FAQ
Do you accept open submissions as well as competition entries?
No. It's competitions only.
I want to submit work from outside the UK. Is this possible?
We welcome international submissions and competition entries from abroad. You are now able to submit work via this website and Paypal, or perform a direct payment to Leaf at the Paypal website itself by entering our email address – contact@leafbooks.co.uk. Alternatively you can request a cheque in pounds sterling from your bank.
How will I find out about competition winners?
All competition results will be posted on this website as soon as is possible, and winning authors will be individually contacted. You can also receive news of competition winners and ensuing publications by subscribing to our e-newsletter or hardcopy newsletter.
How long will it take to find out whether or not my story/poem is successful?
Because we receive a great number of entries, this is often impossible to say. However, our policy dictates that a competition entry can be read up to ten times by our readers and we will do our best to let you know the results within three months.
What are the copyright issues?
For short stories, poetry and microfiction to be published in an anthology, we request only the rights to first publication in said competition anthology, and you are free to do as you wish the work afterwards: as with most competitions, contracts are not required and entering the competition serves as permission for us to publish your work in this way.
Competition winners receive £200 in prize money - what is the reward for commended and highly commended writers?
At present, and determined by our generally pretty unfortunate financial circumstances (we receive no funding whatsoever), only the overall winner of a competiton receives a cash prize. Some of our competitions do offer a prize to the runner up (usually £50 or a selection of ten Leaf Books) and short stories sourced via open submission calls (not open at present) merit a £50 payment. The reward, as it were, for commended and highly commended entrants is publication. It is our aim to get as many authors of poetry and short fiction into print as possible. A substantial proportion of our published authors are first timers and all of them consider the opportunity a valuable one: not only is it rewarding in itself, but it can serve as an excellent calling card to other publishers. We would like very much in the future to be able to grant cash prizes to all of our published writers, but at present this simply isn't possible.
Can writers under the age of 16 enter your competitions?
Technically, yes: we specify no age limits. However, please bear in mind that the bulk of our competition entrants are adults and your work or your child's work will be judged against the standard they set.