Wattpad YA Contest

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A group of authors with debut novels launching in 2015 called the Freshman Fifteens has teamed up with online writing community Wattpad for a writing contest. Entries are open now.

The Common Room Teen Mentoring Contest will pair 15 winning authors aged 13 to 19 with a member of the Freshman Fifteens. The established authors will mentor the teens through the writing and publishing process. The 15 winning entries will also be published in Common Room, an anthology being put out by Wattpad in January 2015.

This is a great chance for adults who are in the lives of teens to encourage their writing dreams. I’ve had the chance to work with teenagers through Writer’s Resource, and every time it has been a fantastic, high-energy experience. My clients, although young, achieved publication, and it changed their lives. Help out your best teen pal by telling them about this contest!

World Cup of Literature

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In June and July, the University of Rochester’s resource for international literature, Three Percent, held the first ever World Cup of Literature.

The program featured a 32-book knock-out tournament during soccer’s World Cup game. Each match pitted two books against each other. Only one of the books moved on until the championship match determined the ultimate winner.

This program might look like it would draw more attention outside the United States (which doesn’t share the soccer fever that infects other nations). But keep in mind that Britain has a reality TV show that features authors, and publishers in the U.S. are constantly looking for new ways to engage readers. We might see similar events tied into American obsessions like football or the Fourth of July.

I look forward to holidays spent counting down competitions like this!

Literary Tour as Marketing Idea

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Foyles is launching a literary tours program. Winners receive trips guided by well-known authors to places that have appeared in books.

While this program took quite a bit of effort and investment to create, really any author can add this idea to their marketing efforts. Many times fiction authors use real locations as part of their books. Add a self-guided tour description to the end material in your work and use that as a way to enhance sales. Or even guide a tour yourself during your next visit to that city. Have fun, meet fans and revisit the plot…sounds like heaven!

Unknown Authors Win, $750 Cash Awaits!

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The Laine Cunningham Long Form Fiction contest selected the winners for first, second and third place as well as honorable mention. Then came the big surprise: two of the entries that won were submitted without contact information for the authors. One doesn’t even have a name!

We now have two winners, for second and third place, who remain unknown. An email address for one has not received a response. The other entry is the nameless one…no name, no email, no phone number or address.

The titles of the winning entries are, for third place, Good Enough Mother by Lora Hilty and, for second place, Rosa. The name on this entry was handwritten in very cramped writing. Our best guess at the author’s name is either Barbara de la Cuesta or Barbara de la Cueta.

The prizes that await are $250 for third place and $500 for second place. That’s a total of $750 that any writer would be glad to receive for pens, printer paper, computer devices, or more contest entries. The $1,000 first place award went to Love’s Wilderness by Enid Harlow, who unfortunately hung up on the administrator when he called to tell her she had won because she thought he was trying to sell her a magazine subscription. Honorable Mention went to The Rummy Club by Anoop Ahuja Judge, who received the news with much more joy than the first place winner.

We are asking for your help finding these two unknown authors. Reblog this, tweet it, post it on Facebook, and talk to your writer’s groups. If you know the authors (or are one of the unknowns), please contact The Blotter Literary Magazine at BlotterRag.com.

Also note that this will be the last year of the contest unless we can find another sponsor. Interested individuals can connect with Garrison Somers of The Blotter for more information.

Target to Offer Ebooks

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Target is partnering with a startup ebook subscription service called Librify to provide an online platform for buying, sharing and discussing books. Librify has more than 500,000 titles available already (about half of Amazon’s number), and it has only been beta testing since March.

Even better, the social aspects of the platform allow readers to review and discuss their favorite books…providing word-of-mouth validation that is so critical to readers. Authors should check into Librify now to ensure their titles are available once Target is ready to launch.

Mohawk Indian Explains Why You Shouldn’t Work with Amazon

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I just had to share this, especially for the stunning final photos:

Dear Publishers, Dear Booksellers: A Mohawk Indian Explains Why You Shouldn’t Work with Amazon.

