Fiction Ed’s Blog: Writing Competition Update


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As our Writing Competition has now closed, I hope it might be helpful to provide an update on what happens now.

A Fantastic Response

Firstly, we’d like to thank all our entrants. What a fantastic response!

We had entries from a’ the airts!

Everyone adhered to the brief – strong stories, with a Scottish flavour – and what was amazing was how different they all were!

No two the same.

How The Process Works

So the competition has closed – what happens now?

Well, our Fiction Team of Abbie, Alan and Tracey have been busy, reading and giving consideration to every entrant.

From there, the process is identical to our usual Fiction Submissions Process for as-yet unpublished “Friend” authors, with stories which might be a good fit being passed over to Fiction Ed, Lucy, for consideration, and then to Editor, Angela.

We Have A Shortlist!

And after all that reading – we have a shortlist!

From an initial ‘long-list’ of nine stories, we’ve whittled it down to four contenders.

And what strong contenders they are – four really enjoyable stories in their own right.

We’ve already passed the four shortlisted stories over to our Competition Sponsor, Robin Bell, for his consideration.

Robin will be coming in to the office to meet Editor, Angela, and Fiction Editor, Lucy, soon, to discuss the stories on the short list, and decide on the winner.

Which will be no easy task!

When Will The Winner Find Out?

We hope to be able to let our winner know that they’ve won the competition at some point in August.

Entrants who have been unsuccessful will be contacted around then, too.

Wishing all our entrants the very best of luck!

And I’ll post here, when we have more news.

Lucy Crichton

Fiction Editor Lucy is always on the look-out for the very best short stories, poems and pocket novels. As well as sourcing enjoyable content, she enjoys working with our established contributors, encouraging new talent, and celebrating 155 years of 'Friend' fiction!