Terms and Conditions

To ensure this competition is for you, carefully consider the criteria listed under ‘What We’re Looking For’, to be found here.

Submission of entry is taken to be an unqualified acceptance of these rules:

  1. The competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.
  2. The writer must not be represented by a literary agent.
  3. The writer must be aged 18 years or over.
  4. The writer must never have had a novel published by a recognised trade publisher or have signed a contract to publish a novel in the future.
  5. If the writer has self-published novels previously, the writer remains eligible to enter with a new work.
  6. The work must be intended for adult readers. We do not accept children's or young adult novels.
  7. The submission must be the first three chapters of a novel, not exceeding 10,000 words.
  8. If the writer submits their work in other competitions and wins, they should notify us. If we believe there is a conflict of interest, we may ask the writer to withdraw their submission.
  9. Entries must be submitted digitally as a .doc, or .docx. Entries should be in double-spaced font size 12.
  10. There must be no reference to the author's name or personal details in the manuscript as we operate an initial concealed reading process.


We reserve the right:

  • to not award any of/all of the places where circumstances are beyond our control, or if the panel’s overall verdict is that the quality of entries is not up to the required standard.
  • to delay the process should the number of entries exceed expectations
  • to disqualify any entry if we have reasonable grounds to believe that the entrant has breached any of these rules. We cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant entering the competition
  • to amend these rules where it is deemed necessary to do so or where circumstances are beyond our control

We will act in accordance with current UK data protection legislation in relation to your personal data.

Please contact charlotte@wilbur-niso-smithfoundation.org if you have any questions.