In the legendary words of Noddy Holder “IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIIISTMAS!!!”, or at least it will be soon....ish.
So, we thought that would make a nice theme for this year’s Failing Writers Podcast Flash Fiction Competition! You can choose the genre - it could be a spooky winter tale, a love story, historical fiction, sci-fi… anything! As long as it’s festive. And we don’t want to exclude anyone, so festive can mean ‘Christmas’, ‘Hannukah’, ‘Solstice’, ‘Diwali’ or any other wintery-type-festivities.
Thanks to the lovely people at Scrivener sponsoring us this year, we can once again offer a first prize of £500! Plus the winner will have their story turned into a piece of audio drama by a team of professional voice actors and broadcast on this very podcast.
Runners up will have their stories read out on the podcast, and the 2nd and 3rd place runners-up will also get a free code for Scrivener’s amazing writing software too!
So, what do you have to do to win this £500 prize? Well, just write a brilliant, inspiring festive-Christmassy-type story in 350 words or fewer AND include the mandatory special phrase - which you can hear in episode 20 of season 4 (released on Monday 4th Nov 2024).
Then all you need to do is email it to failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com by midday (UK time) on Friday 13th December 2024 - including an attached paypal receipt to show that you have paid the £1 entry fee (Paypal account also failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com)
Good luck!!
Lots of love
The Failing Writers
Terms & Conditions
Eligibility
Entry is open to any writer worldwide over the age of 18 and entries must be the original and unpublished work of the entrant which is not currently submitted for publication nor for any other competition or award. One entry per entrant.
Entry costs
There is a nominal fee of £1 to enter. This is payable via paypal. Please attach your paypal receipt to your entry email. Only entries received with a valid paypal receipt will be considered by the judges. If paying in an alternate currency, please ensure it is the equivalent of 1GBP.
Format
Entries must be emailed to failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com by midday (UK time) on Friday 13th December 2024 in pdf, doc, docx or txt formats. Please include a front page stating your name, country, daytime telephone number and email address. Please also state story title and word count. Maximum word count 350 words (excluding title). All other specific entry requirements can be found in Episode 20 – Season 4 of the podcast available from Monday 4th November 2024 at www.failingwriterspodcast.com
Data
Any personal data relating to entrants will be used solely for the purpose of contacting the winners and will not be disclosed to a third party. Winners will be announced on the podcast as well as on our social media channels including publishing the name and country of location of the winner.
Competition Judging
Judges will assess entries on originality, creativity, characterisation and readability. Their decision will be final, with no correspondence being entered into.
Notification
Winners will be revealed on Monday December 23rd 2024. The Failing Writers Podcast retains the right to publish any entries, including winning entries, in the podcast and in online posts (including on failingwriterspodcast.com and all social media channels) which shall remain freely available online indefinitely. We also reserve the right to publish winning entries in an anthology at an unspecified future date either in print or online. Entrants retain copyright in their work.
Prizes.
Prize(s)
The main prize of £500 (gross before any transfer costs/currency conversions etc are taken off if needed) shall be paid in pounds sterling via Paypal within 2 weeks of the winner being revealed. Two Runner-up prizes of codes to unlock a copy of Scrivener will be sent out by e-mail within 2 weeks.