See Harry Potter’s New Cover

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Link here to see the new Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets cover. The new design is part of the revamping of the series with illustrator Johnny Duddle. All seven books will be released September 1, the day Hogwarts students return to wizarding school.

Children’s Books Enhanced by Multimedia

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has purchased Curiosityville, a children’s learning website. The move expands HMH’s reach into the K-12 educational market, and reflects the growing push by publishers to break outside of the book’s binding and expand a story into different mediums.

Between the growth in the age group from 2 to 8 and increased government funding of early childhood programs, publishers see an opportunity to reach more readers and generate more profits. Authors should recognize that even if they are working in fiction, projects ranging from picture books through middle-grade chapter books are hot commodities right now. Send out your work today!

YA Novels Driving Children’s Category

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Young adult novels account for 18% of children’s unit purchases. Although this is down a few percentage points for the same period the year before, YA is still a strong category.

It’s strength comes in part from the tendency of adults to purchase YA titles. The single largest group buying these titles is the 18- to 29-year-old demographic.

This means two things. First, if you are working on a YA book, keep going.
Second, if you’re working on the new category called New Adult, get it out there. Connect with me at any time for assistance and advice on breaking into this powerhouse category!

Kirkus Offers Three $50K Prizes

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Kirkus Reviews, one of the best-known outlets for book reviews, has created three new literary awards. Each carries a $50,000 prize, and are among the largest cash awards in the literary world.

The categories will award one prize each to fiction, nonfiction, and juvenile books. Only books that have received a starred review in the magazine will be eligible. Since the magazine has included self-published works for a while, and is now integrating self-pub reviews into the reviews of traditionally published books, this is a great opportunity for the best books to shine.

Bookstores Growing

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For the first time since 2005, more than 2,000 independent brick-and-mortar stores are open in the United States. This might be driven by the absence of Borders outlets in some communities but considering that the trend over the last decade has been for stores to close, not open, this is great news for book lovers and authors.

Book Marketing Data

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Macmillan is developing a dashboard called Next Big Book. The tool compiles sales, publicity, events, social media, web traffic and other data daily to help marketers track how a book is doing and which factors are providing the biggest impacts.

Macmillan plans to provide the dashboard to all its authors and agents within the next three months. Let’s hope other publishers take a similar path to put control back in the hands of the folks who care most about books: the people who wrote them.

New Children’s Publisher Seeks Submissions

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DoodleeBooks is an innovative new publisher that focuses on children’s books. Each title is recorded by an experienced voiceover personality to become a multimedia experience. Parents or others who purchase the titles have the ability to personalize the books by inserting their child’s name into the text. Special animation components are also added to create a truly interactive experience.

This is a new initiative that is seeking funding through a Kickstarter campaign that just started. You can support the campaign by clicking here. Submit after reviewing the guidelines on DoodleeBooks.com by clicking here.

Good luck!

BEA: 2014 and Future

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In case you were thinking that publishing is gasping its last breaths, the 2014 BEA completed last week saw nearly as many attendees from the industry as in 2013. The day dedicated to readers expected nearly 10,000 additional people flock in.

Next year, the BEA will expand from the current three-day format to four. With the inclusion of self-published authors and new technologies as well as the invitation to readers to attend, it’s a phenomenal event that reflects the current strength returning to what has been an anemic industry. Good health!

World’s Best Story Contest

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The first World’s Best Story contest is looking for the next blockbuster novel. After posting a sample of work, authors will be reviewed by online readers who can cast their votes during different stages.

The contest is looking for a story that will work well in many mediums: as a book, a film, a video game, etc. Authors have an opportunity to get their book published if they win, as well as see it developed in other mediums. The contest is open for initial entries now through Aug 12.

Do note that by submitting, authors sign over first rights in ALL formats. So although the prizes add up, be aware that the winner might not receive additional payments for other media uses…and that’s not standard for the traditional publishing route. Also note that the prizes are not cash; they are amounts that can be used at different retailers.

To submit or review the rules yourself, check out this link for Fast Pencil.