To celebrate the October 2011 publication of Manhattan In Reverse, Peter F. Hamilton’s first short story collection in thirteen years, SFX and Pan Macmillan are delighted to announce a very special and unique artwork competition. Two lucky winners will see their jacket designs adorn special eBook editions of two stories from the collection!

Manhattan In Reverse takes readers on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Myo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth’s Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subject matter, this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.

Pan Macmillan will be releasing two short stories from the collection in eBook format a month early. These will be available to buy through Apple’s iBookstore, Amazon and Waterstone and WHSmith online. SFX and Pan Macmillan are looking for jacket designs for both stories.

The two winning designs will be selected by a judging panel that includes Peter, his publishing team at Pan Macmillan and SFX staff.

Peter F Hamilton says: “There’s so much promising design talent out there and I’m excited to see how my stories are interpreted.”

SFX will be posting entries online as they come in and Peter will be dropping in to talk about his favourites and his writing more generally between now and the winning announcement in August.

• Pan Macmillan has provided cover briefs for the short stories The Demon Trap and Footvote—click on the links to view the briefs. These are exactly the type of briefs that professional artists will receive when they are commissioned to create cover artwork. Read them carefully because they are essential in helping you make your creative choices.

• You can provide entries for either or both stories.

• Your entry must be supplied in its complete form as a 300 dpi high resolution Jpeg or PDF under 2MB.

• Your entry must be 240mmx156mm.

• Your entry should be submitted to artwork@macmillan.co.uk

• Only original artwork or digital artwork will be considered and all artwork must be sent with your Name, Contact Telephone Number and Email Address in the body of the email and clearly marked in the subject header “Short Story Artwork Competition”. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

• Entries must be received by Pan Macmillan on or before the closing date of August 1, 2011 before 5.30pm GMT. Pan Macmillan may require a higher res version of the file at a later date

• Please read the Official Terms and Conditions for more details.