Punkin House "Novice Novelist Contest"

Punkin House would like introduce, our first semi-annual "Novice Novelist Contest". We are searching for an unknown author who has a great story to tell. We will publish the best manuscript in 2011.

The contest is open to all authors ages 18 and up.

Deadline

The contest starts January 15, 2011.
Entries must be postmarked no later than May 1, 2011.

Entries:

Query for Fiction Novel-

50,000 + words

Excluded Genres:

Non-Fiction

Sci-Fi

Poetry

Childrens Picture Books

Chapbooks

Send Entries To:

NoviceNovelist@punkinhouse.com

Awards & Prizes

Grand Prize- $1000 plus Publishing Contract with Punkin House.

2^nd Place - $500 plus critique of the first 3 chapters of their novel.

3^rd Place - $100 plus critique of the first chapter of their novel.

Honorable Mention (5): A 30% discount coupon for Punkin Books and your name and piece title will be published on www.punkinhouse.com

Entry Fees

Non-Refundable Entry Fee of $35 USD

Winner Notification

Winners' certificates/awards will be mailed no later than May 31, 2011.

Winners List will be posted on www.PunkinHouse.com — around May 31, 2011.

General Guidelines

Entries must be unpublished.

Please send a query letter and the first 1,000 words of your manuscript.

Only 1,000 words per entry, do NOT submit the complete book.

Enter as many manuscripts as you would like. Entry fee and a separate Official Entry Form must accompany each entry.

Entries that do not meet contest guidelines will be disqualified; entry fees will not be returned.

We will only accept digital copies of the manuscript. Please do not ask to send a paper copy.

Please send as an attachment in an email to NoviceNovelist@punkinhouse.com.

Use a readable font such as Times Roman.

The entire manuscript must be completed. We will not accept an incomplete manuscript if you win.

Other Information

Grand Prize Winner: Will receive a book deal and $1,000. The winner has the right to deny publication and the Book Deal. Punkin House does not charge the author for publication, or any other hidden fees.

Judging Criteria

Presentation (format, follows rules, neatness, spelling, punctuation, grammar).

Strength (Lead/End) tightness, clarity, structure, transitions, impact, satisfactory close.

The first 1,000 words need to stand alone with elements of good writing included. Either the first or the last chapter will usually represent the whole book the best.

Fiction: Characterization, conflict, dialogue, plotting, beginning, ending, figures of speech.

Please copy and paste the entry form and send as an attachment to NoviceNovelist@PunkinHouse.com

------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM - 2011 Punkin’s Novice Novelist Contest

Postmark deadline 5/1/2011

A separate form must accompany each entry (and each poem);

1. Author's name ________________________________________________

Note how you want your name on Winners List/Certificate if different from above:

_____________________________________________________________

2. Author's mailing address ________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

3. Author's phone number (______) ________________

4. Author's E-mail: _______________________________________

5. TITLE of entry _________________________________________________

6. FIRST LINE of entry ____________________________________________

7. GENRE of entry______________________________________________

8. ENTRY FEE :

You can submit your entry fees via

(a verified PayPal user since 2009) - Be sure to note with your payment the title(s) and/or first line of your entry or entries. Then email your entry or entries along with entry form(s) – to NoviceNovelist@PunkinHouse.com

We will e-mail you confirmation when we have received and matched up your entry fees and entries.

First Book Contest: De Novo Poetry Contest

(This news courtesy Rhonda Browning White)

2010 De Novo Poetry Contest

http://www.wix.com/crpress/crpress

For our fourth De Novo Award, C&R Press continues to seek the best manuscript from a previously unpublished American poet (a writer who has not published a full-length collection of poetry before). In this annual contest, we look for manuscripts that exhibit striking language, memorable imagery, intellectual depth, and a respect for diversity in all areas of life. Ultimately we are interested in supporting the best, most exciting work we can find. As is our tradition to date, we also carefully consider publishing other outstanding and deserving manuscripts from the De Novo contest. Please include:

• 55-85 page manuscript (single-spaced & anonymous)

• One paragraph biography in your cover letter that includes ms. title & your contact information, including email & phone # (will be removed during the judging phase)

• $25 entry fee payable to C&R Press. (Optional--include an additional $5 to receive a copy of winning book).

