COMPETITION INFORMATION
Name of competition:
Alan Titchmarsh: People’s Author Competition
Competition opening/closing date & time:
Competition opens on Tuesday 7 April 2009 as stated in the “Alan Titchmarsh Show” on ITV1 (the “programme”) and closes at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday 30 June 2009.
Entrants’ eligibility:
To be eligible to enter the competition, you must meet the following criteria:
(a) You must be aged 18 years or over at the time of entering the competition;
(b) You must be a UK resident, meaning you must be ordinarily be a UK resident and/or living in the UK at the time of entering the competition;
(c) You must not be employed, and have not been previously employed or engaged by ITV, Spun Gold TV Limited, the Orion Publishing Group, or companies within their group of companies, and you must not be a live-in partner or immediate relative (i.e. mother, father, son, daughter, brother or sister) of an employee at ITV, Spun Gold TV Limited, the Orion Publishing Group, or their group of companies or any of their affiliates, subsidiaries, agencies or persons professionally associated with the programme and/or the competition, including the producer of the programme and the provider of the prize;
(d) You must not be a professional writer. This means that you should not be earning or have previously earned regular, frequent and/or significant income and/or your principal source of income (in each case as determined by the Promoter) should not be from writing fiction and/or factual or real-life accounts (including without limitation biographies).
You must also meet the submission criteria set out in these terms and conditions. Proof of age and eligibility may be required. By entering this competition, you agree to comply with these terms and conditions and you agree that the real-life story you submit may be broadcast and/or published in all media, adapted, in whole or in part, including but not limited to broadcast on the programme and/or publication by the Orion Publishing Group in the discretion of the Promoter and/or prize provider.Further, by submitting your real-life story, you agree to waive your moral rights in relation to that story.
Submission eligibility criteria:
Your real-life story must:
(a) Be a real life story based on incidents that the entrant has experienced;
(b) Be in English;
(c) Be presented in the form of an outline of the whole story plus a sample or samples of your real life story which should not be more than 5,000 words long in total;
(d) Be original, solely your own work, and must not contain any third party content;
(e) Not have been previously published anywhere in the world in any form or in any media (including without limitation in printed publications, online, or audio publishing or by public performance).
All submitted real-life stories are considered as “Submissions” (as defined under the Terms of Use at www.itv.com/terms) and are subject to such Terms of Use. You warrant that you will not make any submission which in any way infringes the copyright or other rights of a third party, or which infringes any applicable laws and that the information you provide is accurate and up to date.
Your submission will be moderated and hence the Promoter and/or prize provider may need to amend your submission at their discretion. Your submission is subject to, but not limited to, the following restrictions and guidelines: It must not contain any material which is in any way defamatory, obscene, unlawful, harmful, offensive or inappropriate or infringes the rights of a third party or may have the effect of being harassing, threatening, abusive or hateful or that otherwise degrades or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability. You agree not to advertise or promote third parties' or your own goods or services within your submission. Any such submissions will be deemed inappropriate and will not be accepted.
Where your entry fails to meet the submission criteria set out in these terms and conditions and elsewhere as applicable, or fails to meet other eligibility criteria, this will result in disqualification from the competition.
Cost of entry:
There is no charge for entries made by post, but sufficient postage must be paid.
Method of entry:
Eligible entrants may enter the competition as stated in the programme by post only. Please note it is not possible to enter the competition by any other method not provided for here. Entrants are required to send a synopsis (which should be a maximum of two pages in length) outlining the story they are submitting together with sample(s) of their real-life story, along with their real and full name, a mobile/daytime contact telephone number, their e-mail address, a brief biography of the entrant, as well as any other information where stated, to the following address:
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
The People’s Author
P.O Box 64382
London
EC2P 2GJ
Entries should be on one-side of paper only (i.e. not double-sided), and preferably typed. In the event it is impossible to submit a typed entry, the reason for sending in a handwritten entry should be stated in a covering letter.
The closing date and time for receipt of entries is 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday 30 June 2009.
Only one entry per person is permitted. Entrants submitting more than the maximum number of entries permitted will invalidate all of their entries and such entries will not be considered for the competition. Entries which are incomplete, incomprehensible, illegible or which are sent or received after the closing date and time will not be considered.
The Promoter, the producers of the programme and their sub-contractors bear no responsibility for any entry which is incorrectly addressed, lost in transit or damaged in any way. Entries sent by post are deemed received upon arrival at the address as specified. The Promoter is not responsible for any irregularities, industrial action, or other disruption in the postal service, and the Promoter will not be held liable in any such event.
The Promoter will not acknowledge receipt of any entry or return any stories sent in. It is recommended that you send in copies rather than original material. The Promoter will not amend contact information once entry to the competition has been made.
The Promoter will only pass your data to third parties for marketing purposes if you have asked to receive marketing information from those third parties.
Shortlist selection:
All eligible entries received by the closing date and time will be reviewed by a selection panel. The selection panel will select a shortlist of sixteen (16) stories (the “shortlisted entrants”) based on, but not limited to the following selection criteria: a well written, rich story that can be expanded beyond 5000 words to become a book. Selection of the shortlisted entrants will be at the sole discretion of the selection panel and the selection panel’s decision will be final.
Each shortlisted entrant will be contacted on the phone number they provided when entering the competition to verify their eligibility. He/she will be contacted by 31 August 2009. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact a shortlisted entrant. If they cannot be contacted, or are unable to comply with these terms and conditions then the Promoter reserves the right to select the next eligible entrant whose entry the selection panel has considered, in their sole discretion, meets the eligibility and selection criteria as indicated in these terms and conditions.
