Love at First Line Competition

Love at First Line Competition: Terms and Conditions

  3. 1. This Competition is being organised by Hodder & Stoughton Limited (the ‘Publisher’), Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ.

 

  1. 2. This Competition is for the chance to win the following prizes (the ‘Prizes’):

 

  1. a) The winner of the first prize (the ‘Winner’) will receive a cash prize of £2500, a 45-minute virtual conversation with journalist and novelist Mike Gayle to discuss their writing, 4 x 1 hour-long virtual mentoring sessions with an editor from the Publisher’s fiction team to develop the novel submitted as part of their Proposal (as defined in Clause 6), and free entry onto the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme for 2024. More details about the New Writers’ Scheme can be found here (the ‘First Prize’).
  2. b) Three runners-up will each receive a 500-word written critique of their Proposal by one of the Final judges, a £50 discount off the cost of any writing course run by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and a bundle of romantic fiction novels published by the Publisher (the ‘Runners-Up Prizes’).

 

The First Prize and the Runners-Up Prizes are together referred to below as the ‘Prizes’.

  3. 3. The First Prize will be awarded to the writer who submits the best Proposal (as defined below in Clause 6) for an original English-language commercial fiction book with a romantic theme, judged against the Judging Criteria (as described in Clause 4 below), and who meets the Entry Criteria (as described in Clause 5 below).

 

  1. 4. Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the following criteria (the ‘Judging Criteria’). The Judging Criteria are as follows:
  • – A commercial fiction novel with a central romantic theme, which has a compelling plot, convincing characters and well-written dialogue;
  • – Written in an accessible way that is likely to appeal to and be enjoyed by a wide readership.

 

  1. 5. In order to be eligible for the Competition, entrants must meet the following criteria (the ‘Entry Criteria’). This Competition is only open to those who are from Black, Asian or mixed heritage backgrounds. Entrants must be aged 18 or over, resident in the United Kingdom and must not have an agent or have had any work of fiction previously published by a publisher in whole or in part in any format or be under a contract to have their work published. The Competition is not open to employees of the Publisher, the Romantic Novelists’ Association or United Agents, their families, or to anyone professionally connected to the Competition or connected to the judges either themselves or through their families.

 

  1. 6. Entrants to the Competition are required to submit a proposal for a book that meets the Judging Criteria and consists of (i) the first 5000 words of the book and (ii) a synopsis of the full plot of the book of no more than 500 words (including an outline of the book’s themes and details of the main characters and their journey through the book) (together the ‘Proposal’). The Proposal must be in English and must be in a legible font and font size.

 

  1. 7. Proposals must be submitted via the Competition landing page [https://www.thefuturebookshelf.co.uk/]. Entries may only be submitted between 12:01am BST on 22 June 2023 and 11.59pm BST on 1 October 2023. Any entries received outside these specified times and dates and any entries that do not meet the requirements of these Terms and Conditions will not be eligible for entry to the Competition.

 

  1. 8. Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the Judging Criteria. A shortlist of up to 8 (eight) of the best Proposals (the ‘Shortlisted Entrants’) will be chosen from entries received by the Publisher in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The Shortlisted Entrants will be chosen by a selection of the Publisher’s Editorial team (the ‘Shortlist Judges’).

 

  1. 9. The Winner will be chosen from the Shortlisted Entrants by a second panel of judges comprising the following: journalist and Hodder author Mike Gayle, literary agent Ariella Feiner, Publisher at Hodder & Stoughton Nick Sayers, author and RNA chair Jean Fullerton and radio host Leah Davis (the ‘Final Judges’). The winning entry will be the one that best meets the Judging Criteria. The Shortlist Judges’ and the Final Judges’ decisions for the selection of the Shortlisted Entrants and the Winner, respectively, are final.

 

  1. 10. The Winner will be offered the First Prize. 3 (three) of the Shortlisted Entrants will be offered the Runners-Up Prizes.

 

  1. 11. If no or insufficient suitable entries that meet the Judging Criteria set out above can be found, the Publisher reserves the right to (i) not select any Shortlisted Entrants; (ii) not select a Winner from the Shortlisted Entrants and/or (iii) select fewer Shortlisted Entrants.

 

  1. 12. By submitting their Proposal, the entrant undertakes and warrants that the Proposal consists of their own original work and will not infringe the intellectual property rights of anyone. If a third party’s material is used, such as lyrics of a song, the entrant will secure the necessary permission and will provide it to the Publisher on request. The entrant further warrants that the Proposal will not contain any material which is defamatory, private or confidential or which is unlawful in any way. Any entry in breach of this Clause will be disqualified from being considered for the Competition at any stage.

 

  1. 13. The names of the Winner and the Runners-up will be announced on 10 January 2024 on The Future Bookshelf, the Publisher and the Romantic Novelists’ Association websites, along with the full list of Shortlisted Entrants. The Winner and the Runners-up will be informed in advance by email. The Winner’s name and the names of the Runners-up may also be publicised in other media or on social media sites.

 

  1. 14. An entrant may only submit one entry. Further entries will be disqualified. Entries will not be accepted via agents, third parties or in bulk.

 

  1. 15. The Publisher is not responsible for contacting or responding to entrants who provide unclear or incomplete information or for entries that are lost, misdirected, delayed or destroyed.

 

  1. 16. Subject to Clause 18, following the announcement on 10 January 2024, the Publisher will contact the Winner and the Runners-up to arrange the Prizes. The cash prize of £2500 will be paid by bank transfer. The virtual meeting with Mike Gayle must take place within 6 months of the announcement of the Winner subject to the professional commitments of Mike Gayle. The virtual mentoring sessions must take place within 12 months of the announcement of the Winner subject to the professional commitments of the Judges involved. The 500-word critiques of the Runner-Up entries will be provided within 3 months of the announcement of the Runners-Up and the collection of romantic novels published by Hodder & Stoughton will be sent to the Runners-Up within 3 months of the announcement provided a satisfactory address has been provided. Membership of the New Writers’ Scheme and all prizes connected with the RNA are subject to any terms and conditions supplied by the Romantic Novelists’ association, and must be claimed within 12 months of the announcement of the Winner. The Winner and the runners-up agree to read and comply with any terms and conditions supplied by the Romantic Novelists’ Association in connection with the Prize.

 

  1. 17. No costs or expenses will be met by the Publisher or the Romantic Novelists’ Association in connection with the Prizes. For details of any costs and expenses included as part of the Prize as supplied by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, please refer to the relevant page(s) of the Romantic Novelists’ Association website https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org.

 

  1. 18. The Publisher reserves the right to (i) cancel the Competition; (ii) alter the details of the Prizes or judging panels and/or (iii) alter any other details of the Competition without notice but the Publisher will try to avoid creating any undue disappointment. No cash alternative or other alternatives to the Prizes will be provided.

 

  1. 19. Any personal data submitted by entrants, including their names and email addresses (the ‘Information’), will be used by the Publisher (who is the Data Controller) for the purposes of this Competition, including without limitation for the purpose of judging the entries and arranging the Prize, in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and in accordance with Publisher’s Privacy Notice which can be found here. The Information will be deleted within six months of the announcement of the Winner.

 

  1. 20. No purchase is necessary to enter the Competition.

 

  1. 21. By entering the Competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

 

  1. 22. 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.