paperbackinyourhandcontest

Affordable Manuscript Assessments announces the SIXTH Paperback in Your Hand contest.

Dates

Contest opens September 1, 2011 and closes January 31, 2012. If insufficient entries are received, the time may be extended for no more than two months.

Eligible Entries

Eligible entries include any fiction (novels, novellas, children's books, short story collections), verse, or creative non-fiction (including biography, autobiography, memoir, essays, how-to) in three length categories.

1. Up to 25,000 words

2. 25,000 to 60,000 words

3. 60,000 - 100,000 words

Entries must be the author's own work or work for which the author can reasonably be supposed legally entitled to enter. For example, an author might choose to enter an ancestor's journal, or the work of a parent or child. In such cases, the person who enters this work should explain the circumstances and designate the appropriate author name/details.

Group entries (of stories, poetry, recipes etc totalling no more than 100,000 words) may be made. All parts of the manuscript should be send by a designated contact, and every writer involved should read and agree with the contest conditions.

Entry Fees

Up to 25,000 words: Adults - $35.00 (AUD) Children and students - $25.00 (AUD)

Between 25,000 words and 60,000 words: Adults - $75.00 (AUD) Children and students - $45.00 (AUD)

Between 60,000 and 100,000 words: Adults $115.00 (AUD) Children and students - $65.00 (AUD)

Entry fees may be paid by paypal to mail@affordablemanuscriptassessments.com

by cheque or money order. These are to be made out in Australian dollars to Sally Odgers,

and posted to P.O. Box 90, Devonport, Tasmania, Australia, 7310

OR by direct deposit. Details on application.

Feedback

Every entry will receive a written manuscript assessment with specific advice, unless the manuscript has already been assessed by Affordable Manuscript Assessments. The feedback will be comparable with a normal "paid" assessment.

Prize

All entries will receive a manuscript assessment or (if the manuscript has been assessed already) specific comment. The prize winner will receive-

A written assessment, with specific advice.

A full edit, in consultation.

Formatting of manuscript.

Unlimited PDF copies of the book.

*One paperback copy of the book and the right to buy any others at cost + postage.

Notes

The paperback will be either saddle-stitched or perfect bound, according to the length of the manuscript.

It will have a coloured cover, and such interior information (including blurb, author information, photograph, dedication etc) as the author desires.

It will not have an ISBN. Therefore, it will be considered "privately printed" which should not preclude any later commercial publication.

It will have black and white interior illustrations or photographs only if the author provides good quality jpegs. Pictures, if any, need not be provided until after the winner is announced.

Further Copies and Rights

One copy of the winner's paperback will be provided as part of the prize. Unlimited PDF copies will also be available. If the winner wants further copies, to sell, give away or donate, s/he may purchase these at cost, (which includes postage). The contest provider will make no profit from these extra copies at any time, and will have no rights to any part of the content.

The author will retain full rights to the manuscript, including the edited and formatted version.

How to Enter

Entries must be made in the form of a manuscript attachment. They should be saved in MS Word or RTF, submitted in TNR 12, or a similar font, and fiction should use indented paragraphing. Double spacing should be used, with no spaces before or after paragraphs. Non fiction and verse may be submitted in appropriate format. Please do not submit .dat files or PDFs as we can't open one and can't edit the other.

Each entry should be accompanied by a cover page or separate attachment giving the author's name (or pen name), contact details, postal and residential address and (if under 18) age. The title, genre, word count, and proposed audience for the manuscript should be included.

Entries should be sent to mail@affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and MUST have PAPERBACK CONTEST in the subject line.

Reasons to Enter (and information for current clients)

The major reason to enter this contest is probably for the chance to have your paperback in your hand.

The contest offers the winner a chance to own a copy of his/her own work in paperback, and also the right (but not the obligation), to buy other copies at cost.

The commercial publishing route is usually long, and some entrants may have special reasons for wanting their work available sooner rather than later. Some excellent works will never be commercially published, because they are not commercial propositions.

Of course, any such person might self-publish, but the contest offers a full manuscript assessment, editing and formatting, making the content shine to its best advantage. The cost for the entry fee is about the same as the cost for an assessment alone.

So, what if you have already had your manuscript assessed by Affordable Manuscript Assessments? If you have acted on the assessment, then you may enter the same manuscript, in its latest form.

Any questions may be submitted via mail@affordablemanuscriptassessments.com but you should read the information on this site first.

Winner of the Fifth contest

The winner of the fifth Paperback in Your Hand contest is Margaret Gerada, for her touching memoir When the Music Changes... so does the Dance. The memoir covers a handful of momentous years in the life of a young Catholic woman living in NSW in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Other notable entries received included three enjoyable fantasies for younger readers. All had strong positive elements in theme, concept and/or execution, but When the Music Changes was judged the nearest to print ready. A sincere thank you to all entrants. As usual, the contest afforded a lot of enjoyable reading.

the winner of the Fourth Paperback in Your Hand contest is

The Whispering Wind, by Bryan Evans.

Runner-up is Cassidy and the Pony Girl, by A. Seib.

The winner of the Third Paperback in Your Hand contest is Just another Adolescent, by Charlotte Western.

Claire's life has been split in two. She spends the weeks with her distant father, attending an exclusive girls' school, and her weekends with Mum and her younger sister Alice. Her academic brilliance is at war with her natural klutziness, and her memories of a childhood friend are shaken when she meets him again. Jeremy makes it clear he would like to rekindle their old friendship, but can Claire open her shell to let him in? Just Another Adolescent is not just a romance, but a story of repression and painful personal growth. Claire is hard to know, but following her journey to self-knowledge is rewarding.

Previous winners...

Results for the first Paperback in Your Hand contest.

Results for the second Paperback in Your Hand contest. Visit the Blog