Contest Dates

 

Submissions will be accepted from September 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 midnight ET or until the maximum of 100 entries for manuscripts and 100 of audio recordings have been reached.

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Eligibility and Submissions

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• Entrants must be 18 years or older at time of submission.

• Submission must be in the science fiction genre.

• Submissions must be a published work (meaning, available for purchase).  

• Since submissions will be evaluated on quality, it is highly recommended that submissions be edited.

• Submissions must be made through the Valorious Award website.

• Submissions must be in English.

• Submissions are limited to one entry per author per category. 

• Submissions must be independently published (also known as self-published).

• Submissions must have a minimum word count of 65,000 words.

• Audio Submissions with multiple narrators will be judged on the performance of the actor who submitted the entry. If another narrator from the same book would like to enter the contest, they must make a submission in their own name.

• Books with multiple authors will be judged as a single work. If a multi-author book wins, the person who entered the contest will be the sole recipient of the award.

• Only the first book of a series may be submitted.

• Submissions must be in one of the formats listed: Word, PDF, Epub, Mobi.

• For audiobooks submitted for the Best Sci-Fi Voice Actor, two copies of the work must be made available to the judges, either with Audible codes or WAV files.

 

Ineligibility

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• Prior winners of a Valorious Award are ineligible to enter the contest.

• Judges and their families are not eligible to enter the contest. 

• Authors making over $50,000 per year from their writing are not eligible to enter the contest.

• Books not deemed within the science fiction genre at the judge’s discretion are ineligible.

• Stories that positively promote or normalize hatred, prejudice, or violence toward any group of people based on age, race, nationality, sex, gender, religion, political affiliation, disability, or neurodiversity will not be accepted.

• Stories that positively promote or normalize rape, sexual assault, child and/or animal, or stalking behaviors will not be accepted.

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Entry Deadline

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All Submissions must be received by Sunday, December 31, 2023 before midnight Eastern Time US (UTC -5).

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Entry Fee

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• All submissions are required to pay a non-refundable $35 USD fee per entry to be considered.

• All entry fees will be applied to the prize awards. 

• Entry fees are non-refundable for any reason.

 

Judging

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A panel of judges consisting of sci-fi authors, actors, editors, and avid readers will review each submission based on the following criteria:

 

Technical Skills

• Grammar

• Spelling

• Readability

• An understanding and ability to incorporate proper writing techniques. For example but not limited to: proper use of POV, showing vs telling, excess use of inappropriate ‘info dumping’, proper character arcs established, etc. 

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Craft

• Is the story enjoyable/satisfying?

• Is the story original?

• Are all the elements of a story present?

• Hook, inciting incident, turning point, resolution, etc.

• Readability.

• Plot, originality, prose, character, story execution.

 

Audio

• Audiobooks will be judged on the quality of the voice acting, not on the quality of the story.

 

All judges' decisions are final.

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Definitions

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*Sci-Fi Novel: An original work of fiction where the majority of fantastical elements are derived from science and technology. (For comparison, works of fantasy primarily use magic as the source of their fantastical elements).

 

Judges are looking for sci-fi themes, including colonization, space opera, adventure, time travel, military, and romance. All sci-fi subgenres are permitted and judged by merit of their writing or narration. Young adult (YA) novels within these sub-genres are also accepted.

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Terms, Conditions, and Limitation of Liability

 

• All decisions made by the judges regarding the winners are final.

• No contest entry fees will be returned.

• By submitting, you are agreeing to all contest rules.

• Contest rules are subject to change.

• All submitted work remains the property of the copyright holder(s) and will not be distributed by anyone involved in the Valorious Awards.

• All prize winners are responsible for any taxes or fees resulting from their winnings.

• The winner(s) will be required to sign a release and affidavit of eligibility. This allows the Valorious Awards to use the winner's name, image, and likeness for promotional purposes.

• A maximum of 200 entries will be accepted; 100 for best sci-fi novel and 100 for best voice actor.

• Contest is sanctioned solely by Hopper Creative Group, LLC incorporated in the State of New York, United States of America.

• Trophies will be mailed to winners if they are not present for the ceremony on Saturday, July 20th 2023.

• Cash awards will be sent via check, Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp at winner's discretion the week following the ceremony.

• Digital badges will be emailed to winners the week following the ceremony.

• Promotional blurbs by Christopher Hopper will be emailed to winners the week following the ceremony.

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Representation and Warranties of Entrants

 

Contestants specifically represent and warrant the following regarding each submission:

• The work is original material written by the entrant. The entrant is entirely responsible for all content submitted;

• The work has not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work (as written in any language or in any medium, whether now known or hereafter devised) has not been previously published, produced, or distributed in any audio or visual form, or otherwise exploited in any medium (whether now known or hereafter devised, in whole or in part);

• The work does not defame, and does not infringe or violate the right of privacy, right of publicity, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret, or any intellectual property, proprietary or other right(s) of, any third party;

• The work does not defame, and does not infringe or violate the right of privacy, right of publicity, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret, or any intellectual property, proprietary or other right(s) of, any third party;

• The work does not include the name or likeness of any actual person(s), without having obtained the express prior written consent of such person(s) (or of such person’s parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) in each instance; and

• The work meets each of the content requirements.​