national short story prize (UK/British National)

Sigh!

'Wouldn't it be luverly?'

I forget which famous writer won it last year.

Oh your link isn't working. It looks like spam actually, some sort of advertorial.

Correct link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontrow/short_story_prize.shtml

Just edit it and take out the "<" bit and etc.

Anyways, I wish I'd been previously published. I think that rule stinks. "You cant enter unless youre already published", like you have to be in this elite clique in order to enter. Awful. Shame on the BBC.

Nope!

Sadly it makes sense.

This is a huge prize without an entry fee.

This is also prestigious. They want the creme de la creme of short stories.

Asking for published writers only, means they won't have weeks worth of slush to wade through from hopefuls.

You might be a serious hopeful, Sc00t, but believe me 99% of the hopefuls are not. I've organised short story comps myself and been a reader in others. Until you've experienced it you can't believe the rubbish that comes in to a free entry competition and has to be waded through. Poems, novels, essays, songs, children's stuff are the better part of the ineligible slush. The rest is weird!

What PDR said.

I"ve been a final-round reader in a play competition for four years now. Good grief!

And I bet that even with the already published requirement - they still get entries from people who "know" their story is so good that the requirement will be waived.

OMG.... 15,000 quid prize....

*drools all over keyboard*

Thanks for posting this, ER, I'd have completely missed this one!!

At the Small Wonder Festival in September, Rana Dasgupta read a story from his book "Tokyo Cancelled", which got shortlisted for his prize last year. He then did a Q&A where he basically said that it wasn't a short story so much as a "fable".

I know that the competition's aimed at promoting public interest in short stories, which is a good thing, but I can't help but feel that there's a certain ... snobbery about it. Mind you, I'd probably feel completely different if I was actually eligible to enter.

Oh believe me, this set up is way better than those competitions which charge an entry fee and then when the winners list comes out, you discover every single work of them has several books published. I've been watching one of those competitions for several years now. Seems strange to me how they never "discover" anyone. The law of averages says "once" doesn't it?

The Lady, the thing is that it's not open to new talent. The rules of the competition are that it's only open to published stories (which can be submitted by the author or their agent).

There's a huge thing going on in the UK right now about trying to get the public interested in short stories. However, the focus seems (to me) to be based on promoting interest in established writers rather than encouraging new ones. What interested me about Rana Dasgupta's Q&A was that when asked about the effect that the shortlist had on him, he started talking about how he it had helped him to get a deal for a full length novel that he's writing on. I wondered how true this was of the other shortlisted authors because it seems to be somewhat contradictory if the exposure generated from this prize is not put to use in promoting authors to write more short stories.

I do want to add though that one of the attendees at the Small Wonder Festival made the valid point that despite the fact that there were a couple of hundred people at the festival, there was virtually no one buying the short story magazines or short story collections that were on sale. I think that if the people who wrote short stories (of which there seem to be thousands) actually went out and supported that market with their own cash, then there'd be more opportunities to them in the long run.

Too true.

I think that if the people who wrote short stories (of which there seem to be thousands) actually went out and supported that market with their own cash, then there'd be more opportunities to them in the long run.

Yes, like writers who won't even buy a sample copy of a magazine and then complain when the editor tells them their submission is not what they publish! Just think of the postage they'd save if they hit the right markets every time because they'd bought the magazines.

It's such basic sense to buy short story markets and read them, but I know how hard my students fight against doing this. 'Can't afford it.' is the usual cry but I don't think you can afford not to.

Yes, like writers who won't even buy a sample copy of a magazine and then complain when the editor tells them their submission is not what they publish! Just think of the postage they'd save if they hit the right markets every time because they'd bought the magazines.

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Absolutely. That was my mistake when I first started out (although fortunately it only happened with one magazine!). I'm pretty fortunate in that my local Borders stocks a couple of short story magazines, which cost between £2.50 and £4.50 (which is a lot cheaper than a paperback novel), but their stock level fluctuates from month to month depending on how many get sold. I really do feel though that short story writers need to put their money where their mouth is and be a little more willing to both financially and artistically support publications.

Warning!

