Mumsnet /Walker books bedtime stories competition - winners announced. Now read the blog from Walker book editorial team about creating the book.

[RachelMumsnet]

Do you secretly have a book inside you? Would you like to see it published?

Enter the Walker Books/Mumsnet writing competition and your story could be included in an illustrated gift book of Bedtime Stories for the under-sevens. For your chance to be considered, submit your original manuscript of up to 1,500 words by 30 November 2012.

Over the next month we're going running some Q&A sessions and webchats with children's book authors and will keep you posted about this on this thread

Another place marker.

I am a writer (children's). I have sometimes waived copyright in favour of a fee and a 'bonus' payment, depending on contract. But NEVER waive moral rights. (That said, £500 is a perfectly acceptable payment for a short story.)

Ds's school entered a competition for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, he could have had his portrait shown on Buckingham Palace. He drew his own picture, then I checked the terms and conditions. By entering he'd relinquish all rights to his own picture, and couldn't copy it in any way, but he could buy mugs/posters/keyrings of his picture off the company, but he'd get nothing. This seemed very silly to me.

Can i just (avoiding all comment on t&c and rights as I will absolutely never actually get down to typing anything anyway) ask: i have looked, but there isn't a 'theme' is there? Bed time story for ubder sevens, 1500 words max? Ta

What are moral rights?

Also I guess this is a standard criteria, but there must be oodles of MNetters who can't enter as they aren't resident in the UK. It's a real pity tbh.

Wow. Amazing LadySyb.

Thanks LadySybil!
Marking my place for T&C response.

Ah. Will wait to see what comes back. While I could be penning a load of trash, I'm not so keen to give up all rights to my trash.

Also I have (probably a stupid) question about the t&c's. What does a 'UK resident' actually mean? Do you have to reside in the UK?

Chocchip88 - good point what about expats and those overseas as spouses of or serving members of armed forces who are usually resident of UK?

Placemarking.

Info on moral rights

www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-otherprotect/c-moralrights.htm

£500 is an ok fee for 1500 words for a competition, but it would be a shame to waive your moral rights, as being identified as the author of the piece on each book is one of the joys of being a writer imo!

yes, I would say it would make more sense to say that the copyright of the story remains with the author, but that the £500 is the only fee that the author can have for this book - that the author can use their own story anywhere else, but that they won't get further royalties from this anthology.

Well, I've entered anyway- the way I see it is its a good way in to a publisher for a book idea I've scratched around at for a while.

Marking

I liked the look of this, too, until I read the T&Cs. What a shame! There might not be quite as many entries as they hoped.

Still, that ups the odds for TheLazyGirlBlog

Hang on, so by signing away the moral rights, you're basically signing the story away in its entirety, including being able to say you are the author?

Yes, Educated. here!

"Section 77: Right to be identified as author or director.(1)The author of a copyright literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and the director of a copyright film, has the right to be identified as the author or director of the work in the circumstances mentioned in this section; but the right is not infringed unless it has been asserted in accordance with section 78."

This basically says you can give up your moral rights to your work, as required in section 8 of the terms and conditions, which I've posted above.

Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988

Heck. No royalties is one thing in terms of it bring a competition and an opportunity to get published, but you at least want to keep the right to say you wrote it and that it's your story...

Marking place.

Sadly so, EduCated.

I'm currently unpublished, and would have loved this opportunity as writing for children is a really competitive market and very difficult to break into. As it stands now, I couldn't enter this. £500 for a story that legally I'd have no rights to, and couldn't tell agents or publishers that I'd written, isn't a wise move for any writer.

The Society of Authors will happily guide you with these T&C's MNHQ.

Marking place.

Great advice lady, thanks for sharing.

exactly, Edu - it can't be a step up onto the writing ladder if you can't tell the publisher to which you're pitching that you've got history of published work!