2015 Historical Novel Society International Award #seanocarolan #writing #contest #competition

2015 Historical Novel Society International Award

The 2015 Historical Novel Society International Award, with a prize of £2000 (or $3000 US), is for an outstanding unpublished or self-published novel.

Submissions are now open, with a deadline of 1st April 2015.

In a change from the 2013 Award (won by Martin Sutton for Lost Paradise) UNFINISHED NOVELS ARE NOW ELIGIBLE for entry, though they must be completed by 1st October 2015 to be considered for the prize. In another change, the Historical Novel Society does not require epublishing rights to the winning novel. Full competition rules are here, please read before entering.

Judges for 2015 are Katie Bond, Juliet Mushens and Jon Watt.

Rules for Submissions
Your novel can be in any genre of historical fiction. For the purpose of these rules, historical fiction shall mean fiction set in the main at least fifty years ago.
To qualify as a novel, your book must total at least 60,000 words. Novels submitted should be no longer than 150,000 words.
You may submit up to 5,000 words which must comprise the first words of the novel entered. Any preface, prologue or introduction must be included in your submission up to 5000 words. Please include a synopsis of up to a maximum of 500 words.
Your novel NEED NOT be complete before entering. Shortlisted entrants will however be asked to submit a full manuscript for the final stages of the judging process. Entrants will have a further three months after the announcement of the shortlist to complete their manuscript. Unfinished manuscripts will not be eligible for the prize.
The closing date for submissions is 1st April 2015.
Submissions may be made online only, via our submission form. All documents must be double spaced in Word with each page numbered in sequential order.
Your novel will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name or pseudonym anywhere on any document other than the submission form.
No alterations may be made to the beginning of a novel following submission until the shortlist has been chosen. No alterations may be made to a complete novel following submission of the final manuscript.

Eligibility
Anyone may enter, regardless of age or nationality and whether or not previously published. Posthumous entries are not acceptable.
Novels should be in English and should not have been published or accepted for publication by a commercial publisher anywhere in the World.
Novels which are under contract to be published by a commercial publisher either in print or digitally are ineligible.
Novels that are self-published in print or digitally are eligible if *first* published after 1st December 2014.
Any novel entered must be your own original work and not a translation of another author’s work.
This Award shall not be open to anyone involved in its organization or judging or their families.

How to enter
Entries can be received online only via the 2015 competition entry page and entrants must follow the instructions on our submissions form carefully.
The entry fee of $35 ($20 for members of the Historical Novel Society) allows you to enter the beginning of one novel (up to 5000 words). You may enter as many novels as you like, provided each submission is accompanied by the entry fee.
Entry fees must be in US dollars. If you bank in another currency, PayPal will convert your fee automatically into US dollars.
If you would like a brief reader’s report on your submission, please add $15 to your entry fee for each entry. (Reader’s reports will not be full critiques and will not advise editorial changes. They will simply indicate where, in the reader’s opinion, the chapters fell short. No correspondence will be entered into by the society about reader’s reports, which are offered anonymously).

Judging
Extracts and synopses will be assessed in the first instance by a panel of experienced readers and reviewers for the Historical Novel Society. The assessment will be moderated by the Chairman of the Society, Richard Lee.
From the initial submissions a longlist of 15 will be selected for announcement on 1st July 2015 and the longlisted authors will be asked to submit full manuscripts by 1st October 2015.
Full manuscripts will be assessed by the HNS reader panel and a shortlist of 5 selected for announcement on 1st January 2016.
The winner will be chosen from the shortlist by three experienced and influential judges, and the result declared in March 2016.
Longlisted authors must be prepared to give interviews and/or comment for publicity purposes and to supply author photographs.

Prize
The prize for the Award will be £2000.

Application of rules
Failure to comply with any of these rules will make entry liable to disqualification. The decision of the Award organizers as to the interpretation and application of these rules shall be final.