INTERACTION

Sir Terry Pratchett and Transworld Publishers are proud to launch a new award for aspiring debut novelists, The Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now Prize. Transworld will offer the winning author a publishing contract with a £20,000 advance.

The award will be judged by the esteemed Sir Terry Pratchett, the wise Tony Robinson, the savvy Mike Rowley from Waterstone’s and two members of the editorial team at Transworld Publishers.

Sir Terry Pratchett had this to say:

“Anywhere but here, anywhen but now. Which means we are after stories set on Earth, although it may be an Earth that might have been, or might yet be, one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time (see the illustration in almost every book about quantum theory).

We will be looking for books set at any time, perhaps today, perhaps in the Rome of today but in a world where 2000 years ago the crowd shouted for Jesus Christ to be spared, or where in 1962, John F Kennedy's game of chicken with the Russians went horribly wrong. It might be one day in the life of an ordinary person. It could be a love story, an old story, a war story, a story set in a world where Leonardo da Vinci turned out to be a lot better at Aeronautics. But it won’t be a story about being in an alternate Earth because the people in an alternate Earth don’t know that they are; after all, you don’t.

But this might just be the start. The wonderful Peter Dickinson once wrote a book that could convince you that flying dragons might have existed on Earth. Perhaps in the seething mass of alternate worlds humanity didn't survive, or never evolved -- but other things did, and they would have seen the world in a different way. The possibilities are literally endless, but remember, it’s all on Earth. Maybe the continents will be different and the climate unfamiliar, but the physics will be the same as ours. What goes up must come down, ants are ant-sized because if they were any bigger their legs wouldn't carry them. In short, the story must be theoretically possible on some version of the past, present or future of a planet Earth.”

The deadline for submissions will be 31 December 2010 and a shortlist of six entries will be announced on the 31 March 2011. The winner will be announced by the end May 2011.

Entrants must be over 18, have no previous published full-length works of fiction and live in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Submissions should be emailed to: pratchettprize (at) transworld-publishers (dot) co (dot) uk

For full terms and conditions visitwww.terrypratchett.co.uk

Dust off your quills and begin!

In conjunction with Black Static Magazine, we are proud to announce the World Horror Convention 2011 Short Story Contest. Writers from around the world will be able to submit their most engaging and terrifying short fiction to our judging panel for the chance to have their story published.

And we do mean published! The winning entry will appear in the collectible WHC 2011 Souvenir Book, alongside work by Sarah Langan, Joe Hill, Steve Niles, Peter Crowther, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene and other top genre names. In addition to appearing in the Souvenir Book, the winning entry will be republished in Black Static Magazine and will be paid industry professional standard of .05 per word.

The Arden Project

With the arrival of As You Like It to The Old Vic as part of the Bridge Project 2010, Old Vic New Voices are creating an ambitious creative response.

They want to showcase your talents on a unique transatlantic platform, propelling your work onto an international stage. In As You Like It, The Forest of Arden is a place where anything is possible: an egalitarian utopia where people from all walks of life can find true love and freedom of expression.

They're looking for practitioners from all disciplines to submit proposals for an artistic response to the concept of Arden. Freedom is the key and your submission can take the form of a short play, poem or song. They will commission the creators of the 12 best ideas to develop the pieces ready for public presentation, offering feedback, rehearsal space, and casting support.

The "Inspired by Science" Treatment Award is a £5,000 prize to be given to a writer to enable them to develop their idea further.

The aim of the award is to encourage the development of drama that engages its audience in the area of science and society by supporting new proposals for film, television, or other broadcast media that are inspired by the field of biomedicine.

Writers are encouraged to submit proposals for original drama projects suitable for a potential UK production and broadcast.

The "Inspired by Science" Award is open to all writers who are resident in the UK. ten shortlisted entrants will receive complimentary invitations to attend the London Screenwriters' Festival in October. If any delegate has paid for their ticket this will be refunded. The Award winner will be announced at a special session during the Festival itself.

Now Puffin offers you an extraordinary opportunity to write and illustrate a digital picture book and have it published. You can also win a £1,000 cash prize! This is your chance to tell a brilliant picture-book tale with enhanced, interactive elements. And, maybe, it will become a classic of the future.

At Puffin, we’re opening our doors (well, our Macs) to any writer, illustrator or designer to create a digital storybook and win The Puffin Digital Prize.

And anothervia Sandy but this seems to be entry fee free and is an opportunity for artists and authors.