Writers' & Artists' Yearbook Competitions

You know for the whole month of January, the idea of meeting the deadline for this competition has really motivated me to write. Now that I'm almost ready to enter I'm getting a touch of nerves.

Competition is run by A and C Black, publishers of the Writers' and Artists' yearbook.

You've got to submit the first ten thousand words of your manuscript plus a one page synopsis. The first 100 people get their full manuscript critiqued by The Literary Consultancy and the top three get their work submitted to an agent. No promises there, but that's fair enough.

These three conditions bother me

9. By submitting an entry all entrants thereby grant The Bloomsbury Publishing Group the right to publish their entry on www.acblack.com, www.bloomsbury.com and in any publicity material in the event of their entry winning the competition.

12. The Bloomsbury Publishing Group and the winners may enter into agreements which will grant The Bloomsbury Publishing Group the publishing, broadcasting, serial and electronic rights in the winning entries.

13. The Bloomsbury Publishing Group reserves the right to change the rules of this competition without notice.




Say for example I win, but I don't get picked up their agent and I have to go looking for one myself, would having the first ten thousand words of my book on their website be a potential liability.

Also, the may enter into an arrangement with Bloomsbury clause. That's a take it or leave it on both sides is it?

And what about, we can change the rules as we see fit. Is that ok. I know they are a reputable company but I just wonder is this prize worth winning.

What do the people in the know think? What does anybody think. Here's the link to the rules.


http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/default.asp?id=8

Well, I don't think it needs to go in the bewares and background checks cos there's nothing disreputable about either company, the editing company or the publisher. I'm just wondering does anyone know of any knock on consequences of having ten thousand words of your novel online and out of your control to take down.

And I'm not sure what Rule 12 means. having bought a house recently and having had a terrible legal time, I now know that sentences in a legal document do not always mean what you at first assume they mean. So that sentence reads to me, like you can negotiate a contract or not, but who knows?

Also would it be such a good idea to be declared the winner of the competition and have their agent fail to take you on? Would your name stink? etc.

Anyways thanks for replying.

Cheers Scribbler. I'm going to make a note of your opinion and think about it.

Thanks. That's a very clear response.

The agent submission component of the contest is a nice perk, but if you win and query other agents, don't expect them to be impressed--this doesn't strike me as a contest that will give you a leg up apart from the prizes.

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Ok, that's also good to know. Wouldn't want them to think I'm a daft person .

Thanks again.

Edited to take out that bad word. It's almost affectionate in my country.
Thanks hopeful

James D. Macdonald said:

Remember that every publisher in the world holds a contest every day. The contest is "submission" and the prize is "publication." There isn't any entry fee.

Every agent has the same contest every day too, only in that case the prize is representation.

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Well that pretty much puts it in perspective. I guess the only extra thing they're offering is a free critique. Well at least focusing on this got my novel off to a flying start. Thanks you all.