Competition rules and regulations

Competition will run from 23:00 hrs GMT on a Friday night to 23:00 hrs GMT on a Sunday night.

The entry fee is £10 (GBP) and is non-refundable.

£1 (GBP) of all entries will go to Galapagos Conservation Trust’s 'Adopt a Blue-footed Booby' scheme.

All entrants will receive an email at the competition start time. There will be a selection of 3 prompts to choose from in three categories;  1) Genre  2) Location  3) Character (i.e Romance, Church, Astronaut)

One selection must be made from each category.  We will be very lenient with how far you push the prompts to their limits but any that do not include them will be disqualified.

The story should be a maximum of 500 words. We will be using this free online tool to verify all entries, so we advise you to check your story's word count on there before submitting.

All entries must be written in English and attached (as a word doc or pdf) with no contact details visible via the competition entry form. The entry form asks which prompts you have chosen and to detail any trigger warnings.

Any early (before 23:00 GMT on competition start date) or late entries (after 23:00 GMT on competition closing date) sent via this form will be deleted without reading. If you need to contact us please do so via this form.

Any stories found to be using AI will be disqualified. 

An initial shortlist of (maximum) 5 stories will be selected and announced via email and on the site within 14 days of closing entry time.

The winner(s) will be announced within 14 days of the shortlist being announced

If you include a Blue-Footed Booby in your story, you will automatically be displayed in the Booby Hall of Fame once the competition has finished. You will also go into a draw to win a Blue-Footed Booby Soft Toy (from the adoption pack on the charity website)

Minimum age to enter is 18

The Booby Prize does not own the rights to the Entrant’s submitted story in any form. If the Entrant’s story is one of the winning entries, then the Entrant gives The Booby Prize the rights to post the winning story publicly, along with either the Entrant’s name or Alias. 

The Booby Prize shall use the name or Alias of the Entrant indicated in the Entrant’s online entry form. 

If the entrant wishes to change any of the information (Name or Alias) then it is the responsibility of the Entrant to contact us before the Final Results.