A unique competition which could see your artwork becoming an eBook cover for a Peter F Hamilton short story.
Manhattan In Reverse takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Myo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth’s Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subject matter, this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.
Pan Macmillan will be releasing two short stories from the collection in eBook format a month early. These will be available to buy through Apple’s iBookstore, Amazon and via Waterstone’s and WHSmith online. SFX online and Pan Macmillan are looking for jacket designs for both stories.
The two winning designs will be selected by a judging panel that includes Peter, his publishing team at Pan Macmillan and SFX staff.
Peter F Hamilton says: “There’s so much promising design talent out there and I’m excited to see how my stories are interpreted.”
SFX will be posting entries online as they come in and Peter will be dropping in to talk about his favourites and his writing more generally between now and the winning announcement in August.
HOW TO ENTER
• Pan Macmillan has provided cover briefs for the short stories The Demon Trap and Footvote – clink on the links to view the briefs. These are exactly the type of briefs that professional artists will receive when they are commissioned to create cover artwork. Read them carefully because they are essential in helping you make your creative chioices.
• You can provide entries for either or both stories
• Your entry must be supplied in its complete form as a 300 dpi high resolution Jpeg or PDF under 2MB
• Your entry must be 240mmx156mm
• Your entry should be submitted to artwork@macmillan.co.uk
• Only original artwork or digital artwork will be considered and all artwork must be sent with your name, contact telephone number and email address in the body of the email and clearly marked in the subject header ‘ Short story artwork competition ’. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.
• Entries must be recieved by Pan Macmillan on or before the closing date of 1 August 2011 before 5.30pm GMT. Pan Macmillan may require a higher res version of the file at a later date
• Please read the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of this article for more details
The Briefs:
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Terms & Conditions
“Short story artwork competition” is the illustration competition in association with Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited (“the Competition”) and SFX magazine a division of Future Publishing Limited.
1. There are two prizes, the prizes consist of each winner having their artwork used by Pan Macmillan on the ebook format of a short story by Peter F Hamilton for publication in 2011. Both eBooks are intended to be published in the United Kingdom in September 2011. Publication will be subject to the winner’s acceptance in writing of those terms and conditions and compliance with them. There is no fee, royalty or cash prize attached to this competition.
2. This competition is not open to employees or their immediate families of The Promoters and any companies within the Futurenet plc group of companies or the Macmillan Publishers Limited group of companies.
3. To be eligible, entries must comprise of a full colour artwork Jpeg or PDF under 2MB that is final and complete at a 300dpi resolution which must be received by Pan Macmillan on or before the closing date of 1 August 2011 before 5.30pm GMT. Pan Macmillan may require a higher res version of the file at a later date
4. The artwork must follow the brief set out for either one of the eligible short stories as supplied by Pan Macmillan and shown on this website. The entry must be supplied in its complete form as a 300 dpi high resolution Jpeg or PDF under 2MB and emailed through to artwork@macmillan.co.uk
5. Only original artwork or digital artwork will be considered and all artwork must be sent with your name, contact telephone number and email address in the body of the email and clearly marked in the subject header ‘Short story artwork competition’. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.
6. The Promoters assume no responsibility for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, illegible or misdirected entries or for any technical failure during the competition period. Proof of emailing is not proof of receipt
7. You confirm the following in relation to your entry. Namely that all such artwork is your own original work and has not previously been published anywhere in the world; that it does not infringe any laws whether of the UK or elsewhere or the rights of any third party; that no other person was involved in the creation of such work; that you have the right to give the Promoters and their respective licensees permission to use it for the purposes set out below and that you have the consent of anyone who is identifiable in your contribution.
