Rules

The competition is open to all aged 18 or over, regardless of nationality or country of residence.

Entries must be:
- in English
- double-spaced
- in a normal font size (12 point is fine)

Entries must be entirely your own work and never previously published or broadcast, online or offline.

One entry per person only. Subsequent entries, including revisions, will be omitted from the competition and will not be read.

Entries submitted on behalf of somebody else, e.g. posthumously, will not be eligible.

Manuscripts must show no name, address or identifying marks other than the title of the story. Entries are numbered automatically and cross-referenced with your user details. After the anonymous reading and selections, your name and details will be retrieved if your entry has been successful.

Word limit this year: 8,000.

There is no set theme.

Entry is by completing the online entry form and uploading your manuscript in Microsoft Word (".doc") or RTF (".rtf") format.

To enter you must first register and confirm your email address. By registering you agree that we may email you announcements about the competition and occasional newsletters. We will not pass your details to anyone outside of the Willesden Herald and Pretend Genius Press, unless required to do so by law.

There is an entry fee of £3 per entrant this year. The computer system will only direct you to the payment page after successfully uploading your entry. Entry fees are non-refundable.

Opening date for submissions: 1 September 2009
Closing date: 18 December 2009

Pulp.net, Pretend Genius and Willesden Herald people and this year's judges are excluded from the competition, as are members of their immediate families.

We will not enter into any correspondence about entries or results.

We cannot provide any feedback on individual entries.

We will reduce the entries to a shortlist from which the winners will be chosen anonymously by this year's judge.

The results will be announced early in 2010. The shortlist will be announced online and by email to the writers concerned. The winner and runners-up will be announced at a special Short Story Cafe event sponsored by Pulp Net.

The prizes for 2010 are:

1st place: £300 plus a one-off Willesden Herald mug inscribed "The Willesden Short Story Prize 2010"

2nd: 2 x £150 (two runners-up)

All ten short-listed stories will be included in "New Short Stories 4" to be published by Pretend Genius Press.

Author compensation for inclusion in New Short Stories is limited to 2 complimentary copies of the anthology.

Worldwide copyright on each entry remains with its author.

Because we have introduced an entry fee this year we guarantee that a shortlist of at least ten will be selected and a winner and two runners-up chosen.

The aim of this competition is to encourage the creation of excellent new short stories. Organisation, reading and judging are done on a voluntary basis, all for the love of the short story.

By submitting an entry you agree to accept these rules in full.

How to enter