The Guardian Legend Times Self-Published Book of the Month prize has been established to celebrate and showcase the best self-published novels out there. The winning novel will be selected by a panel of industry judges each month and reviewed in the Guardian.



The Guardian is the first national newspaper to champion self-publishing on a regular basis. The prize has been created with Legend Times, an award-winning independent publishing group, with companies including traditional fiction publisher Legend Press and a self-publishing company New Generation Publishing.

The prize is launched in response to the growing presence of self-publishing within the book industry. No longer can the mainstream industry ignore what the general public have been reading and enjoying for a number of years, with many self-published authors outstripping the sales of novels published traditionally.

Judges for the prize are Lauren Parsons (Commissioning Editor, Legend Press), Sophie Lambert (Literary Agent, Conville & Walsh) and authors Stuart Evers and Polly Courtney. Submissions will open on 1st of each calendar month and close on 18th. The prize will end in October 2014.

Submissions must be submitted digitally and must be in the English Language, although translations are welcomed. Only novels aimed at an adult readership are eligible for the prize. Authors must be UK residents. For further information about how to enter please read the Terms and Conditions below.

Terms and Conditions

Entries for October are now open. Books can be submitted from 1 October until 18 October. For further information about how to enter please read the Terms and Conditions below. The winner will be announced at the beginning of November. The prize will end in October 2014, therefore entries won’t be open from November on.



Entering the Competition

1. The Guardian Legend Self-Published Book of the Month (the “Competition”) is open to UK residents aged 18 and over.

2. The Competition is not open to employees, or family members of employees, of Guardian News & Media Limited (“GNM”), its agencies or group companies, or of Legend Times Ltd, its agencies or group companies, freelance contributors to GNM, or anyone else connected to the Competition.

3. Entrants into the Competition shall be deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions (“Terms”).

4. To enter the Competition you must submit an original work of fiction, written by you, in English (we will accept works that were originally written in another language but which have been translated into English), containing at least 40,000 words, as well as a synopsis of the work, to the email address self-published@theguardian.com with “Self-Published Book of the Month Submission” in the subject line. Your work must have been self-published after 31 December 2011 and before the date of your entry, and cannot have been published (or agreed to be published) by a third party traditional publisher. Your work must be submitted in Word or PDF format. Your email must contain your name, address and telephone number. No purchase is necessary. If you have any questions about how to enter or otherwise in connection with the Competition, please email us at self-published@theguardian.com with “Guardian Legend Self-Published Book of the Month Query” in the subject line.

5. Only one entry per person per month. You may not submit the same entry for more than one Guardian Legend Self-Published Book of the Month Monthly Competition. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed. You are responsible for the cost (if any) of sending your Competition entry to us. The winner shall be the author of the selected winning entry who has entered the Competition in accordance with these Terms.

6. The Promoters accept no responsibility for entries that are lost, delayed, misdirected or incomplete or cannot be delivered or entered for any technical or other reason. Proof of delivery of the entry is not proof of receipt by the Promoters.

7. The Competition opens at 00.01 and closes at 23.59 on the dates specified on the website at www.theguardian.com/books/series/self-published-book-of-the-month. Entries received outside this time period will not be considered. The Promoters reserve the right in their absolute discretion to extend the closing date where the entries received are of insufficient quality.

8. You warrant that you own the copyright to your Competition entry as its author. By submitting an entry to the Competition, you give the Promoters:

a. Permission for an extract of your entry to be published on GNM websites including but not limited to guardian.com (“GNM Websites”), and you grant GNM a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use and publish your Competition entry in electronic format (including on GNM Websites and on any social media account controlled by GNM) and in hard copy format (including in GNM publications) for purposes connected with the Competition, and to adapt the entry to enable such publication (including to crop or otherwise edit it for such purposes). For the avoidance of doubt, GNM may only publish part of your entry for purposes connected with the Competition. In order to use entries submitted by entrants as intended and advised in these Terms and Conditions, (i) GNM may need to edit submissions, but shall endeavour to maintain the integrity of the work as originally created; and (ii) GNM shall use its best endeavours to provide an author credit for all submissions published by GNM in connection with the Competition; and



b. The right to use your name and county of residence for the sole purpose of identifying you as the author of your entry and/or as a winner of the Competition.