8. Joint entries are permitted as long as all participants in the individual artwork sign to sign a copy of Pan Macmillan’s terms and conditions
9. No purchase necessary.
10. The two winners will be chosen by Peter F Hamilton, the editor of SFX magazine, an independent illustrator and Pan Macmillan Art Department no later than 15 August 2011. Pan Macmillan or SFX magazine will notify the winners by telephone and email, and the winners will need to respond not later than two days from the notification otherwise another winner will be selected from the remaining eligible entries. Only the winners will be contacted.
11. In the event that, in the opinion of the judges, there are insufficient entries of a high enough standard to win, Pan Macmillan will use their own artwork.
12. Winners will be required to sign a copy of Pan Macmillan’s terms and conditions agreement which they must sign in order for their artwork to be used. Non-compliance will result in another winner being chosen.
13. Entries may be displayed in the public domain on the SFX and/or Pan Macmillan website, through social media sites and in SFX magazine. By entering the competition entrants consent to this, for which they will receive no payment.
14. The winners will be the entries which, in the decision of the judges, best answer the brief supplied by Pan Macmillan. The judges’ decision in all matters will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
15. Entrants must be 18 or over on 9 April 2011 and a permanent resident of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland. If you win the competition you may be asked to provide proof of your age and place of residency.
16. There are two prizes, each prize consists of having your artwork used on the ebook publication of a Peter F Hamilton short story for publication by Pan Macmillan in 2011.
17. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. The Promoters reserve the right to amend the specification of the prize, and to amend the terms of, or to withdraw this competition without notice, although every effort will be made to avoid undue disappointment to entrants and to provide a prize of similar quality and value. Details of any such changes will be posted on the SFX website
18. The copyright of your entry will remain with you, unless you win the competition. The winner will be required, under the terms of the Pan Macmillan contract, which they must sign as described above to assign all copyright and other intellectual property rights in their entry and such other artwork to Pan Macmillan. By entering the competition, entrants irrevocably grant the Promoters the right to reproduce their entry or an edited form of their entry in any form or format for the purposes of publication, advertising, marketing or point of sale as the Promoters shall determine. They also irrevocably agree to participate in such promotional activities and feature in such promotional and PR activities as the Promoters may reasonably require and consent to the use of their names, city of residence, photograph for publicity purposes in all media.
19. The name/country of the prizewinner will be published on www.sfx.co.uk
20. By submitting an entry you are deemed to have read and accepted these terms.
21. The email address and phone number you provide on entering this competition will only be used by us to contact you if necessary, and will not be shared with other companies.
22. The Promoters have organised this prize draw in good faith and do not accept liability relating to the prize.
23. These competition Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising therefrom.
Promoters: Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited of Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ("Pan Macmillan”) (together “the Promoters”) and SFX magazine, Future Publishing, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW.
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| MARKET AND COVER BRIEF | ||||
| TITLE | The Demon Trap | |||
| AUTHOR | Peter F Hamilton | |||
| SHOUTLINE | A short story from his new collection MANHATTAN IN REVERSE | |||
| IMPRINT | Tor | CLASSIFICATION | Science Fiction and Fantasy | |
| FORMAT | Ebook | PUB. DATE | September 2011 | |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
| When a Siddley-Lockheed CP-450 carrying a group of privileged pleasure-seeking Dynasty members is blown up over Nova Zealand, Senior Investigator Paula Myo of the Serious Crimes Directorate is called in to solve the terrible crime. A group called the Free Merioneth Forces have claimed responsibility but there had to be an individual at the end of that missile launcher and Paula is determined to find out who it was. A short story set in Peter F Hamilton’s popular Commonwealth world. | ||||
| TARGET AUDIENCE | Genre readers of all ages. Male bias.Hardcore Peter F Hamilton fans, they’ll have read a good selection of his books (if not all) and will know his cover style well and will have an opinion of whether the illustration has been imagined properly! They’re always on the look out for a new quality SF read. So previous Peter F Hamilton fans and those looking to experiment with a new author. | |||
| SIMILAR AUTHORS | Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Neal Asher, Gary Gibson, Charles Stross, Kevin J Anderson, Greg Bear, Ian MacDonald, Richard Morgan. | |||
| DESIGN APPROACH | ||||
| SUGGESTIONS | Quality and high-end, Peter F Hamilton is top ten bestselling author. Think about where the image is going to be seen, how you will make the image appealing as thumbnail . You don’t need to include: Peter F Hamilton name or Manhattan in Reverse on your design (unless you really want to) as we will place them on afterwards. We are looking for the illustration/background design .
