I like to tell you about short story competitions but here are two where the deadlines have already passed. I'm still mentioning them as they have sparked some criticism on other blogs and forums because of their terms and conditions.
If you have a story published in a magazine you keep the copyright, and if you are lucky enough to get a book deal you keep the copyright. But that's not necessarily the case with competitions it seems.
The first is organised by Company magazine with Galaxy Ripple and Little Black Dress books the prize is 'the chance to get' your work featured in a LBD book.
The problem is the terms and conditions say you have to sign away your intellectual rights (the copyright to your story and anything they may want to create from your story, i.e an adaptation or mechandise or other books perhaps written by someone else).
I've noticed this clause appearing in more competitions.
Entrants have to weigh up if the benefits outweigh the losses with these terms and conditions.
The second is one organised by Nickelodeon - Nick Jr's 'Once Upon a Bedtime'. Obviously a great idea for a children's story could have real merchandising potential, so a TV channel would be keen to own the rights.
I actually entered this competition when they ran it in 2006 and the t&cs included signing away rights, I decided to enter anyway as I'd love to have a story of mine animated and my story didn't have any potential for a series so it was worth the gamble. You also have to decide if the win will lead to bigger things I guess.
The organisers must have found it worth doing as they have run it again this year.
The terms and conditions are no longer on the website so I don't know if they were the same this year. With 'Once Upon A Bedtime' 2008 three finalists will again have their story turned into a short animation to be screened on Nick Jr and they will also receive an animation cell. The overall winner will also receive a creative writing weekend break and £250 of book vouchers.
On the upside with the Company/Galazy/LBD competition the winner's story will will be published at the end of a LBD title and on the website www.littleblackdressbooks.com which will look good on the writer's CV and should give the author the opportunity to get lots of publicity. The winner and five runner-ups will also be invited to a lunch with Headline and LBD author Julie Cohen where they can get tips on being a bestselling author so there's a good opportunity to network.
You can also read Julie's writing tips at the LBD website.
Tony Bradman gives great bedtime story writing tips at http://www.nickjr.co.uk/bedtime/toptips.aspx
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »