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2010 YOUNG  WRITERS' COMPETITION

Results of 2009 competitions are here.

Results  of SPRING 2008 competitions are here.

Results  of NOVEMBER 2007 competitions here.

Our Anthology of Best Entries for all competitions to date, from 2007, will be released late Autumn  2009, in time for Christmas.

2010 SHORT STORY COMPETITION FOR YOUNG WRITERS:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because we had so few entries last year, we have decided to run again on the basis that you may enter and send in your work, but please don't pay any entry fees until we have our target number of entries to make the competition viable, at which time we will email you confirmation and will request your entry fee.  If we don't reach our goal, we reserve the right to cancel this competition and therefore won't request the entry fee.

So please spread the word and get others involved, such as schools or other groups - Brownies, girl guides, Cubs, boy scouts, clubs, etc. 30 is not a high figure, but it's the lowest we can go with to cover the prizes (our judges do the reading for this competition without fees thank you, judges!)

We have a passion for developing young  writers. We know that dreams of writing can begin very early, and we want to encourage children of all ages to pick up a pen and write! For this competition we have waived the rule of having to send typed entries - we will accept hand-written submissions IF THEY ARE CLEAR and easy to read. Entries will be judged on imagination and creativity as our top criteria. If you are not able to understand the rules below (the language is a bit lofty in places sorry!), please have an adult go through them with you and explain them.
 

Prizes#Deadline#Fees#Critiques#Guidelines#Formatting#Rules

Enter#Payments#Addresses

PRIZES: First prize  £50 second prize  £25. Third prize is a  book. Winning and Commended entries will be included in a published  Anthology. Note that if there are enough entries, prizes may rise in value.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: Deadlines for all Short Story Competitions has been extended to 30 September 2010, due to my father's death and other complications, and our move of premises in May/June. Final entries must be with us no later than
30 September 2010. Winners will be announced at the end of November 2010.

ENTRY FEE:   £3.00 / US$5.00 / ZAR30.00  (special allowance for Africa)  per entry. ENTRY FEES WILL NOT BE REQUIRED UNTIL WE EMAIL YOU (see note at top of page).  At that time, the fees  can be paid either online (see bottom of page), by cheque/check, or by deposit into one of our bank accounts (USA, South Africa, UK). Fees are NOT refundable - please ensure you read the rules carefully. If you are paying online below, this will automatically be charged at £3.00 - so if you are in Southern Africa, it will be more than we are asking Southern African entrants we suggest that you email us for our SA bank details, and make a direct deposit - see details at bottom of page.

CRITIQUES: Judges' comments are given for the winning entries, and those highly commended (eg see the 2009 results). We will try to do the same for all entries but this is not always possible due to time restraints. Supplying full professional critiques is very time consuming (each critique takes around 2 hours of work for the children's writing). However, we understand that writers often need feedback to help them improve their work, so if you require a professional critique, please make a separate payment for this. " Young Writers" critiques will be  charged at £12.00; however we cannot undertake critiques for competition entries until after the judging is over, to maintain strict fairness.

GUIDELINES:

• This competition is open  to children up to and including the age of 15 at time of writing. For those over 15, we are also running an "Open Short Story" category, and a  "Christian Writers" category. NOTE: If we receive enough entries, we will further split the categories into age groups of those up to 11, and those from 12-15.
• Please be sure you are fully the author of your own entries. Entrants take full responsibility for copyright issues.
• Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
• Stories may  be up to but no longer than 2,000 words, in any style and on any subject (except those outlined in the Rules below).
• Please submit your entries by EMAIL, if at all possible. If email is absolutely impossible, then hard copy submissions will be accepted. (Hard copies have to be scanned into our system, which is very time consuming, so please avoid this if you can.)
• Mark entries clearly with the competition title " Young Writers Competition" , and submit as below.
• If you must submit hard copy, PLEASE: do not staple your work. Staples have to be removed for scanning and our fingers and our time both suffer.
• We acknowledge receipt, and notify winners,  by email, so please include an email address. If you do not have an email address yourself, please give us the email of a friend or relative  through whom you can be contacted. If entering by post, we can  only let you know your entry has been received if  you include a stamped self-addressed postcard to be sent back to you.
• Entries can  not be returned, as they have ID numbers put onto every page, and are then scanned for transfer to the judges. They are in no condition to be used again.
• We accept most file formats: MS Word, OfficeOrg, Wordperfect, RTF, PDF, text, and many others. If you send us something we can't read, we'll contact you. Please scan for viruses BEFORE sending!