Try to keep it about the scene and people, or an action scene look at recent Peter F Hamilton covers and see what the style is. A couple of descriptive passages are attached for inspiration including a character description of Paula Myo: Perhaps it was because of her carefully controlled mix of Filipino and European genes which had given her such a delightful face. / ‘Wow, you look great,’ Christabel enthused. ‘Positively jailbait. I’d forgotten how pretty you are when you’re young. You shouldn’t wait so long between rejuvenations.’ ‘I can’t spare the time,’ Paula said automatically. Her hand went up to sweep her raven hair away from her face. With rejuvenation returning her biological age to late-adolescence her hair had grown very thick again. Every time she was tempted to have it trimmed to a shorter style. But this fitted her, along with the simple-cut business suit and plain black shoes she always wore to work, defining what she was. It was as much her identity as her modified genes. The loop train took them to Mexico city followed by Rio, down to Buenos Aires and then over the ocean to Sydney. A Directorate helicopter was sitting on the station security division pad, rotors spinning idly. Paula and Christabel started putting on their armour as it lifted into the dark sky cloaking the city. Nelson watched enviously. ‘If you do need back-up . . .’ he said. ‘Then the city police will be happy to provide it,’ Paula said. He sighed and gave up. The ancient harbour bridge was illuminated in orange and blue holographic outlines as they flew in parallel to it. A wall of skyscrapers punctured the cityscape behind Circular Quay, their surface illuminations throwing cold monochrome light down onto the deserted night-time streets below. Or: ‘Go!’ the squad sergeant ordered. The explosive tape detonated, shattering the wooden door. The remnants crashed inwards. Suit sensors went active, cutting through the smoke and dust, producing a sharp black and white image. The drone streaked in. Icons blinked green and amber, showing the nerve jangler field was active. Theoretically it would stun Fiech’s nervous system, giving the team time to get in and cover him before he could go for any weapons. Unless he was ready and protected. The icons turned blue and the entry team charged in. Fiech was sprawled on a couch in the living room, still wearing the yellow shirt Paula had seen through so many camera images. His head was flung back, hanging over the edge of the cushions as his limbs shook from the aftermath of the jangle. Drool leaked out of his gaping mouth. Paula was running down the corridor, turning the corner. The wreckage of the door was in front of her. Four more team members were charging through it into the apartment. She followed them in. Fiech was still spread out across the couch. One of the suited figures was pressing an ion pistol to his temple. The second was providing cover. The remainder spread out through the apartment. | |||
| Row 12 - Cell 0 | Row 12 - Cell 1 | Row 12 - Cell 2 | Row 12 - Cell 3 | Row 12 - Cell 4 |
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| MARKET AND COVER BRIEF | ||||
| TITLE | Footvote | |||
| AUTHOR | Peter F Hamilton | |||
| SHOUTLINE | A short story from his new collection MANHATTAN IN REVERSE | |||
| IMPRINT | Tor | CLASSIFICATION | Science Fiction and Fantasy | |
| FORMAT | Ebook | PUB. DATE | September 2011 | |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
| It’s our world, present day – Gordon Brown is in power – the UK is going to rack and ruin. There are strikes, the power facilities don’t have enough technicians to continue running them, oppression and a terminal malaise afflicts the country and there seems no respite from the economic catastrophe. Then Bradley Ethan Murray opens a wormhole, a passage through to a new world and, potentially, a new world order. New Suffolk is available for all ‘decent people’ from the UK to start a new life - free from the troubles of the UK they will leave behind them. Janette and Colin are divorced with two kids. Janette believes that we all have a responsibility to fix the problems that we’ve created – that running away is the coward’s way out. But Colin disagrees – and taking their two children he organises to take them through the wormhole. | ||||
