Competition Rules

‘Hour of Writes’ Writing Competition Rules

These are the Rules and terms and conditions of entry for the Hour of Writes Writing Competition. All terms defined in the Website Terms of Use shall apply equally in these Rules.

1. Eligibility: This Competition is open to any person who is (a) 16 years of age or older at the time of entry, and (b) who is a Registered User of the Website.

2. The following persons are not eligible to win a cash prize in the Competition: Hour of Writes employees and their relatives, Hour of Writes agents or suppliers or anyone else professionally associated with the company

3. Timing: The Competition is open (normally weekly) at the times notified on the Website (‘Competition Period’). Hour of Writes (‘the Organisers’) may vary the Competition Period at their discretion.

4. Entry: Entry to the Competition is made by submitting an entry (which must be on the official Entry Form provided on the website) by the deadline specified on the Website and by paying the applicable fee (paid by purchasing ‘credits’ via the Website). There is no limit to the number of times you can enter the weekly Competitions but there can only be one entry per Registered User per Competition. Entries must not exceed the stipulated length of 2000 words. No alterations to entries will be accepted after submission.

5. By entering a Competition, you agree to ‘mark’ three other Entries and submit the Marking Form by the Marking deadlines specified on the Website. If you fail to do so, you will be disqualified from winning the Competition in question and will not yourself receive marks for your entry. If you persistently fail to submit a Marking Form the Organisers reserve the right to determine that you are ineligible to enter Competitions in the future.

6. Marking shall be used by the Organisers to draw up a Marking Shortlist which helps to prioritise high standard entries quickly; however the winner shall be selected by the Organisers at their sole discretion. The Organisers reserve the right to award the prize to an entrant who is not on the Marking Shortlist. Marking scores may be used in the future for the allocation of non-monetary awards on the site.

7. Entries must not be (in the Organisers sole opinion) defamatory or offensive (racially, sexually, ethnically, on religious grounds or otherwise) or otherwise objectionable in the sole opinion of the Organisers.

8. Entries must be original works, and must not infringe the copyright of any third party. Any such entries will not be entered into the Competition or (if entered prior to the judging of a Competition) shall be disqualified. Entries must not have been previously broadcast, published or disseminated in print or online or in any other media.

9. If for any reason the Organisers’ believe an entrant has attempted to compromise the integrity or legitimate operation of the Competition by cheating in any way, the Organisers’ reserve the right to disqualify that entrant from the Competition.

10. The Organisers reserve the right to edit any entry for the purpose of formatting to make it legible or correcting any spelling mistakes or obvious errors.

11. By participating in the Competition, entrants agree to be bound by these Rules, by the Website Terms of Use, and by the decisions of the Organisers which shall be final in all matters relating to the Competition. There will be no right of appeal against the Organisers’ decisions.

12. Winners: One winner shall be selected by the Organisers for each Competition as being (in the sole opinion of the Organisers) the best response to the nominated title or theme. There will be two runners-up each week, who shall be treated as subsidiary winners in terms of copyright (see [15] in this document) and whose entries will be included on the Home page and Archive sections of the site, and who shall not receive any prize. The Organisers’ announcement of the winners shall be final and binding on all entrants, there will be no appeal and no correspondence will be entered into. The winners will be announced on the Home page normally within 4 days of the end of the Competition Period. The Organisers will contact the winners, normally by email.

13. Prize: The winner of each Competition will receive as a prize a sum equal to one half of the total fees received by the Organisers from entrants for the Competition in question (after deducting any bank, Paypal or other similar charges) as determined by the Organisers. Payment will be made to the winner by bank transfer, Paypal, or any other method as may be agreed with the winner. The Organisers reserve the right to offer alternative prizes of similar value to the winner. Prizes are not transferable or exchangeable.

14. Personal Data: By entering the Competition each entrant consents to provide the Organisers with certain personal data in order that they may administer the Competition. Any personal data will be used only for the administration of the Competition and to send entrants information about the Competition, promotions and events. The Organisers’ Privacy Policy can be found here.

15. Use of Entries, copyright:

a. All Entrants: entries may (if the entrant elects) be displayed on the Entrant’s Profile page; entrants may also elect to make the entry accessible to other Website users. All entrants also consent to their entries being included, without payment, in any collection or anthology of entries published by or under the direction of the Organisers, in any medium (including via electronic distribution such as Kindle, Kobo or Nook devices, or by broadcast). Such publication right will be non-exclusive, with no bar to publication elsewhere. Each entrant will be credited under their Pseudonym unless they have opted to use their real name.

b. Winners: All winners and subsidiary winners (see 12) in addition consent to the Organisers using the winning entries for the following purposes: (a) on the Website Home page under their Pseudonym; and (b) the Hour of Writes Archive (accessible to Website users) under their Pseudonym, and real name additionally if they have expressly requested this. Winning entries may not be published, or broadcast or disseminated in any other media (except by Hour of Writes) for one year after the start date of the Competition which they won without written permission; permission may be applied for by writing to write@hourofwrites.com

c. The Organisers will credit an entrant as the author of their own Entry (whenever it is published) under their Pseudonyms (unless they have consented to the Organisers using their real names).

d. Each entrant shall retain the copyright in his or her entry.

16. Other Terms and Conditions: This Competition will be governed by English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

17. Except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, the Organisers (including their officers, employees and agents) exclude all liability (including for negligence) for any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity), whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the Competition, including but not limited to, where arising out of the following: (a) any technical difficulties, equipment malfunction or internet or systems failure (whether or not under the Organisers’ control); (b) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference; (c) any entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after receipt by the Organisers); (d) any variation in prize value to that stated in these Terms and Conditions; (e) any tax liability incurred by a prize winner in general; or (f) use of a prize. Nothing in this clause shall limit or exclude the liability of the Organisers for death or personal injury resulting from negligence; fraud; or fraudulent misrepresentation.

18. By submitting an Entry you warrant and undertake to the Organisers that the Entry is original, that you are the owner of the copyright in the Entry, and that the Entry does not infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any third party. You agree to indemnify the Organisers against any costs, claims, demands or expenses (including legal fees) incurred by the Organisers resulting (directly or indirectly) from any breach by you of these warranties and undertakings.

19. Comments, questions or complaints regarding the Competition or these terms and conditions should be directed to the Organisers whose decision will be final.

20. The Organisers reserve the right to amend or replace these Rules at any time by posting the amended Rules on the Website at any time.

21. The organiser of this Competition is Hour of Writes Limited, with registration number 8904533, and whose registered office is at 83 Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2JQ, UK