Heatseeker Short Story Competition

In booksandthecity.co.uk’s most exciting literary competition yet, they’ve teamed up with heat magazine to find and publish an exciting new women’s fiction short story writer.

The plotline can be anything; the only requirement is that it must fall within the women’s fiction genre!

The term ‘women’s fiction’ is generally used to mean fiction that appeals primarily to women, though is not necessarily written by a women, and tends to be full of modern relationships featuring friends, family and lovers.

It can be funny, it can be sad, but most of all it covers great storytelling with believable characters and plot.

So, whether you’ve been itching to write for years and just need that final push; you’re a huge fan of women’s fiction and think you could write the perfect short story; or you just fancy the ultimate literary challenge for the summer, read on to find out how you could be in with a chance of becoming a published author!

The Competition

To enter #HeatSeeker you will need to complete a 2,500 word (max) short story
The Judges

The entries will be judged by an expert panel that will be looking for a short story which excites, intrigues and surprises them. The panel includes:

Sunday Times bestselling author Paige Toon



Lucie Cave, Brand Editor-in-chief at heat



Isabelle Broom, author and Book Reviews Editor at heat



Emma Capron, Editor at Simon & Schuster UK



Sara-Jade Virtue, Brand Director at booksandthecity.co.uk



Rebecca Ritchie, literary agent at A.M. Heath

Rebecca Ritchie is a literary agent at A.M. Heath. She represents a list of bestselling commercial fiction authors, including Romantic Novel of the Year Award-winning Iona Grey and author, journalist and Costa Book Award judge Sarra Manning. Rebecca is on the lookout for debut and established authors of contemporary women’s fiction, reading group, historical and suspense.



The Deadline

All entries must be emailed to heatseeker@simonandschuster.co.uk by 11.00pm on 30th September 2017. The deadline will not be extended under any circumstances.

The Prize

The winning author will receive an author mentoring session with Sunday Times bestselling author Paige Toon and a critique of your work over lunch with Literary Agent Rebecca Ritchie. They will also receive an eBook contract from Simon & Schuster UK to include 25% author royalties, and ultimately will have their debut published in eBook format. No cash alternative will be available and the prize is non-transferable.