2014 WRITING COMPETITION

Transcription

1 2014 WRITING COMPETITION 1 of 6

2 This writing competition is different. Firstly, it s not anonymous. Who you are, your author platform / brand, is an important component of the competition. Secondly, everybody wins! No, we don t have a prize for every entry, but by entering you will actually develop a product which you can adapt and use to approach any publisher - so everybody wins! The competition entry is comprised of three documents: 1. Entry Form! An entry form is included at the end of this document, or you can download a separate form from the website: 2. Book Proposal! Your book proposal document must include the following: Title - title, authors names, contact details One sentence summary (hook or tagline) Brief Overview - similar to back-cover copy Need - what need your book fills (for non-fiction only) Market - who is the audience About the author - 1/2-1 page bio Author Marketing - the author's current platform Competition (non-fiction) / Comparable Books (fiction) - other similar books Details - estimated word count of completed book and time to completion Chapter Outline (non-fiction) - chapter titles and a brief outline for each Longer Synopsis (fiction) pages describing the entire story You may create your own book proposal or use the template available from the website: 3. Sample Chapters! Introduction or prologue 1-3 chapters Note: You can submit an entry for a book that you have completed and have ready for publication, or you can submit an entry for a book you plan to complete this year. Workshops and Support! A free workshop will be presented on the Gold Coast, providing an overview of the competition requirements and the basics of how to write a book proposal. An additional paid workshop and video webinar will be provided at a fee for those who are interested in receiving more in-depth information and personalised support. You must register by to receive notification when these become available. competitions@goldcoastwriters.org 2 of 6

3 Competition Details! Theme Categories Fees Payment Open Fiction (novel)non-fiction $25 per entry, plus $5 printing fee for entries Entry fees may be paid by accompanying cheque made payable to: Gold Coast Writers Association, or by direct deposit to: Suncorp BSB ACC # Closing Date 30 September 2014 Submissions Entries are to be printed on one side of A4 white paper using Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double spaced. All pages of your proposal and extract are to include your name in the header and page numbering in the footer in the following format: 1 of 3. Entries must be received by last mail on the closing date. Each entry must be in English, original, unpublished and not accepted for publication elsewhere. All entries must be original and the work of the stated author only. Any entries found to be plagiarised will be excluded from the competition, and, if prizes have been awarded, they must be returned or replaced. Address Authors must keep their own copy as entries will not be returned and will be destroyed after the announcement of the results. Mail entries are to be submitted to: GCWF Writing Competition PO Box 441 Pacific Fair QLD entries are to be submitted to: competitions@goldcoastwriters.org Note: entries will incur an additional $5 printing fee. Judging The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Notifications Award winners will be notified by phone and . Copyright Copyright of the proposal and the extract remains with the author. 3 of 6

4 Prizes! First Prize: Publishing Package provided by Palmer Higgs - Valued at $3,650 Second Prize: Copy Editing up to 100,000 words provided by M J Editing - Valued at up to $1,000 About Palmer Higgs! Palmer Higgs is a leading provider of book and ebook production services to the trade book publishing industry and self-publishing authors. They also offer distribution and marketing services to self-published authors for printed books and ebooks. Their online bookstore, Palmer Higgs Books, is dedicated to promoting self-published books and they have arrangements with leading online and traditional retail book distributors. Custom Publishing Package! Personal consultant! Your personal consultant will guide you through the publishing process and be on hand to discuss any matter that needs clarification. The consultant will work with you from the handover of your manuscript and will help create a design brief, prepare a schedule and ensure that your book is completed on time and to the highest publishing standards. Custom cover design! The saying that you can t judge a book by its cover is true but unfortunately most people do. We will ensure that your custom cover will stand out from the crowd. Your dedicated consultant will work with you and one of our designers to create a cover you can be proud of. Internal page design! The reading experience should be effortless and enjoyable. The layout and typography of your book plays an important role in the achievement of this goal by having a custom page design. Our typesetters ensure suitable fonts are selected with appropriate heading hierarchy and that there are no distractions for the reader, such as widows or orphans, ugly word spaces and that the overall colour of each page is consistent. Author corrections! We expect that the manuscript has been thoroughly checked before production begins but understand that there will always be minor corrections that have been overlooked in the checking process. To ensure that your book is of the highest standard, we include two rounds of reasonable author corrections for the cover and internal pages. Should your book require major corrections, such as insertion of additional text or re-working of design elements, additional charges may apply which we will quote for your approval before proceeding 4 of 6

5 ISBN! Inclusion of a Palmer Higgs ISBN and CiP for your printed book and ebook, we also arrange for a copy of your book to be sent to your home state library and to the National Library as per statutory requirements. Printing! Included are 25 paperback copies for promotional purposes. Distribution! We include your printed book and ebook in our platinum distribution package which provides distribution to the major ebook online retailers plus print on demand (POD) distribution. Upgrades! By purchasing a custom pack you are entitled to upgrade completely or partially to any of our other packages at discounted rates. For more information or to compare our packages please click here. Copyright! The content and layout of your book remains your property exclusively. Palmer Higgs assumes no proprietary rights over any part of your book. Digital copies of all files are available upon request and will be copied to CD for a fee of $50. Second Prize: Copy Editing up to 100,000 words provided by M J Editing - Valued at up to $1,000! Copy editing involves an overall check that picks up on grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. Comments and suggestions will be provided for areas that show discrepancies and insufficient flow within the piece of work as well as general advice that may improve sentences, paragraphs or specific sections of writing. Melissa-Jane Fogarty is a freelance editor and proofreader and is the face behind MJ Editing. Melissa has a slightly obsessive compulsive attention to detail with most things in life and editing and proofreading is no exception. She has recently completed a Master of Publishing at the University of Sydney, having already completed a Bachelor of Social Science at the University of Newcastle in When working with Melissa you can expect work of a high quality with a short turnaround. Melissa takes pride in her ability to communicate readily with clients in a personal and professional manner. Melissa specialises in copy editing, structural editing and proofreading in both UK and US English depending on your preference. So whether you have a piece of work that needs a simple spelling and grammar check or are looking for some assistance with structure, plot and character development, don t hesitate to contact me. Support! If you have any questions regarding the competition please see the website or the competition coordinator competitions@goldcoastwriters.org 5 of 6

6 Gold Coast Writers Festival 2014 Writing Competition Gold Coast Writers Festival PO Box 441, Pacific Fair Q 4218 info@goldcoastwritersfestival.com.au ENTRANT DETAILS First Name Surname Pen Name Address State Postcode Country Phone Mobile ENTRY DETAILS Entry Title Category Fiction Non-fiction Entry Fee Paid Cheque Direct Deposit Entry Checklist Entry Form Book Proposal Sample Chapters DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I agree to the Conditions of Entry and declare the work submitted is my own original work and that no part has been copied from any other source. Author Signature Date OFFICE USE ONLY Received / / 2014 Result 6 of 6