having never entered any writing competitions before, i am planning to submit an entry to a short story competition in a magazine.

the rules state that:


> you agree to the publication of your short story in the magazine. there will be no payment for publication of your story and the magazine reserves the right to edit the short story as we see fit.

my questions are these:

1) if i submit several entries am i liable to be disqualified? there is nothing in the rules about only one submission per contestant.

2) whether my stories win or not, having submitted them into the competition will the magazine automatically get copyright of them?

3) could the magazine use them at future dates without paying me, even if i were not the winner?


any help gratefully received because i am a complete newbie in this area and do not know what i am dealing with. thanks in advance.

1) Unless they stipulate that only one entry is allowed per person, then no.

2) No.

3) Not without your permission I think.

Might sound obvious, but if possible, always ring/email/write and check about things like multiple submissions. And if your instinct tells you to hold back, then do- there are loads and loads of short story comps around, and more coming along all the time, so if you don't enter one, there will, like buses, be another one along shortly. But it is a good idea to always read the rules carefully, because new writers can get caught out. And always make a list of what you've sent out, when and who to, so you can chase.

hi insane bartender,

cheers for that :-)

nice site btw, i checked it out after seeing an hilarious posting you put on another thread :-)

> I would also enlcose a colour photocopy of my backside, post bowel emptying, but prior to any attempt at cleaning it, and would not expect a response.


which cracked me and my partner up :-)

thanks for taking the trouble to reply anna :-)

> Might sound obvious, but if possible, always ring/email/write and check about things like multiple submissions.

good idea.


> And if your instinct tells you to hold back

the most failsafe judgement mechanism there is imho (especially for a woman ;-) (sorry lads :-)


> there are loads and loads of short story comps around, and more coming along all the time, so if you don't enter one, there will, like buses, be another one along shortly.

i'm finding this out, yes, thanks :-)

i've found a very good link this morning regarding entering competitions. written by john reid, it's here:

http://www.lulu.com/items/21000/21790/preview/Preview.rtf

for only four quid you can download the whole book (which i've done and am going to read on the train later). the author has a lot of experience entering, winning, losing and judging competitions, has had several novels published, and is a mine of useful advice and information. maybe he is well known on here already, i don't know, i'm new here. but anyway he is worth investigating.

> But it is a good idea to always read the rules carefully, because new writers can get caught out.

interestingly, this is exactly what john was saying in his book regarding judging competitions - that many of the entries are immediately disqualified because contributors simply didn't read the rules carefully enough.


> And always make a list of what you've sent out, when and who to, so you can chase.

what a great piece of advice, i hadn't thought of that, thankyou anna :-)

i am beginning to realise that, as with any other professional artistic career, the creative bit is only the tip of the iceberg of hours of organisation and hard work :-)

No problem. I too enjoyed looking at your website. That is until I realised I am still at work and could probably lose my job for looking at that stuff.

And I thank the lord for the ALT+F4 command, I can tell you.

LOL! nutter :-)

i have never previously encountered the alt F4 command.

hardcore! that not only minimises the potentially offensive site, but also obliterates it from the prying eyes of the net-wise boss (there's always one)whilst you've left your desk unattended for five minutes to make a cup of tea.

cool :-)

give my regards to your gf btw, she looks like a babe :-)

Not wanting to sound too geeky (though I always fail), the command closes the currently active program, which includes any MS application, like Word or Excel, but is equivalent to pressing the x in the top right corner.

(unsaved documents will still prompt before closing)

How sad am I?

Unfortunately, I won;t pass onthe compliment to the lady, as she got angry enough with WW when I proposed to meet up when everyone went to Brighton (eventually I couldn't go anyway, so it's moot). But thanks =)

<Added>

Oh, the ALT+F4 command can aso close down windows, if no command is currently active.

Why am I telling you this?

> Not wanting to sound too geeky

geeks are cool. they know stack loads of stuff. i've got the dorling kindersley star wars visual dictionaries, does that qualify me? ;-)


> Oh, the ALT+F4 command can aso close down windows, if no command is currently active.


cheers, IB, very useful :-)

with respect to competitions, i have just downloaded this book about how to win writing competitions:

http://www.lulu.com/content/23870


by john reid. its the best 4 quid i've ever spent, absolutely invaluable advice, i highly recommend it.

> Unfortunately, I won;t pass onthe compliment to the lady, as she got angry enough with WW when I proposed to meet up when everyone went to Brighton (eventually I couldn't go anyway, so it's moot). But thanks =)

people off here meet up in real life too? cool :-) when i first joined the climbing forum i go on (make that live on) i started organising meet ups in real life, and its lead to so many positive things. i've met three BRILLIANT writers from on there (besides myself of course ;-) and we're all encouraging one another with getting published.

its a very very positive thing meeting people from forums. i met my partner through the climbing forum and we're deliriously happily shacked up together now :-)

this is the latest event ive organised for a trip to glencoe:

http://www.rockfax.com/forums/t.php?t=75463&v=1

so do you have an area on this board like we have "down the pub" on the climbing forum, for general banter and non-forum-specific discussion and debate?).

Hey Jude, we have the lounge forum for chatting and things. I'd agree with Anna in saying check their submission details by getting in touch with them, if you don't think they've given enough info. I always do. Sometimes they don't put everything down because they're new to the game themselves, and don't always know what writers need to know. Likewise with putting stuff out, keep a good record with all relevant (sp?)details, especially the date you posted and the rough date or month you expect to hear from them by. Welcome to WW.
Becca.

Friend of mine has had a couple of short stories published. Apparantly (and advise welcome please.) You can copyright by sending a sealed envelope back to yourself or a friend etc with the story in it. It is then dated and shows the envelope has not been open. Sign across the seal at both ends. Dont know whether this really does copyright but its still worth doing. Comments welcome.

hi becca,

thanks for the advice. i will certainly be following it!

> Welcome to WW.


thankyou for being so friendly :-) its daunting going to a new forum :-S


teefoley:

i have read this too, apparently it is accepted as an official form of copywrighting.