9. You warrant and confirm that your entry:

a. is your own work, is not copied, does not contain any third-party materials, public domain materials or any content that you do not have permission to use, does not promote any goods or services, does not describe inappropriate or dangerous behaviour and is not otherwise obscene, defamatory, distasteful, or offensive; and

b. does not breach any applicable law or regulation, or any confidentiality or other obligations owed by you to third parties (including any obligations to third parties that may restrict its publication).

If we have reason to believe your entry is in breach of this paragraph 9 then we may not consider it and may disqualify it.

10. We may disqualify your Competition entry for the following reasons: your entry does not comply with these Terms; you are not eligible to enter the Competition; or you cannot be contacted. In the event of disqualification, we may select a new winner in accordance with the selection processes outlined below.

Picking the long list and winner

11. A panel of judges, including at least one member who is independent of the Promoters, will select a long-list from all valid entries received in accordance with these Terms.

12. A second panel of judges, including at least one member who is independent of the Promoters, will select the winner from all long-listed entries received in accordance with these Terms, within 60 days of the closing date of the Competition.

13. Full details of the judging process and the names of the judges are available on request to self-published@theguardian.com. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

14. When choosing the long-list and the winner, the judges will select the entries which in their view are the most contemporary and stand out from the others the most in terms of uniqueness and writing quality.

The Award

15. The winner will be sent a notification by e-mail within 60 days of the closing date of the Competition. If the winner does not respond to GNM within 14 days of being notified of their win, rejects their award or the entry is invalid or in breach of these Terms, the winner’s award will be forfeited and GNM shall be entitled to select another winner in accordance with the process described above in paragraph 12 (and the provisions of this paragraph 15 shall apply to that winner).

16. The winner’s entry will be awarded the title “the Guardian/Legend Self-Published Book of the Month” for the month of its publication and the name and county of the winner, along with an extract of their winning entry, will be published on http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/self-published-book-of-the-month within 60 days of the closing date of the Competition (subject to a valid winner having responded in accordance with paragraph 15 above). No other prize shall be awarded and the Promoters make no representations as to any future publication or promotion of the entry.



Some other rules

17. The winner may be required to take part in promotional activity related to the Competition and the winner shall participate in such activity on the Promoters’ reasonable request. The winner consents to the use by the Promoters and their related companies, both before and after the closing date of the Competition for an unlimited time, of the winner’s voice, image, photograph and name for publicity purposes (in any medium, including still photographs and films, and on the internet, including any websites hosted by the Promoters and their related companies) and in advertising, marketing or promotional material without additional compensation or prior notice and, in entering the Competition, all entrants consent to the same.

18. The Promoters shall use and take care of any personal information you supply to them as described in their privacy policies, copies of which can be seen at http://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy and http://www.legendtimesgroup.co.uk/legend-times/416-privacy-policy and in accordance with data protection legislation. By entering the Competition, you agree to the collection, retention, usage and distribution of your personal information in order to process and contact you about your Competition entry, and for the purposes outlined in paragraphs 16 and 17 above.

19. The Promoters accept no responsibility for any damage, loss, liabilities, injury or disappointment incurred or suffered by you as a result of entering the Competition or accepting the award. The Promoters further disclaim liability for any injury or damage to your or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participation in or downloading any materials in connection with the Competition. Nothing in these Terms shall exclude the liability of the Promoters under law for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury resulting from their negligence.

20. The Promoters reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, this Competition with or without prior notice due to reasons outside their reasonable control (including, without limitation, in the case of anticipated, suspected or actual fraud). The decision of the Promoters in all matters relating to the Competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

21. The Promoters shall not be liable for any failure to comply with their obligations relating to this Competition where the failure is caused by something outside their reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, supervening legislation or any other circumstances amounting to force majeure.

22. The Competition and these Terms will be governed by English law and entrants to the Competition submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

23. Promoters: Guardian News & Media Limited, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU and Legend Times Ltd, The Old Fire Station, 140 Tabernacle Street, London EC2A 4SD (collectively, “Promoters/us/we”).

Amendments to Competition Terms and Conditions:

Paragraph 8a of the Terms and Conditions was amended on 8 April 2014 to clarify that the rights granted by entrants to GNM only entitle GNM to publish extracts of submissions for purposes connected with the competition.