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Novella-in-Flash Award Submission Guidelines

Our 2021 Novella-in-Flash Competition is now closed.

In celebration of our tenth anniversary in 2021 we are now open to entries for our first novella-in-flash competition. Our judge is Sophie van Llewyn, author of Bottled Goods, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The competition will be run by Stephanie Carty and Jeanette Sheppard.  You can read more about the team here.

One of the exciting things about the novella-in-flash as a form is that it is constantly evolving, so we invite entries that not only follow a traditional narrative arc, but also work that may offer something more experimental. There should be a narrative connection between the flashes.

Here are the main competition highlights:

  • Judge: Sophie van Llewyn
  • First prize is £300 and publication by the National Flash Fiction Day Press as a single author novella-in-flash.
  • Second prize is £100.
  • Third prize is £50.
  • Word count: 6,000 to 12,000.
  • Individual flashes: 1,000 words max.
  • Entry fee: £14.
  • Free submission is available if you feel the fee is a barrier to entry. No questions asked.
  • Simultaneous subs: Yes.
  • Theme: Non.
  • Mutiple entries: Yes, but entrants may only win one prize.
To enter, please read the full guidelines below.  You can read more about the Novella-in-Flash Award team here.
 

National Flash Fiction Day Novella-in-Flash Award
Entry Rules and Guidelines

ELIGIBILITY

  1. There is no theme, but we do not publish children’s fiction, memoir, or creative non-fiction. We're afraid we are not able to publish illustrations.
  2. Although multiple entries are permitted, an entrant may only win one prize.
  3. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know as soon as possible if your novella-in-flash is accepted elsewhere.
  4. The competition is open to international entries. Entrants must be 16 or over. Work submitted must written in English. Entries must be the original work of the author and may only be made by the author.
  5. There is no restriction on the amount of previously published flash, but the novella-in-flash must not have been previously published in print or online, broadcast, or won a prize.
  6. The author must hold the copyright to each individual flash and exclusively own all digital and print publishing rights to each flash. We would advise authors to contact their publisher regarding permission. Work previously published by National Flash Fiction Day does not come under this rule, unless the rights have been sold or passed to a third party
  7. Invidual flash fictions in your novella-in-flash must not have been published as part of a collection or have been published as a collection.
  8. No gratuitous racism, sexism, homophobia or religious hatred.
  9. Although we anonymise submissions, we actively encourage submissions by writers from underrepresented groups, such as BAME, LGBTQ+, and disabled writers.

JUDGING, PRIZES, SUBMISSION DEADLINE AND ANNOUCEMENT DATES

  1. Submissions are open between: 13:00 on 1 Feb 2021 and 23:59 GMT on 31 October 2021.
  2. The winning novella-in-flash will be chosen by judge, Sophie van Llewyn.
  3. Stephanie Carty and Jeanette Sheppard will create the longlist and shortlist.
  4. The longlist will be announced on Monday 03 Jan 2022.
  5. The shortlist will be announced on Monday 10 Jan 2022.
  6. The winner will be announced on Friday 14 Jan 2022.
  7. The winning author will receive £300. The winning entry will also be published by the National Flash Fiction Day Press as a single author novella-in-flash. Second place will receive £100 and Third place will receive £50.
  8. The names of the winners will be published on the National Flash Fiction Day website. Shortlisted and longlisted entries will be announced without author names in order to preserve anonymity.

FORMAT AND WORD COUNT

  1. The maximum word count for the novella-in-flash is 12,000, excluding the title. The minimum word count should be no less than 6,000
  2. Individual flash fiction within the novella-in-flash should be no longer than 1,000 words.
  3. Each page should contain the title of your novella-in-flash and pages should be numbered.
  4. The front page of your document must contain your title and total word count.  Please DO NOT add your name to your front page to allow us to anonymise your entry.
  5. Include a contents page after your front page.
  6. Your front page and contents page are not included in your word count.
  7. Format your document in 12pt, 1.5 line spacing. We prefer a Times New Roman or Arial font.
  8. We accept .doc, .docx, rtf, .odt and pdf files.

PAYMENT

  1. Entry fee is £14.00 for one submission.
  2. Payment is via our Paypal button. Make a note of your Paypal reference number as you will need it when emailing your entry.
  3. Thanks to the generosity of donors, we are able to offer one free entry per person to disadvantaged writers. If you would like to take advantage of this, please note on your covering email that you would like your submission considered as part of the ‘free entry scheme’. This will not affect how your story is received in any way; our judge and readers will not be aware of the free entry status of submissions. You do not need to prove, justify, or explain your eligibility. If you find the submission fee a barrier to entry, then you are eligible.










HOW TO SUBMIT

  1. Once you have paid please put your Paypal reference number in your covering email. If you find the submission fee a barrier, please put ‘free entry scheme’ on your covering email.
  2. Your covering email must also contain the following: Your name, the title, and the total word count of your novella-in-flash.
  3. The subject line of your email should be the title of your work.
  4. Attach your file. The name of your file should be the title of your work. To avoid disqualification please DO NOT include any personal information on your document to allow your work to be judged anonymously.
  5. Email your entry to: nffdnifsubmissions@gmail.comYou will receive an electronic acknowledgment. Sorry, we don’t accept postal entries.

COPYRIGHT AND PUBLICATION

  1. Along with a £300 prize, the winning entry will be published as a single author novella-in-flash by National Flash Fiction Day Press. The winning publication will be available to buy on National Flash Fiction Day 2022. A launch will take place near that date.
  2. We may ask for, or suggest, minor edits/changes to your novella-in-flash before publication.
  3. Authors remain the sole copyright owners of their work, and retain all rights to the work except for those expressly granted to National Flash Fiction Day for the purpose of producing a single-author collection and nominating the collection or individual pieces within for awards.

Please note that submission of work by an author to the National Flash Fiction Day Novella-in-flash Award shall be considered acceptance of the full guidelines above.

DATA PROTECTION

We collect your name and email for the purpose of informing you about the status of your submission. If your novella-in-flash is accepted, we collect your name, email and address for the purpose of sending out the winner’s copies, and for nominating work to writing awards. For some award nominations, we are required to pass your email address along to the publisher. If you would prefer us not to do this, please mention this when you submit your work so that we don’t consider your piece for an award that requires us to pass along your details.

You can contact us at nffdnif@gmail.com if you have queries about the Novella-in-Flash Award Submission Rules and Guidelines.

 

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

With projects like this, breaking even is always a challenge so, we need your support. Please consider buying a book from our back catalogue or donating a small amount via our PayPal link to help keep this project going.