The rules for this competition seem excessively complicated and as far as I can see the winners are required to hand over all rights in their work to Bloomsbury. One of the things we are warned against in creative writing classes is not to offer all rights but just first rights or first British rights etc. when submitting material to a magazine.
WAIVER OF MORAL RIGHTS: In consideration of your story being published as part of the Collection you unconditionally and irrevocably waive in respect of your published story all moral rights, other than the right to be identified as the author of the story, to which you may now or at any future time be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world.
Seems a bit OTT for a short story of 1000 words.
Have I understood correctly that the whole competition has a closing date in October. So entries for the February theme don't have to be sent until October? It seems better to wait till all the themes are announced before choosing which to write about, given that you are limited to 3 entries over all.
What do other members think?
Thanks Victoria et al for your various comments. Personally, I don't regard competition entries as handed over to to the comp organisers and therefore wasted if unsuccessful.
Once the winners and the runners up have been announced I (usually) have a story/poem/ article that I can submit elsewhere or enter for another comp. Surely other people recycle work in this way when a piece isn't accepted by a magazine or successful in a competition. In these days of computers when it is so easy to keep a copy of a story I would have thought this is the normal practice.
I'm also no expert, but I think to hand over all rights to a competition is normal. If successful, your entry may go into an anthology and the company running the competition need the right to publish that anthology wherever they choose. When working with an agent and publisher you need to know exactly which rights you are handing over when, but I think comps are different. As long as you aren't signing away the rights to everything you've ever written or will write(!) giving the right to that one work isn't a problem, is it?
I've got no cooken clue about story line and how to use full sentences at its best. Never been in a write competition(I'd be thinking of rapping my own lyrics than to write a 1000 words ect) so I'd be happy and excited to write something about criminals like a pro.