JNC Original Light Novel Contest Year 3 Submissions Open

For all the OELN novelists planning to enter in the J-Novel Club 3rd Annual New Writer Contest, here is a rundown explaining the updated changes to rules and submission guidelines all authors should be aware of.

Submission Form:

There will still be two categories available for one different submission each. On-Going Series and Complete Story.

Participants must list their Full Name, Pen Names are optional. Age, contact email address, country of (current official) residence, postal code, address, primary source of “how you heard about the contest”, title of work, official word count, synopsis of work aka the blurb or summary of the provided story, are all required to be filled out on the submission form. Look to the very bottom of the submission form website to upload file and press submit. Note that once you have done so you can not re-submit the same work at a later date this year under any circumstances. Doing so will result in disqualification.

Important Deadlines:

Round 1 of the new writer contest closes December 30th (no time specified, highly reccomend submitting by December 29th 11:59pm)

Note that JNC holds sole discretion over permitting and announcing deadline extension. (This occurance is rare and may only occur under the circumstance that submissions are low.)

Manuscript Guidelines:

• Work must be submitted in either Microsoft Word doc or docx, or Adobe PDF format. If selected as a winner, you must be able to submit it as either a Microsoft Word Doc or a Google Doc not beforehand. Works will be edited using tools like track changes and comments on Microsoft Word, so for editing rounds authors must be able to comply with an understanding of these methods.

• Handwritten works or works which are scanned from handwriting are not accepted. It must be typed and submitted digitally.

• Unsolicited works outside of the contest period are not accepted.

• Your work must consist only of text. Works which contain illustrations are not acceptable. Your work can only use black colored text but the size and type of font for special dialouge delivery moments are to your discretion.

• Please make sure that your work is easilyreadable. You may freely use any layout and typography you wish, but keep in mind that the winning works will need to be published as eBooks and should not include typographic features which are not easily reproduced in that format. So any special decorate page markers, section breaks, chapter headers, etc. should be removed from the submitted work during the contest period but their inclusion can be up for discussion after winners begin negotiating the details of their publication contracts or during meetings for print copies.

• Winning manuscripts will have several rounds of editorial with J-Novel Club and thus, do not have to be in their “perfect” final state. However, they need to have a clear beginning, middle, and end that would signify they could be published as a single book, even if it is intended as a series.

• Books that are one volume only or the first volume in a series are both accepted.

• Works must be no less than 35,000 words and no more than 75,000 words for both categories.

• All genres are accepted.

• No story/character outlines attached to the manuscript for the On-Going Series Category need to be provided as done per usual previous contests. The topic for how the story may continue in this category may be brought back up for discussion for those succeeding to Round 2, “the editing phase” of the contest.

New Additional Prize Announced:

KADOKAWA Comicalization Prize is applicable to all winners.

All prize winners across all categories will additionally be considered for a Comicalization Prize by KADOKAWA’s editorial team. In addition to a certificate, this will mean automatic allowance to adapt the work into a comic in English or a manga in Japanese, at KADOKAWA’s discretion. Additional terms and conditions will apply and revealed only to winners.

All Prize Details:

• The Grand Prize award will only be given out to a work which a KADOKAWA editorial group wishes to publish as a Japanese edition. The nominated story does not mean that the work is superior or held in higher regard by the contest audience. Neither does it mean that the Grand Prize may even be awarded this year. Only one Grand Prize will be given.

• Multiple works may win the First Prize and Runner-Up Prize. At least one out of the five open slots for each of these prizes will be awarded. Up to a possible ten winners may be awarded for these prizes.

• All prize-winning works will receive original cover, color, and interior art commissioned by J-Novel Club, and will be published digitally (and possibly in print) by J-Novel Club. Authors can discuss with their editor and JNC marketing teams on how artwork will be illustrated to suit their vision.

• Prize money will be deposited in USD into an account of your choosing upon the signing of a publication contract if your entry is chosen for an award. Exchange fees, other banking fees, and any applicable local taxes may be deducted from your prize money. Each prize winner is responsible for paying taxes on their prize money in accordance with their local laws.

NOTE: winners will be asked to sign an exclusive publication contract with J-Novel Club for the digital publication of the work. This contract will set royalties to be paid to the winner for the sale of the submitted work by J-Novel Club, and the prize money will be considered an advance on those royalties. In the event of a Grand Prize winner, the contract will also include the Japanese adaptation rights for the submitted work, and J-Novel Club will then enter into a contract with Kadokawa for the light novel translation into Japanese. If awarded the Comicalization prize in addition to any other prize (prize can only be awarded additionally), the author will enter into a contract with Kadokawa for an adaptation manga in Japanese or comic in English, which will be pursuant to the contract between those parties. Contracts with J-Novel Club will be a standard exclusive publishing contract, with a term of 5 years, after which any rights to the submitted work will return to the original rights holder, unless renewed upon mutual agreement by both parties, or as set by the contract offered and signed by both parties. Any subsequent sublicense or third-party use will be subject to the terms and conditions of the contract with J-Novel Club. Authors are also asked not to themselves sell any likeness of characters that may conflict with J-Novel Club’s ability to commission art for, market, or sell the book. Meaning authors who have signed their contracts after winning can not sell any of their own commerical items(like prints, acrylic stands, t-shirts, or pins) featuring the visual look of the characters as it damages the return profits of official merchandise. If a winner chooses not to sign the publication contract, the prize will be revoked and may be granted to another work instead. The rights to any illustrations commissioned by J-Novel Club and any secondary rights deriving from those illustrations shall remain with J-Novel Club. Meaning authors only retain rights to the written aspect of their work.

Expectations and Final Notes:

Submitted works to be anonymized, with your personal information kept separately and securely, according to J-Novel Club's privacy policy for the duration of the contest so as not to influence the judge panel with outside factors. The rights to your submitted work shall remain entirely with you, and J-Novel Club shall make no claims to the rights to the works or any IP contained within, with one exception: By submitting your work, in the event it becomes a finalist, you agree to allow J-Novel Club and its business partners to stream no more than 30% of the submitted work for free for a period of no longer than 1 year. No financial remuneration will be made for this free streaming, and this streaming shall not imply the transfer of any other rights to the work, including but not limited to the character or story IP. You agree not to post on any public forum or website the remainder of the story while it is being judged. This event will occur during the supposed Third Round of judging when the finalists are now subjected to the public audience. Their reader engagement, comments, and other responses will be one component of the decision process for who will acquire a spot as a winner.

Advertising such as direct links, social media announcements and such may be allowed as this stage of the contest is about guaging reader involvement with your work. Highly recommend listing pen names in such announcements so as to avoid indirectly influencing judge panelists with outside factors that may disqualify you. If you do not list a pen name it is perfectly acceptable to not list any name at all in such announcements, and only list work titles instead.

Till then I hope we all succeed in making our light novelists dreams come true.