Read the fine print.
I was considering entering a story published last year in the UK when I noticed that the greedy BBC have a clause stating that entry means you agree to them taking and using your story, in print or broadcast, without payment!
I won't be entering.

the greedy BBC have a clause stating that entry means you agree to them taking and using your story, in print or broadcast, without payment!

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Rule 3.1 says that this only applies to the winning story or any long listed story. It's not ideal, but there is a trade off in that given that authors have to be already published, a medium such as Radio 4 can give them a boost of publicity - particularly if the story is publicised as having won or been long-listed in the competition.

Yes, but...

P.S. First.

I've shredded the rules and don't have time to check them again but isn't there a bit about any story suitable being used sans pay in the very fine print way down on the last page?

NOW the main point!

My story, if submitted in the usual way and chosen by the BBC for broadcast, would be paid for.
Why change the rules?
Yes, I have sold its 1st UK Rights but not its broadcasting Rights. I expect to do so. I have to pay bills and don't write for free.

It is greedy of the Beeb to do this and I don't think the very small amount of publicity would make up for it. It's not as thought the BBC will splash the author's name around other than in a brief verbal mention when the story is broadcast and maybe very tiny print in the Radio Times.

pdr:
My story, if submitted in the usual way and chosen by the BBC for broadcast, would be paid for.
Why change the rules?

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I would imagine it's because there's a cash prize given to the overall winner and the shortlisted entries, which the BBC regards as constituting payment. Also, the commissioning editor for Radio 4 was at Small Wonder and (without using so many words) indicated that she'd be more likely to commission further work from such recognised authors.

I'm not trying to defend the BBC here - they're benefitting from the publicity more than the author and they retain a considerable amount of editorial control when it comes to the broadcast version. However, it's one of those competitions where you have to weigh up the pros and cons - no, you don't get a separate payment for the broadcast, but you do get the recognition of having been placed in a fairly prestigious and well publicised national competition, you do get 'face' time in a national medium and from what one of the shortlisted authors was saying, it carries enough cache with publishing houses to help sell future work.

Um...

it's in the next batch of rules. Something about the right to rewrite, edit and broadcast any story without payment.

Cheek.

Yes, there is some mana attached to the comp but it's the BBC gets the splash of publicity. Very little goes to writers other than the main prize winners.

pdr said:

Sadly it makes sense.

You might be a serious hopeful, Sc00t, but believe me 99% of the hopefuls are not. I've organised short story comps myself and been a reader in others. Until you've experienced it you can't believe the rubbish that comes in to a free entry competition and has to be waded through. Poems, novels, essays, songs, children's stuff are the better part of the ineligible slush. The rest is weird!

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Ditto - it can be a nightmare to go through hundreds of 'dead' entries. Most likely if you haven't been published before, the work won't be quite up to scratch. It's an annual competition, so hey, get published and go for it next year!

Momento Mori said:

I would imagine it's because there's a cash prize given to the overall winner and the shortlisted entries, which the BBC regards as constituting payment. Also, the commissioning editor for Radio 4 was at Small Wonder and (without using so many words) indicated that she'd be more likely to commission further work from such recognised authors.

I'm not trying to defend the BBC here - they're benefitting from the publicity more than the author and they retain a considerable amount of editorial control when it comes to the broadcast version. However, it's one of those competitions where you have to weigh up the pros and cons - no, you don't get a separate payment for the broadcast, but you do get the recognition of having been placed in a fairly prestigious and well publicised national competition, you do get 'face' time in a national medium and from what one of the shortlisted authors was saying, it carries enough cache with publishing houses to help sell future work.

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I'd agree with this.
Having had a story broadcast on R4 looks good on a CV, and would make commissions that much more likely.
It may depend on which rung of the publishing ladder you're on; for someone like me, with a couple of stories in anthologies & my first anthology forthcoming next year, R4, even without extra payment, is very much not to be sneezed at.
And frankly, I dont really expect to make any money out of short stories anyway. Sad, but true.

This is no place for...

an argument about something that makes me very angry.

Just to say that one of the reasons that making a living writing and selling short stories is now a problem is those many people who are so anxious for writing credits that they give away their stories. If your story is good enough to publish then it's good enough to be paid for.


As a matter of interest at the moment the BBC is asking for short story submissions and offering payment for them.