Thank you for your interest in Challenging The Writers writing contest! These terms of service set out important information applicable to the Contest so please read them carefully.

1. The Contest
2. The Prizes
3. Entering the Contest
4. Eligibility
5. Judging
6. Privacy and Use of Information
7. All the Rest

Challenging The Writers Writing Contest (“Contest”) is operated and promoted by Basenji Books Limited (“Basenji Books”), a company incorporated in Nigeria with registered number 1700948. By entering our contest, you agree to these terms of service.

In these terms of service when we refer to:

Basenji Books Limited and Challenging The Writers, we might use “us,” “we,” or “our.”

For the person entering the Contest, we might use “participating writers” “the entrant,” “the author,” “you,” “your,” or “user.”

Challenging The Writers Writing Contest, we might use “the Contest.”

1. The Contest

On the 1st of January, we publish a singular writing prompt on the website before it is announced and shared on other update channels i.e. newsletter and social media. The contest is open for submissions for 4 months, from the 1st of January to the very last minute (11:59 p.m.) on the 30th of April. Participating writers are to write and submit a story based on the prompt for the opportunity to win prizes. Submitted stories (Entries) should be exactly 15,000 words and written in English.

Entry for the contest is ₦1,000.

At the end of the contest, the three winning entries will be determined by our team based on the quality of the submission. The winners are then announced 6 months after the contest closes and awarded with a publishing deal and cash rewards.

To take part in the Contest, visit: https://challengingthewriters.com/contest/

We are not responsible for the content submitted to the Contest.

2. The Prizes

1st Place

• Cash Prize – ₦150,000 which is paid via Nigerian Bank Transfer
• Anthology Publishing Deal, for the story which will be an anthology with the other two winning stories.

2nd Place

• Cash Prize – ₦100,000 which is paid via Nigerian Bank Transfer
• Anthology Publishing Deal, for the story which will be an anthology with the other two winning stories.

3rd Place

• Cash Prize – ₦50,000 which is paid via Nigerian Bank Transfer
• Anthology Publishing Deal, for the story which will be an anthology with the other two winning stories.

There are no alternative prizes, and prizes are not transferable. We may alter arrangements or prizes at our sole discretion and we may cease the Contest at any time, only in which the submission fee will be refunded.

3. Entering the Contest

The deadline for submissions is the 30th of June at 11:59pm WAT (the Closing Date/Time). Only Entries that are submitted on Challenging The Writers before the Closing Date/Time will be eligible for the Contest. All winning entries submitted to the contest will be published in an anthology, unless our team decides otherwise. 

We reserve the right not to publish stories and/or to remove stories from publication at any time, without warning to the author.

The steps for submitting an Entry are:

• Visit The Contest webpage to view the contest prompt.
• On The Contest webpage, click Submit Story to pay submission fee.
• On the submissions page, enter your entry information and story to submit.

All Entries must be the original work of the user submitting the story, must be written in English and must not infringe on the copyright or intellectual property rights of any other party. We accept no responsibility if entrants cannot abide by these Terms of Service, and entrants agree to indemnify us against any claim by any third party arising from any breach of these terms of use.

While submissions can include mature themes and language, submissions must not contain defamatory, obscene, graphic, explicit, offensive, or any other such unsuitable material. We reserve the right to disqualify Entries containing such matter.

Each entrant retains the copyright to their entry but grants to us a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, publish, edit and otherwise use the entry on our website(s) and platform(s) and in all media now known or hereafter discovered at our discretion.

By submitting your story for the contest, you agree the story is going to remain unpublished, and wouldn’t be entered into other contests or for publications until after the contest winners have been announced.

After which, when publishing your story elsewhere, the publication must include an acknowledgement to Challenging The Writers for providing the prompt that inspired the story. In the case of it being a digital publication, will include a backlink to https://challengingthewriters.com/prompts

By submitting an entry, you agree we may at our sole discretion edit, adapt, abridge, or translate the entry for the purposes listed in these terms of service.

You grant permission to us to use your name, image and entry for promotional purposes without additional compensation, in all media now known or hereafter discovered, worldwide and on the internet and World Wide Web, without notice, review or approval.

4. Eligibility

The Contest is open to all Nigerian writers aged 18 and over.

By entering the Contest, you confirm you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prizes you may win. We may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the Contest.

Only one Entry per person is permitted for the Contest. Entries must strictly adhere to the writing contest prompt.

Entries not submitted in accordance with these terms and all other rules and directions given by us, or Entries that are incomplete or illegible (as determined in our sole discretion) will not be eligible.

5. Judging

The judging panel is comprised of our employees, contractors or reviewers, though it may also include our partners or any other people as determined by us at our sole discretion.

The decision of the judging panel is final, and at their sole discretion. No correspondence or discussion will be entertained by us in relation to that decision.

Winners are notified by email sometime in the sixth month following the close of contest.

We will make all reasonable efforts to contact the Winners. If we cannot reach a Winner within a period of one week following the first attempt, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the original Winning entry and to award the to another eligible entrant.

6. Privacy and Use of Information

We will use any personal information that you give us in accordance with the law, for the purposes of the Contest, in the ways described in these Terms of Service, and for any marketing or other purposes you may indicate your consent to.

You agree that we may also share your details with our judging panel, with your consent. As described above, winning entries may have their name publicised for promotional purposes.

7. All the Rest

We are not liable for any damage, loss or disappointment suffered by you taking part or not being able to take part in this Contest, or from being unable to claim your prize.

In the event of unforeseen circumstances, we may alter, amend or stop running the Contest without prior notice, only in which the submission fee will be refunded. We reserve the right to change these terms at any time.

If you have any questions or concerns about these Terms of Use, please contact us at challengingthewriters.com/contact