for the purposes of administering the competition and for marketing purposes, for example to send entrants news about books, magazines, products and promotions or for consumer insight analysis. Entrants will be given the option of opting out in emails if they do not want to receive any further news.

p) These terms and conditions and any disputes or claims (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of these terms and conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of England, whose courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

q) By entering the competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions

Stylist fiction competition: terms and conditions