Please read carefully as entries that do not conform to the following rules may be disqualified:

ELIGIBILITY 
You must be a member of the Scottish Association of Writers to be eligible to enter any of these competitions. To be a member of the Scottish Association of Writers, you must either be a member of one of our (many) affiliated clubs or else be subscribed as an individual member. (For the avoidance of doubt, joining the Scottish Association of Writers Facebook page does NOT on its own qualify you as a member).

Members who are attending SAW Conference in March 2027 can enter all/any of the competitions but members who are not attending may only enter open competitions.

Members who are unable to attend because of long-term health issues may apply to enter all the competitions.

RESTRICTIONS
Previously published, broadcast or e-published work in any form is not admissible apart from entries for the Self-published Book.

Any manuscript previously discussed with the adjudicator for the competition you are entering will be disqualified.

If a winner has won any competition two years running they are ineligible to enter that category the following year.

The same entry may not be submitted to more than one category.

MULTIPLE ENTRIES
Multiple entries are allowed in all categories apart from Self-Published book.

ALL AWARDS
The winner will hold the trophy for the category won, for one year and it must be returned in good condition before or at the subsequent Conference.

FOR ALL COMPETITION ENTRANTS IN EVERY CATEGORY

SECURITY
Keep copies of all your entries and a note of pseudonyms, as critiques will be returned in alphabetical order by pseudonym at the conference.

A Note on AI Use (Artificial Intelligence)
Please note that the use of AI in competition entries is NOT PERMITTED. While AI tools can be helpful for grammar or spellchecking, our competitions celebrate creativity that comes directly from human imagination. We want your words, your voice, and your originality – the spark that only a human writer can bring. So dig deep, craft something truly yours, and remember: whatever the result, you can be proud that it was entirely your own work.

ADJUDICATORS
If the adjudicator is a member of SAW,  they may enter competitions but not in the category they themselves are adjudicating.

APPLICATION
Applications can be made by clicking the ‘ENTER COMPETITION’ link on the website.

Then make your application by completing:  
Your conference registration Number

CATEGORY
Select Competitions

QUANTITY OF ENTRIES
Select quantity and add number of each competition entries you are entering and then choose Add Your Entries

SUBMISSIONS
Next you will see Your Submissions and you will see the categories you have selected in large text. 

Select each category one at a time from the drop down menu and then fill in the following for each entry

PSEUDONYM OF EACH ENTRY
Please us a unique and different pseudonym for each entry. If entering two competitions please do not have sequential pseudonyms such as Apple1, Apple2, Apple3.  This highlights to an adjudicator it is the same author and we are trying to avoid anything identifiable between one entry and the next.

Title of Each Entry
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – Your Submission Title on the entry form and your document file name should match. E.g. If your story is entered on the form as Summer Day, your Word Doc or PDF should be titled Summer Day. When the adjudicator opens up the File the title of the story should be Summer Day. Do not make these different. It’s not unusual for us to get on the entry form Summer Day, The Word Doc is called SAW Comp Mary’s Final Final, and the Title on the entry is Last Summer – three different titles which we need to discuss before giving to an adjudicator. This causes a lot of extra admin and potential pitfalls. With potentially 500 entries and 150 named wrongly this makes our Competition Secretary’s job far tougher than necessary. We try never to ban any entries but sometimes we are challenged to the point of despair. So please – follow the instructions.

Number of words of each entry (number of lines for poetry)
Place your word count clearly on the form or line numbers. Also do so in your document.

ADD ANOTHER ENTRY
If you are submitting more than one entry select Add another Entry and the system will display another short form for your next title, pseudonym and word count. Keep adding more entries until completed. Then move to the final step of uploading your entries as either Word Docs or PDFs.

Upload your document with your entry.
Each entry must be completed by uploading an individual document for each competition entry. You can make it easy for yourself if you create a folder on your computer and put all your entries into this one folder. Click upload Competition Entries, navigate to your folder or documents, select your files and press upload. You will see your files attached highlighted in blue on your form.

Confirm Rules
Tick box to confirm that you have read and understood the competition rules.

Your Details
Add your Name, Address, email and Phone number and select your writing group name or select individual member

Next Step
Overview and Payment
You will be presented with Competitions entered, Submissions and Uploaded Files and a Final Payment Balance. This should match the number of competitions you have entered and the amounts for each one. If it doesn’t you can step back and check your entries and quantities.

Submit
Lastly press the green Submit button and you have now completed your submissions.
On your screen there will be a Thank You notification. This will give you a Competition Entry Number and inform you that you will receive two emails.
The first email will have all your details and your Conference ID number and your Competition Submission Number

Payment Details
The second email you receive will instruct you to pay your competition entries Vvia credit card or by BACS. We do not need your name when you pay, but we need you to fill in the Reference with your competition Entry Number. This will give our treasurer all the necessary information.

Final Notes
You do not need to include a header sheet as all required information is on the application form

PRESENTATION
Entries must be supplied in electronic format, typed, double-spaced and set out as for submission to an editor.

Pages should be numbered and have the title and pseudonym as a footer.

Identification of the author should not be displayed on any entries apart from self-published works. If you are unsure of layout and/or content of your manuscript please discuss it with your club. Entry should be clearly marked with Title, Psuedonym and word/line count. No identification name on footer or in document information. Entry document must be named the same as Title.

ADJUDICATION
Adjudicators will not enter into correspondence with entrants either before or after delivery of their submission.

COLLECTION OF CRITIQUES
Please ensure you collect your critiques at the conference or arrange for someone to do so on your behalf. However, critiques from those unable to attend because of health issues will be collected at Conference and emailed back by the Competition Secretary.

MANUSCRIPTS
The Association cannot be held responsible for any entries which are not uploaded correctly. 

SYNOPSIS
Any competition that requires a synopsis we no longer accept these as separate documents. We prefer your synopsis to be added to the end of your submitted entry, preferably separated by a page break although we will also accept it at the beginning. Please do not attach a separate synopsis document.

MULTIPLE ENTRIES
Multiple entries are allowed in all categories apart from Self-Published Book.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF ENTRY – For Book Length Manuscript Competitions

ELIGIBILITY
Members who have already published, broadcast or e-published full length books in a particular genre are NOW ELIGIBLE for entry to that category. 

In all book length categories, having won once, the winner is ineligible for the following year.

All Manuscripts and fees are to be submitted online except hard copy Self-Published Books which should be sent directly to the Adjudicator — Email Janice – competitions@scottishassociationofwriters.com for details.