Each shortlisted entrant will be required to provide their signature as proof of age and eligibility, and as proof of their agreement to any relevant waivers, releases and/or consent to being in the programme on the date and time and at the location specified, and to attend and appear on the programme in the Promoter’s discretion, and in the event their entry is the winning entry, to have it published in by the prize provider. Failure to provide such signature prior to the relevant programme, failure to meet the eligibility criteria and/or where the submission fails to meet the submission criteria set out in these terms and conditions and elsewhere as applicable, will result in disqualification from the competition and that shortlisted entrant’s story no longer being considered further in the competition, as well as forfeiture of any rights arising from that shortlisted entrant’s entry to the competition.
Unless otherwise specified, the Promoter is not liable to refund any costs or expenses incurred in entering the competition and/or participating in the programme, including but not limited to the cost of postage, any phone calls made, internet access fees, travel costs, accommodation, repair and/or restoration cost, incidental costs, charges, fees, expenses and taxes unless otherwise provided.
Winner selection:
Shortlisted entrants are required to attend at an address, to be specified, on dates and times during October and November 2009 to be specified to be in an episode of the programme. It is the responsibility of the shortlisted entrants to ensure they are available on the relevant date(s). Shortlisted entrants agree to comply with any directions given by the Promoter, the producer of the programme, the Orion Publishing Group, their subsidiaries, affiliates, subcontractors and agents including without limitation, in conformity with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, health and safety guidelines and any other applicable rules, laws, guidelines and regulations (the “instructions”). Failure to comply with these instructions, or failure to meet the eligibility criteria and/or the submission criteria set out in these terms and conditions, and elsewhere as applicable, will result in disqualification from the competition and that shortlisted entrant’s story no longer being considered further in the competition, as well as forfeiture of any rights arising from entry to the competition. The decision of the Promoter is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
During the programme, shortlisted entrants’ entries will be judged in groups of four by an independent judging panel which will, in its sole discretion, select one entry from each group (i.e. four (4) entries in total) they think best meet the selection criteria, to go through to the final stage to win the competition (the “finalists”, each a “finalist”).
The episode of the programme to determine the winner will be broadcast on or about 30 November 2009.
Viewers may be given the opportunity to vote for a finalist, as featured in the programme, to win the competition by following the instructions as stated in the programme. The voting times open and close as stated in the programme. The finalist with the highest number of votes from all votes which are made before the voting closing time, and which are received by the producer of the programme at the time when the result is calculated, after the deadline for receiving votes has passed will be the winner. In the event of a tie, where two or more finalists receive joint highest votes, the independent judging panel will determine the winner from amongst the tied finalists. In the event that the judging panel cannot agree on a winner, the head judge will decide the winner. In these circumstances, the judging panel’s decision will be final.
Prize:
The prize is a publishing contract with the Orion Publishing Group including an advance of £20,000 (twenty thousand pounds) subject to a contractual agreement between the winner and Orion Publishing Group under which, following winner confirmation, the winner will be required to complete a book based on the story outline and samples submitted in entering this competition. Publication is expected to but is not guaranteed to take place in April 2010.
In addition, the winner will be provided with a meeting with a literary agent, who will provide professional career advice without obligation.
The prize excludes without limitation, travel costs, transportation, accommodation, meals, costs, expenses, charges, fees, taxes, incidental costs and insurance which may be incurred in taking up the prize unless otherwise provided.
The prize is subject to restrictions and to confirmation of eligibility, and is subject to additional terms and conditions of the provider of the prize. It is the responsibility of the winner to ensure that they follow the instructions given, and are available on the date(s) as specified to take up the prize. There is no alternative prize or cash equivalent and the prize is non-changeable and non-transferable. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Promoter is not liable for any costs, liabilities, damages or losses or for any medical conditions aggravated or incurred by the winner in participating in the competition and/or in taking up the prize. The Promoter reserves the right to vary any element of the prize for reasons beyond their reasonable control. Other restrictions may apply. The winner will be required to participate in publicity.
If the selected winner fails to meet any element of the eligibility requirements as set out in these terms and conditions or is unable to comply with these terms and conditions and take up the prize as specified, this may result in forfeiture of the prize, and of any rights arising from entry to the competition. The Promoter reserves the right to select the finalist who has received the next highest numbers of votes or, where finalists have been tied, the short story that the independent judging panel has deemed the next best entry.
General:
The Promoter does not guarantee that all entrants will be contacted, nor does the Promoter represent, undertake or warrant that it will broadcast any future episode of the programme which may or may not include an entrant’s entry and/or participation.
Nothing in these terms and conditions restricts your statutory rights as a consumer. For more details on your statutory rights you should contact your local Trading Standards Office or Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Queries/Complaints:
If you have a query or complaint, you may register your query and/or complaint with the ITV Viewer Services who can be contacted by phone on 0844 88 14150, or by email at viewerservices@itv.com. You may need to give the following information:
(a) Your Name
(b) Your email or mailing address
(c) The nature of the problem you experienced
(d) A contact telephone number you can be reached on, if necessary
Alternatively, you may send the above required information by email to: itvihelp@itv.com and we will contact you as soon as possible.
Prize provider: Orion Publishing Group, Orion House, 5 Upper Saint Martin's Lane, London, WC2H 9EA (registered number 02663988)
Promoter: ITV Consumer Limited, 200 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8HF (registered number 2937518)
General Competition Terms and Conditions apply. Please see here for full general competition Terms and Conditions. 
