Check out this space for details of competitions, publishers, agents or events that we've had emails about, as well as members' findings they'd like flagged up....
We've heard about......
Dundee International Book Prize
2016 award for unpublished debut novelists! Closing date 19th Feb
Submissions for the 2016 Dundee International Book Prize are invited from
Monday 25th January until Friday 19th February.
The winner will receive £5,000, a week’s protected writing time in Dundee
and publication by Freight Books.
Bath Novel Award - Jo's Event in March
Jo is on the panel of "How to Win a Novel Award" on 8th March in Bath. We're looking into accommodation adn transport for all those up for being there on the day. Starts 1pm........ Watch this space....
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How to Write Sex Scenes - Telegraph article
A great article, flagged up by Alan...
If you've ever worried about finding yourself in the annual Bad Sex Scenes Top Ten, you're in good company. Wilbur Smith is the Bookie's favourite this year. In deference to those who blush easily, we won't quote it....just click on the link below.
Word of Mouth Competition
Inaugral competition from an agency looking for new voices.
This was flagged up by jop - and we all know how good she is at picking great competitions!
Submission from1st Nov 2014 - 31st Jan 2015.
Your manuscript doesn't need to be complete, but it must be at least 30,00 words long.
Prize money is £1,000.
Slushpile Hell
ONE GRUMPY LITERARY AGENT AND A SEA OF QUERY FAILS
You get the slushpile quote:
I hope this submission leaves you in a condition of uncontrolled and irreversible “wow.”
And you get the agent's considered view:
Last time I was in that condition I spent the next day in a Mexican jail.
What's more to say?
Very entertaining. (A little chastening.....)
Writers' Evening in Guildford
22nd July
7.00pm Waterstones
8:30pm The Keep
Write Time, a local business aimed at providing services to writers, has arranged two FREE events in Guildford. The first is a talk at Waterstones from two published authors, about negotiating the publishing landscape, and the second is a pub night. Both are on the same night. Follow the link below....
Jonathan Cape Open Submissions
From 1st to 30th June
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
From 1–30 June, 2014, Jonathan Cape will be open for fiction submissions from new writers of high calibre and imagination.
Submissions should be an initial 50 pages of prose fiction. These can be part of a novel or novella, or short stories. The pages can be finished work or a work in progress.
For graphic-novel submissions, please contact the editors through www.capegraphicnovels.co.uk
Submissions should be emailed as attachments to capesubmissions@randomhouse.co.uk. Please include contact details, and a covering paragraph of any information you think might prove helpful in considering your submission.
Regrettably, due to the number of submissions we receive, we cannot respond in every instance, but all entries will be read. Submissions received after 30 June will not be considered. Please submit only one title.
CONGRATULATIONS JO!
Huge congratulations to our very own Jo for winning the prestigeous Bath Novel Award! 3/6/14
The judges said of Jo's winning novel Different:
“Different is both page-turning and thought-provoking. It’s an exploration of sexuality, the fallibility of memory, and the lies we tell ourselves. An incredibly compelling read.”
We could have told them that from the first time we heard Jo read it....
Watch this space for news of a publishing deal..... we're on tentahooks Jo!
So happy for you.
Successful Submissions..
A very useful website with over sixty letters that landed the writer an agent. Following each letter are comments from the agents themselves as to which parts of the letters pulled them in.
Be warned - you'll spend a lot of time here once you start. These letters represent a wide range of genres, and each one has led to representation by an agent, although it is the follow up notes by the agents themselves that are really revealing. It is worth noting that the agents appear to be mostly American, so not all aspects of the submission process may cross the Atlantic intact. The website is also a little confusing at first glance, but clicking the 'READ MORE' link next to each novel will take you to the submission letter, and the agent's comments. Well worth a gander...
Day Workshop on getting published
From Writers and Artists
Writers & Artists is hosting ‘Getting Published: Which Route Do I Take?', a one-off conference designed to offer writers sound advice on the options available to them in the world of modern publishing. The event will cover everything from submitting to literary agents, to successful crowd-funding projects.
As this event may be of interest to your writing group, we would like to make an offer of 15% discount available to all of your members.
The conference takes place on Saturday 12th July at the Wellcome Collection, London, and will cover all aspects of the publishing industry. Literary agent Jo Unwin, features and insight editor at The Bookseller Tom Tivnan, publisher and co-founder of Unbound, John Mitchinson, and writer & journalist Laurie Penny are just some of the speakers who will be in attendance. For full details and an itinerary of the day’s event, hit the weblink below.
The Bridport Prize
...which needs no introduction.
The Bridport Prize is closing on the 31st May. This year, the new kid on the block of the competition is the Peggy-Chapman-Andrews Award for a first novel. Alison Moore, of Booker-Shortlist-2013 fame, will judge the shortlist. Unfinished novels can be submitted.....
NAWG Festival of Writing
29th to 31 August 21014
Warwick University
The National Association of Writing Groups have a festival of wriing in August - we are members, and as such get a small discount, I believe, so it should come in at £250 for a weekend. Hit the link below for details of workshops etc,
Writer's Retreat Competition
27/01/14
WRITER'S RETREAT COMPETITION
Call for entries — deadline 3 February 2014
Myriad Editions is joining forces with West Dean College to offer unpublished writers the chance to win a week's writing retreat, with full board, in the luxurious surroundings of the College, situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty six miles north of Chichester, South East England.
Past winners of the WRC include Lisa Cutts, author of Never Forget, published by Myriad earlier this year. Myriad also publishes two previously shortlisted entrants: Nina de la Mer and Hannah Vincent.
