Deadline 26th June 2023
Aim of Prize
Our mission is to create a cultural body of work that entertains and informs about green solutions, inspires green behaviour and raises awareness of the necessary transformations towards a sustainable economy. Currently most green communications preach to the converted i.e. only those who already care choose to watch climate change documentaries or read books with a green theme. Thus a particular aim is to use fiction as a way to reach a wider audience, and support winning authors to translate their stories into published books.
Entry Fee and Submission Criteria
Entry Fee: Free* but to avoid large numbers of entries that don’t meet the criteria, entrants must show they have read at least one of the books from the Green Stories project that provide an example of entertaining mainstream fiction that meets the criteria of showing green solutions (not just problems) that readers can engage with. This year, there is a choice of books that have emerged from our Green Stories project three of which we have discounted by 25% for competitions entrants (eBooks only). Paperbacks are available direct from the publisher or Amazon, or from your local bookshop.
Buy Habitat Man, eco-themed rom-com at discounted price of £2.99 here.
Buy No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save our Planet, an anthology of short stories (2022) at discounted price of £2.99 here.
Buy Resurrection Trust, an anthology of short stories (2018) for £3.99 here
Buy Visco, winner of the 2020 Green Stories novel prize at discounted price of £2.99 here
If you are on low income, please click here for a free mini anthology instead.
We ask you to read at least one of these before submitting your entry – ideally before completing your draft. This is because most entries in previous years didn’t meet the criteria of including green solutions into an entertaining story or showing a vision of what a sustainable society might look like. Entries that simply raise awareness of the catastrophic impacts of climate change or have a vaguely green theme do not meet the criteria. We need readers to be inspired to take action or to have sense of what kinds of climate solutions are likely to be effective, so we have a vision to aim for.
When you submit you will be asked three questions:
- Please say which story you read and write a paragraph or two on which sections/stories best combined entertainment with green solutions?
- Please write a paragraph or two on any stories/sections that did not do this well.
- Did reading these stories/book affect your knowledge, attitudes, emotions (e.g. eco-anxiety, hope) or behaviour in any way? If so, please write a paragraph or two to explain.
The answers to these questions inform our choice of which stories to keep in future and also help authors to understand what works well and what doesn’t. Note: You do not need to include this with your submission – questions will be via a separate text box upon submitting.
Length: Typically novels are 60,000 – 95,000 words. Submit three chapters* (minimum of 4000 words, maximum 10,000 words) as one document that must include the following:
- the first chapter
- another chapter that best showcases how your novel meets the green stories criteria
- a third chapter (suggest the final chapter if possible)
- a synopsis between 500 and 1000 words (name and contact details optional – we can identify via submission page) that covers genre, plot, characters, and details of how it meets the green stories criteria of showcasing positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story.
*You can submit more than three chapters if you need to, in order to make up to 4,000 words. If you get to the short list, we may then ask for more chapters or the full novel from the best entries to help us decide. Submission link at end of page.
Eligibility:
Open to all adults (18+) of any nationality, as long as the submission is in English and has not been published elsewhere.
All submissions must conform to the green stories criteria of showcasing positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story. We will accept young adult but are NOT looking for children’s stories.
The competition is open to novels that are either:
– Partially complete (at least 50%) in the first draft phase
– Fully complete and unpublished (between 50,000 and 100,000 words).
We are keen to encourage quality submissions, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar and readability.
Judging Criteria
Entries must conform to the green stories criteria of showing a positive vision of what a sustainable society might look like or include green solutions/policies/characters in the context of an otherwise mainstream story. It does NOT have to have an explicitly green theme, as green solutions can be smuggled in quite subtly – for ideas see our resources page. Conversely, stories that have an explicitly green theme but simply point out problems without including solutions also will not meet the criteria – see our full competition guidelines.
Prizes
£1000/$1200 for the winner and £500/$600 for runner up, plus mentoring towards publication
Publishing is just half the battle, to help winners achieve sales we will promote the winning book (once published) via our networks.
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Submission Link
We hope to announce winners in September 2023.
