Why is my entry not on the long or short list?

For all our categories we receive hundreds and hundreds of entries. Every entry is read and judged.

The long list in each category is comprised of those entries which were chosen during the first round of judging of all the entries. If your entry is not on this list it means it didn’t get through this time, but do remember that judging is subjective. What doesn’t make it to the long list on this occasion could easily do well next time, or even win in a different competition. Never give up!

The short lists are made up of those subsequently deemed to be the best of the stories on the long lists.

The final results are those considered by the judges as the top entries from the short lists.