There are a few tips, which I hope will be of use to writers entering short story competitions.  They're in no particular order of importance. I'll add more as I think of them.

1. Read the rules and follow them. This might seem a bit obvious, but it's surprising how many people send off their work without following the guidelines.

2. If you send off for more information always include an SAE. This is not only a courtesy, but many competition organisers run on a shoestring budget, so they don't have x amount of pounds available to make sure everyone gets an entry form.

3. Don't play chicken with the closing date. The closing date is not put there as a challenge. It's there to ensure everyone gets their work in on time. Many things can go wrong if you leave it till the last minute. Postal workers may strike, or your entry may be late for other reasons. So always give your entry plenty of time to arrive by the closing date. Also, many competition organisers prefer a steady flow of entries rather than receiving them all at the last minute. You might also think that if your story is among the last it will stick in the judge's mind better. It doesn't work like that. Unless it's a very small competition, most competitions send the entries to readers first and there's no guarantee they'll be sent off in the order in which they arrived.

4. If there's a theme, use it. If a competition asks for stories about werewolves, don't send them stories about vampires. And unless you happen to have a story that does fit the bill perfectly, don't try and tweak something to fit. It seldom works. Similarly, make sure your story fits what's gone before. You shouldn't send a horror story to a literary competition, or a light romance to a competition that's for dark fiction. No matter how good your story is, you won't win.

5. Keep to the word count. If a competition asks for stories up to 2000 words, that's what the organisers want. So don't think that because your 3000 word story is brilliant that they're going to make an exception for you. They won't, and as someone who does stick to the rules when she enters competitions, I'd be pretty miffed if they did. As would others.

6. Don't publicly slag off the competition because you lose or aren't placed above someone who you think is a poorer writer. What you say in private to friends and family is one thing, but it's very bad form to publicly slag off a competition, either on your blog or website, because you didn't win when you thought you should have.

7. Use a typewriter or wordprocessor. Hardly anyone, whether they be a competition organiser or writing market, accepts handwritten work nowadays, so send in typewritten work (typewritten as a term tends to include word processed now).

8. Spell check and punctuate.  You may well be a genius, but that's not going to show through a load of bad spelling and grammar. It looks sloppy and won't impress the judges or readers, regardless of the story.  So if you think you might have problems with your spelling and grammar, get someone to check your work for you. You're a writer and as a writer should have a good grasp of the tools needed for writing. You wouldn't employ a plumber who didn't know how to fix a leaky tap.

9. Don't pester the organisers. Let the organisers do their job. Unless the results of a competition are a long time coming, you shouldn't push them for longlists, shortlists and results. They'll make those announcements when they're good and ready.  Only if it's months past the date they said they'd announce the winners would it be acceptable to drop them a line and ask if there's any news.

10. Don't use fancy fonts, coloured paper, or attach balloons etc.   Unless otherwise stated (i.e. as in the recent Waterstones Postcard competition where entrants were encouraged to add art to their entries), only ever send your work on plain white A4 paper (one side only), in a sensible plain black font - i.e. Times New Roman 12pt - double spaced, and without any other adornments. Use bold or italics only when absolutely necessary and never put your work in a folder or poly-pocket. You might think that adding a clipart of an animated kitten will bring your work to the attention of the judges. Well, it will, but for all the wrong reasons. It  marks you out as a rank amateur, and also tells the judge(s) that you have no faith in the words on the page.

11. Make sure you attach enough stamps and use a decent sized envelope.  If sending work by post, always make sure you have the correct postage attached. Get it weighed at the post office to be sure. A competition organiser will not warm to you if they've had to pay the extra postage, plus a £1 handling fee and might well just throw your entry in the bin after they've cashed your cheque. Make sure SAEs also have the correct postage. Don't stuff your work into a tiny envelope. My rule of thumb is to use C5 envelopes for up to 4 A4 page (folded), and C4 envelopes for 5 or more A4 pages (flat). But check the rules anyway as the organiser may specify differently.

12. Include your contact details. Make sure you give your contact details but don't put them on your work unless the competition rules state otherwise. Either put them on an entry form or a separate cover sheet, along with title and word count, so they know exactly who to send the prize money to.

13. Never give up your copyright. Sometimes competition organisers will state in the rules that winners, and sometimes all entrants, must give up copyright of their work when they enter. As a new writer I might have done this, so eager was I to be successful, but not now. It's worth bearing in mind what giving up the rights to your work means. It means you cannot use that story/poem/novel/article ever again, and that should the organisers of the competition agree film or merchandising rights based on your work, you get nothing. Not even credit for creating the original work. Of course, it's up to the individual, but I think competition organisers who ask this, especially when they're big companies, have got a cheek and the less people who fall for it, the less likely they are to try it. Note: Giving up copyright to your work is not the same as giving competition organisers 'rights' to use it in their winners' anthologies or online, which is perfectly acceptable. You can give rights to organisers to use your work, whilst still retaining copyright.

14. Keep trying.  It can be pretty soul-destroying to keep entering competitions but come nowhere. I know because I was that writer, and even now I don't place in every competition I enter. But, if you keep practising, and study the competitions to ensure you send the right work to the right competition, one day you'll be successful. After all, the judge's decision is only ever subjective and despite some judges claiming to have a template for 'good stories', it will always come down to personal choice in the end.