| TARGET AUDIENCE | Genre readers of all ages. Male bias.Hard core Peter F Hamilton fans, they’ll have read a good selection of his books (if not all) and will know his cover style well and will have an opinion of whether the illustration has been imagined properly! They’re always on the look out for a new quality SF read. So previous Peter F Hamilton fans and those looking to experiment with a new author. | |||
| SIMILAR AUTHORS | Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Neal Asher, Gary Gibson, Charles Stross, Kevin J Anderson, Greg Bear, Ian MacDonald, Richard Morgan. | |||
| DESIGN APPROACH | ||||
| SUGGESTIONS | Quality and high-end, Peter F Hamilton is top ten bestselling author. Think about where the image is going to be seen, how you will make the image appealing as thumbnail . You don’t need to include: Peter F Hamilton name or Manhattan in Reverse on your design (unless you really want to) as we will place them on afterwards. We are looking for the illustration/background design .
Try to keep it about the scene and people, look at recent Peter F Hamilton covers and see what the style is. A couple of descriptive passages are attached for inspiration: Backpackers marched along it, about ten abreast, a constant file of them. I couldn’t see the end of the line in either direction. They all had the same eager smile on their faces as they strode ever-closer to the wormhole. Zoe and I probably looked the same. ‘There!’ Olivia suddenly shouted. She was pointing at the trees on the other side of the backpackers. For a moment I was confused, it was as if a dawn sun was shining through the trunks. Then we cleared the end of the little wood, and we could see the wormhole directly. The zero-length gap in space-time was actually manifesting as a sphere three hundred yards in diameter. Murray had opened it so that the equator was at ground level, leaving a hemisphere protruding into the air. There was nothing solid, it was simply the place one planet ended and another began. You crossed the boundary, and New Suffolk stretched out in front of you. That was the notorious eye-twister which made a lot of people shiver and even flinch away. As you drew near the threshold, you could see an alien landscape dead ahead of you, inside the hemisphere. Yet it opened outwards, delivering a panoramic view. When you went through, you emerged on the outside of the corresponding hemisphere. There was no inside. It was early morning on New Suffolk, where its ginger-tinted sun was rising, sending a rouge glow across the gap to light up the English countryside. We were half a mile away now. The kids were completely silent, entranced by the alien sunlight. Zoe and I flashed a quick triumphant smile at each other. Or: As we inched our way across the motorway flyover I could look down on the solid lines of motionless vehicles clotting all the lanes below. There were hundreds of them, thousands. All of them waiting their turn to drive up the off road. Each one full of people who wanted to go through the wormhole. So many? Actually seeing how many people wanted to leave was quite a shock. The news says it’s like this every day. How can that many people be stupid enough to swallow Murray’s promises? I know the country isn’t perfect, but at least we’re trying to make it progressive, somewhere we’re not ashamed to have our kids grow up in. The bus finally made it to the rally area. A huge Airbus A380 flew low overhead as we climbed out, coming in to land at Stansted just a few miles to the north. I had to press my hands over my ears the engine noise was so loud. I didn’t recognize the airline logo; but it was no doubt bringing another batch of eager refugees from abroad who wanted to join the exodus. I tracked it across the sky. And there right ahead of me was the wormhole. It was like some gold-chrome bubble squatting on the horizon. I squinted into the brilliant rosy light it was radiating. ‘I didn’t realize it was that big,’ I muttered. The damn thing was intimidating this close up. | |||
| Row 12 - Cell 0 | Row 12 - Cell 1 | Row 12 - Cell 2 | Row 12 - Cell 3 | Row 12 - Cell 4 |
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