Full details

Rules

The following rules/terms and conditions for our short story competition must be followed. Please read them carefully before submitting:

Eligibility

1. Entries must be in English.

2. Entries must be the original and unpublished work of the entrant. This includes publication online, including (but not limited to) personal blogs or websites. At the time of entry, your work must not be submitted for publication nor for any other competition or award.

3. Each story must stay within the 1,500-word limit. This means any story up to and including 1,500 words. The title does not form part of the word count.

4. The closing date for entries is midnight (UK time) on the 31st January, 30th April, 31st July and 31st October. If your entry, for whatever reason, just misses a deadline, it will be automatically entered into the following quarter.

5. No corrections will be accepted or refunds given.

Entry fees

6. £5 for the first | plus £3 for the second | plus £2 for the third [and fourth – see 8a].

7. Entries will not be accepted without prior payment.

8. You can enter up to three stories in each quarterly competition.

8a. Due to its popularity we are continuing to run our ‘special offer’: if you pay the £10 entry fee you can enter four stories instead of the usual three. This will continue until further notice. Cranked Anvil reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time without notice.

Manuscripts

9. Entries should be submitted as an email attachment to enter@crankedanvil.co.uk as a Microsoft Word Document, OpenDocument Text, or PDF. Do not paste your story into the body of the email.

10. Your attached document should be named with the title of your story, followed by your name in capitals. eg: The Pickwick Papers CHARLES DICKENS

11. Manuscripts must be typed using a clear font and text size, and double spaced.

12. Manuscripts should have numbered pages, including a covering page which states the following:

Story title
Your name
Your main email address
Your paypal email address (if different)
Word count
Your twitter handle, if you have one

Your name should only appear on the cover page and not on any subsequent pages.

13. The cover page should be the first page of the whole document. Do not send a separate cover page – your entry will be disqualified.

14. If you are entering more than one story, each story must be submitted as a separate document.

Judging

15. Competition judges will be appointed by Cranked Anvil. The decision of the judges is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

16. If, in the opinion of the judges, enough stories of sufficient quality have not been received, then Cranked Anvil is under no obligation to award any or all of the three prizes.

Notification

17. Winners will be notified by email no later than six weeks after each closing date. (Except in exceptional circumstances where a delay cannot be avoided. If this is the case it will be announced on our website, and the winners then notified as soon as possible after that.)

18. The results of the competition, as well as the long- and short-lists for each competition, will be announced in social media and on our website.

Copyright

19. The author retains full copyright of any submitted story. If your entry wins a cash prize you grant to Cranked Anvil a non-exclusive license to publish your work online on our website.

20. We will also, once or twice a year, publish printed anthologies, which are made up of the winning stories plus short- and long-listed entries from previous competitions. If we wish to publish your work in print we will always contact you to seek permission to do so. You are free to agree or decline as you wish. No entry will be published in print without your permission.

21. Whether or not you win a cash prize in our competition, and if we publish your entry in one of our print anthologies, you retain all other rights. (For example, you may still publish your work online or in print elsewhere, or enter it into other competitions.)

Privacy

22. We advise that, in conjunction with these rules, the author reads our GDPR/Privacy Policy statement.

PLEASE NOTE: Entries not complying with all competition rules will be disqualified. Please make sure you comply with all rules, as no entry fees can be returned or refunded. The decision of Cranked Anvil and the judges is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. By submitting, you are agreeing to all competition rules, which are subject to change without prior notice.

Rules – Flash Fiction

The following rules/terms and conditions for our flash fiction competition must be followed. Please read them carefully before submitting:

Eligibility

1. Entries must be in English.

3. Each story must stay within the 500-word limit. This means any story up to and including 500 words. The title does not form part of the word count.

4. The closing date for entries is midnight (UK time) on the 28th (or 29th) February, 31st May, 31st August and 30th November. If your entry, for whatever reason, just misses a deadline, it will be automatically entered into the following quarter.

5. No corrections will be accepted or refunds given.

Entry fees

6. £3 for the first | plus £2 for the second.

7. Entries will not be accepted without prior payment.

8. You can enter up to two stories in each quarterly competition.

Manuscripts

9. Entries should be submitted as an email attachment to flash@crankedanvil.co.uk as a Microsoft Word Document, OpenDocument Text, or PDF. Do not paste your story into the body of the email.