HOW TO FORMAT YOUR ENTRIES:

• Please supply a separate page with Title, Entrant Name, AGE,  Address, Email, and the entry's Word Count.
• Each page of the story must have page number and title of the story ONLY. Do not include your name or any other identifier on any page of the entry itself. (All entries are given an ID reference number and separated from the cover page  to ensure fair judging.)
• Entries must be typed on one side of the paper only,  and neatly set out as you would a book manuscript (indented paragraphs without gaps). We will  accept hand-written entries, but only if they are neatly presented and easy to read.
• Please,  no fancy fonts! We like good old 12-point Times New Roman, or a similar serif font. We don't like sans-serif fonts like Arial they are harder on the eyes. We hate fancy twirly fonts!
• As a guideline, we like a good inch of margin on both sides as well as top and bottom. We like double spacing.
• Please check and polish work carefully. Writing is a language craft, and an artist must (a) know their craft and (b) take pride in their work. (Exceptions are made for dyslexic or otherwise handicapped entrants please make a note on your entry if this is the case.)

COMPETITION RULES:

• Entry submission indicates acceptance of all rules, guidelines, terms and conditions.
• Stories may be anything up to but no longer than 2,000 words, in any style and on any subject. However, they must not promote racism, gratuitous sex or violence, foul language,  or anything else  that does not conform to good family and moral values (and we get to decide!).
• The competition is open to anyone worldwide provided that the fee is received in either British Pounds,  US Dollars or South African Rands.
• The competition closes on 30 September 2010, and winners will be announced and displayed on our web site by end of November 2010.
• Prize winners will be notified by email as well as named on the web site please ensure you supply a valid email address with your entry, even if sent in by post, unless you do not have one - in which case, please state this on your entry title page. Please also check the web site at the end of November, in case you don't receive an email for any reason.
• Prizes will be paid via PayPal, cheque/check, deposit into your bank where possible, or any other reasonable, cost-effective method.
• Prizes must be claimed within 30 days of being published on the web site and contacted by email. After 30 days, prizes will be forfeited.
• All entries must be written in English. Other languages will not be accepted.
• You may enter as many different works as you like, as long as each is accompanied by an entry fee.
• Entries must be in entirety the original work of the entrant, and the entrant must fully own all necessary  rights to enter this competition.
• Writers retain copyright, but give permission for their work to be published on this website at our discretion, and in any one future anthology produced by Sunpenny Publishing or its imprints.
• The judges' decision is final no individual correspondence or disputes  will be entered into.
• In extremis, deadlines and any other dates may be postponed by Sunpenny Publishing without notice in order to provide enough time to raise necessary costs through revenue for the competition, or for any other legitimate reason. Likewise in extremis prizes may be adjusted, but our reasons will be good should either of these necessities arise!
• We reserve the right to adjust these rules without notice.
• Entrants are responsible for completing the submission process effectively. We cannot take responsibility for entries lost in the post or in cyberspace. If you encounter problems, please let us know timeously.

TO ENTER:

Please ensure that you have read all the rules and guidelines above before entering! Submitting your entry indicates full acceptance of these rules. When you are ready, please use the email link under " Addresses" below, and attach your ENTRY and separate COVER PAGE. Don't forget to put all the details onto your cover page, as in our FORMAT instructions. When we receive your entry email, we will acknowledge it within 2-3 days with your competition entry number. We will email you again when we are ready to accept payments for this competition.

PAYMENT OF ENTRY FEES:

Please do not make any payments until we have emailed you - see note at top of page. When we are ready to accept payments we'll let you know, and direct you to the right page.
 

ADDRESSES YOU WILL NEED:

EMAIL ADDRESS  FOR DIGITAL FILES ENTRIES (no matter where you are sending from):

competitions-AT-sunpenny.com
(replace the " -AT-" with the @ sign, no spaces either side).
 

PHYSICAL ADDRESS FOR CDs, DVDs, or HARD COPY (PAPER) ENTRIES:

Sunpenny Young Writers Competition
3 Broomfield Court
Broomfield Park
Sunningdale
Berkshire SL5 0JP
UNITED KINGDOM