Ghost Stories at the Bookshop
A Competition.
There is a long literary tradition of ghosts stories in this country, particularly at Christmas and so, in the run up to the festive and spooky season this year we are launching our “Ghost Stories at the Bookshop” competition.
Last time we did this we had a huge and brilliant response when we asked for ghost stories that were set in a bookshop. This time we are changing it up a little. This time we would like to read ghost stories that have a sense of place – your place. We would like to read stories that draw on where you live, its history, folklore and landscape. However you choose to interpret it, that’s the direction we would like you to be thinking.
Here are the rules:
LENGTH: One story per person please of up to 2,500 words. NB. This is a maximum limit, brevity is also appreciated and short short stories will be judged on the same basis as those which squeak in at exactly the word limit.
FORMAT: Send your story as an attachment, a Word .doc or .docx file. The first page of the document should please have the title and your name, your email address, and physical address. The story itself should start on the second page and have NO identifying information anywhere on those pages. Send your story to sales@petersfieldbookshop.com and title it GHOST STORY COMPETITION. NB. We will not be able to judge stories that are not send in accordance with this paragraph.
ENTRY FEE: There is NO entry fee. We are asking that anyone who can afford to do so might, at the time of entering their story, make a donation of £5 to our Just Giving page (details to follow). This is NOT an entry fee and donations can be made anonymously. Making a donation will not, in any way, make a difference to the chances of winning.
TIMING: We must receive your email by midnight on November 23rd, 2023. We will announce the winners on December 7th on our website and social media. On December 21st we will have an evening event in the bookshop at which which the winners’ stories and possibly others will be read aloud by candlelight.
PRIZES: One overall winner will receive £100, two runners up will receive £50 each. The winning stories and others selected from among the entries may be published in an anthology and a complementary copy of this book will be sent to all those whose work appears in it.
COPYRIGHT: You retain copyright to your story but by entering this competition you grant permission for the Petersfield Bookshop to publish the story in print or online, and to arrange for it to be read aloud to an audience in the shop or online and for that reading to be recorded and published online, for a period of one year from the competition deadline.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: We will only use your personal information in connection with the administration of this competition. No personal information will be passed on to any third party.
We are so looking forward to reading your entries. Please do help with advertising the competition. Feel free to download this graphic below and use it on your social media and please do tag us in.
