I am thinking of entering the Writers and Artists Yearbook competition. Would it be ok to submit my first three chapters to agents at the same time? What would happen - unlikely though it is - if an agent was interested? Would that cause problems in view of the fact that the top three entries in the W & A competion get an introduction to an agent?

If you only get 'an introduction' to an agent, I wouldn't worry, because the agent and you would still have to agree to work together. You need to scrutinise the rules very carefully, but unless it actually says explicitly that a) what you've submitted mustn't be submitted anywere else while it's in the competition OR b) that by entering you agree to be represented by the agency if you win (which would be a very unethical rule) then I don't see that there's anything to stop you.

Emma

I've just checked the terms & condition, and can’t see a mention of either of those, but do check carefully yourself.

The winners will be announced in early April, is that right? Even if you do offer it to agents and anyone shows an interest, you're unlikely to have got beyond the discussion stage by then, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Good luck, and welcome to WW.

Dee

Thanks for the advice and the welcome. I've taken another look at the rules. The 100 winners of a report from the Literary Consultancy are announced in April, but the overall three winners aren't announced until July. Still wondering whether to enter, or concentrate on submitting to agents.

The thing that i wasn't sure about was where it said ANY entry may be published by Bloomsbury Publishing - because it's unpublished work you submit to an agent....so i would check about this if i was you.
Welcome, BTW!

Casey

Yes, I've wondered about that one as well. I suppose if I dither long enough I'll miss the deadline and that will at least be a decision of sorts. Have you seen the Daily Telegraph competition -send the first 1000 words of a novel? Deadline for that coming up fast too, if not already missed. I am sending the first three chapters off to two agents this morning, having wasted two days reducing the synopsis from four pages to one for a competition that I'm probably not entering!

I phoned A and C Black and they said that only work of the three winners would be published on the sites, and then it would only be a chapter - and they'd talk with the writers before it was published anyway.