The competition, now in its fifth year, also offers up to six shortlisted entrants the chance to receive feedback from industry experts.
This year, the prize will be judged by:
Lesley Thomson, bestselling author of The Detective’s Daughter and A Kind of Vanishing, and tutor on West Dean College’s Creative Writing courses
Jonathan Kemp, award-winning author of London Triptych (Author’s Club Best First Novel) and Twentysix, and creative writing tutor at Birkbeck College, University of London
Laura Lockington, children’s author, literary reviewer, Book Doctor and co-host of the Bookish Supper Society
Becky Thomas, literary agent at Fox Mason Agency
Candida Lacey, publisher and MD, and Vicky Blunden, fiction editor, at Myriad Editions.
Last year's winner, Al Brookes, was announced at a packed event on 'What Makes a Book Worth Publishing' at the Brighton Festival. The panel of judges (left to right below) were: Greg Mosse, writer and tutor of creative writing courses at West Dean College; Candida Lacey, publisher and MD, Myriad Editions; Pam McIlroy, aka literary blogger Pamreader; Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner (Amazon's Best Book of the Year 2011), Revenge of the Tide and Human Remains; and Kate Shaw, literary agent at The Viney Agency.
West Dean College
Nestled within the South Downs near Chichester is the 6,400 acre West Dean Estate which is home to West Dean College. The peace and tranquillity of the landscape, coupled with the exciting and rich cultural and artistic history of the College and its founder, patron and poet Edward James, offers a stimulating atmosphere to get you writing.
West Dean College offers a year round programme of Creative Writing short courses. The Creative Writing programme was established by Greg Mosse and Kate Mosse, author of the bestselling Carcassonne trilogy, Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel, and co-founder of the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction.
How to Enter
The 2014 competition is now open for submissions.
The competition is open to unpublished writers of prose fiction. Submissions of a one-page synopsis and up to 5,000 words of a work-in-progress (novel or short story collection) should be sent by post, with a covering letter and a cheque for £5 (made payable to Myriad Editions) to:
'West Dean Competition', Myriad Editions, 59 Lansdowne Place, Brighton BN3 1FL
Alternatively the fee can be paid via PayPal using the email address: info@myriadeditions.com
Please make sure that your name, address, email address and contact number are included in your cover letter, but not on each page of the work itself. Submitted material will not be returned.
The closing date is Monday 3 February 2014
The shortlist will be decided in April 2014 and the winner will be announced in May 2014
An article recommended by Alan....
27/01/14
from Hanif Kureishi about breaking the writing rules and getting into trouble. Alan, we never knew you were such a rebel....
Bridport Prize
23rd January 2014
The novel is still the holy grail of writing. Named after its founder, Peggy Chapman-Andrews, the Bridport Prize is delighted to announce a new award for talented novelists who are yet to be published or represented by a literary agent.
Alongside the Bridport Prize in this terrific opportunity for the aspiring novelist, are partners The Literary Consultancy and A.M. Heath Literary Agents, offering mentoring and possible publication for the winning novel.
Up-and-coming writers take note! For the first stage, all you need to enter are the first chapters of your novel, up to 8,000 words, with a strong synopsis. Those longlisted and later shortlisted will need to submit further chapters at the relevant stages. Your novel does not have to be complete to win. The Literary Consultancy will offer mentoring and feedback over a period of time whilst you finish the novel. And should it turn out to be a riveting read, A.M. Heath Literary Agents will consider representing you and offering the novel to a publisher they recommend.
Judging the competition alongside The Literary Consultancy and A.M. Heath, will be acclaimed author, Alison Moore, shortlisted for The Booker Prize in 2012 for her novelThe Lighthouse. When looking for a winning entry Alison will be searching for “evidence of a feel for language. A story that draws me in, involves me in its world, moves me in some way, and lingers in my head long after I've finished reading.”
Rebecca Swift of The Literary Consultancy says of the project: “The Bridport Prize holds a romantic place in my imagination, as it was one of the first National prizes I became aware of, and seemed a glamorous, serious and exciting initiative full of promise. Many years later, I am extremely proud that my company, The Literary Consultancy has been asked to be involved with helping to support their new prize, aimed for the first time, at novelists. Bridport stands out in terms of its serious commitment to unearthing, and supporting writing talent, and we look forward to being part of the process of helping those involved to the best of our capabilities.”
A.M. Heath’s Euan Thorneycroft says “Discovering new writers is one of the most exciting things about reading, whether you are an agent, a publisher, a bookseller or a book buyer. This is why A.M. Heath is delighted to be involved with a prize dedicated to that aim, particularly one that is founded by the much loved and highly respected Bridport Prize. I am sure we are going to find many literary stars of the future.”
The award is open to writers, resident in the UK, with a part-written or completed novel in any adult fiction genre.
The closing date is 31st May 2014 full details are on the Bridport Prize website
Abandoned Press
We've had this contact from a self-publishing house: December 2013
Hi,
Abandoned Press is a recently created independent publishing house which we hope to build into a successful platform from which to publish new and exciting writers. We would be very grateful if you could pass on details of our website and contact info to your group.
We're the Abandoned Press, at abandonedpress.co.uk, email address contact@andonedpress.co.uk, and we're looking for authors whose writing excites, perhaps the sort of work that would not normally be picked up by more established publishers.
Our intention is to publish actual, old-fashioned, physical, paper books - alongside online publishing and e-books - as we believe that there is still a future in the medium. Just to clarify, this is not about vanity publishing – we don’t intend to publish anything we don’t love.
Thanks for your help,
John McPhun
Website: abandonedpress.co.uk
Twitter: @AbandonedPress
Email: contact@abandonedpress.co.uk
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