TERMS & CONDITIONS
1.This Competition is being organised by Little, Brown Book Group Limited (the ‘Publisher’), Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ.
2. The prize for this Competition is the opportunity for one person (the ‘Winner’) to enter into a publishing contract (the ‘Contract’) with the Publisher to have a short story included in (i) the paperback and (ii) the updated ebook edition of the book FURIES to be published by the Publisher under the Virago Press imprint in or around March 2024 (the ‘Prize’). The Contract will include a Fee payment (as defined in Clause 10 below). FURIES was first published in hardback, ebook and audio in March 2023. See here for more details about the book and authors. The Prize does not include publication of the short story in the hardback or audio edition of the book.
3. The Prize will be awarded to the writer who submits the best Short Story Manuscript (as defined in Clause 6 below) for an original English-language fiction short story, judged against the Judging Criteria (as described in Clause 4 below), and who meets the Entry Criteria (as described in Clause 5 below).
4. Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the following criteria (the ‘Judging Criteria’). The Judging Criteria are as follows:
- A creative short story of any fiction genre which is which is inspired by a synonym for ‘virago’, a word which originally meant a heroic, war-like woman but came to be a derogatory term for women with strength and power.
- The story must have a strong, feminist hook, theme or plot and must be written in an accessible writing style which the general reader will understand.
- The story must not be inspired by a synonym for ‘virago’ or any other word which has already been used as inspiration for a story by a contributor to the existing edition of FURIES. These are: siren, virago, churail, termagant, wench, hussy, vituperator, harridan, warrior, she-devil, muckraker, spitfire, fury, tygress and dragon.
5. In order to be eligible for the Competition, entrants must meet the following criteria (the ‘Entry Criteria’). This Competition is open to people of underrepresented genders and women who are from Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage, and multiple-ethnic groups; part of the LGBTQIA+ community; neurodiverse; have a disability; self-identify as working-class individuals; or are from a working-class background. Entrants must be aged 18 or over, resident in the United Kingdom and must not have an agent at the time of entering the Competition or have had any book or short story previously published by a publisher or self-published in whole or in part in any format or be under a contract to have their work published in any form or format. The Competition is not open to employees of the Publisher or United Agents Limited, their families, or to anyone professionally connected to the Competition or connected to the judges either themselves or through their families.
6. Entrants to the Competition are required to submit a complete manuscript for a short story that meets the Judging Criteria and consists of a maximum of 4,000 words (the ‘Short Story Manuscript’). The Short Story Manuscript must be in English and must be in a legible font and font size.
7. Short Story Manuscripts must be submitted via the Competition landing page. Entries may only be submitted between 12:01am BST on Friday, 28th April 2023 and 11.59pm BST on Saturday, 1st July 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.
8, Each entry will be judged on how well it fits the Judging Criteria. A shortlist of up to 6 (six) of the best Short Story Manuscripts (the ‘Shortlisted Entrants’) will be chosen from entries received by the Publisher in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and notified by email no later than Friday, 15th September 2023. The Shortlisted Entrants will be chosen by a selection of the Publisher’s Editorial team (the ‘Shortlist Judges’).
9. The Winner will be chosen from the Shortlisted Entrants by a panel of judges comprising the following: Monica Ali (Virago author), Claire Kohda (Virago author), Kirsty Logan (Virago author), Laura Macdougall (United Agents Limited Agent), Sarah Savitt (the Virago Publisher), and Alexa Allen-Batifoulier (Virago Assistant Editor) (the ‘Final Judges’). In the event of a tie, Sarah Savitt will have the casting vote. 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.
10. The Winner of the Prize will have the opportunity to enter into the Contract, to be agreed between the Winner and the Publisher. The Contract will set out the terms and conditions relating to publication of the short story in the book including but not limited to a fee of £1500 (the ‘Fee’), details of the rights to be granted and other provisions relating to the production and publication of the short story. The Winner will be required under the Contract to grant to the Publisher all rights in the short story in all languages throughout the world for the full term of copyright. If no agreement is reached between the Winner and the Publisher, the Publisher will be at liberty to consider and select another of the Shortlisted Entrants to be the Winner. The original Winner may not in such a case refer to themselves as the winner of the Prize for this Competition.
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.
12. By submitting their Short Story Manuscript, the entrant undertakes and warrants that the Short Story Manuscript 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 Short Story Manuscript 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.
13. The names of the Winner and the Shortlisted Entrants will be announced no later than Sunday, 1st October 2023 on The Future Bookshelf and the Publisher’s websites. The Winner will be informed in advance by email. The names of the Winner and the Shortlisted Entrants may also be publicised in other media including on social media sites.
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.
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.
16. The Publisher reserves the right to (i) cancel the Competition; (ii) alter the details of the Prize 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 Prize will be provided.
17. 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.
18. No purchase is necessary to enter the Competition.
19. By entering the Competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
20. 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.