Guidelines:

• Submission of more than one manuscript is acceptable; each manuscript must be submitted separately, each with entry fee

• Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher while under our consideration

• No revisions to submitted manuscripts will be considered; the winning manuscript may be revised before publication

• Manuscripts may consist of poems that have been published, but the manuscript as a whole must not have been previously published

• Close friends, former students, and current or former colleagues of the judge are ineligible

• Translations ineligible

• Winner receives $500 and 20 copies. All entries will be considered for publication.

2010 Contest Submission Period: March 15 - June 15. (Entries received after June 15 will NOT be considered for the 2010 De Novo Contest.)

2010 Judge: Richard Jackson

Mystery novel contest: Hillerman Mystery Competition

(This news courtesy Rhonda Browning White)

DEADLINE: June 1, 2010!!!!

Rules for the 2010 HILLERMAN MYSTERY COMPETITION
http://www.wordharvest.com/novel_contest.php

Sponsored by the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference (THWC) and St. Martin's Press, LLC

1. The Competition is open to any professional or non-professional writer, regardless of nationality, who has never been the author of a published mystery (as defined in subparagraph 2(a) below) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a mystery. Only one
manuscript entry is permitted per writer.

2. All manuscripts submitted: a) must be original, previously unpublished works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language by the entrant; b) must not violate any right of any third party or be libelous; and c) must generally follow the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES

1. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story and emphasis is on the solution rather than the details of the crime.

2. The story's primary setting is the Southwestern United States, including at least one of the following states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Southern California and/or Utah. (The decision of the competition's judges as to whether or not a manuscript qualifies will be final.)

3. Nominees will be selected by judges chosen by the editorial staff of St. Martin's Press, with the assistance of organizers of the THWC, and the winner will be chosen by St. Martin's editors. The decision of the editors as to the winner of the Competition will be final. St. Martin's reserves the right not to select any winner if, in the sole opinion of the editors, none of the manuscripts submitted are of publishable quality.

4. An attempt will be made to notify the Competition winner, if any, no later than October 31, 2010.

5. If a winner is selected, St. Martin's Press will offer to enter into its standard form author's agreement with the entrant for publication of the winning manuscript. After execution of the standard form authors' agreement by both parties, the winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000. Those terms of the offer not specified in the printed text of the St. Martin's Press standard form author's agreement will be determined by St. Martin's Press at
its sole discretion. The entrant may request reasonable changes in the offered terms, but St. Martin's shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes. St. Martin's may, but will not be required to, consider for publication manuscripts submitted by other entrants.

6. All entries must be received or postmarked no later than June 1, 2010, and must include:
a) A double-spaced and neatly typed copy of the manuscript (photocopies are acceptable) with pages numbered consecutively from beginning to end. The authors name should appear only on the title page and otherwise not appear anywhere on the manuscript pages.
b) A letter or cover sheet containing the name, address, email address and telephone number of the entrant and the entrant's previous writing credits, if any.
c) The application form, duly completed, and a self-addressed letter-sized envelope for our response.

All entries must be mailed to St. Martin's Press at the address below. For additional copies of the rules and to request an entry form, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

St. Martin's Press/ Hillerman Mystery Competition
Thomas Dunne Books
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010

Each entrant must keep a copy of the manuscript for his or her own protection. St. Martin's Press will not be responsible for lost, stolen, or mislaid manuscripts. Because of the great volume of submissions we receive, the fact that judges are volunteers with full-time responsibilities elsewhere, and the fact that most writers now have the work in their computers, manuscripts will not be returned. Please do not send return postage or envelopes for return of your manuscript.

7. No critical evaluation or commentary will be offered by the judges or the editorial staff of St. Martin's Press unless, in the sole opinion of the editorial staff, evaluation or commentary is
appropriate in the case of a manuscript being considered for publication.

8. This competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

It is important that you submit your manuscript as early as possible. Our judges are volunteers who are extremely busy with their primary concerns, and it is inevitable that your submission will get a more careful reading if the judge does not have to contend with a flood of last-minute entries. However, it is not necessary to send it the most expensive way. We judge its on-time performance by the post-mark or equivalent, not by the date the judge receives the manuscript.

Good luck!

Entry Form for the 2010 HILLERMAN MYSTERY COMPETITION

Sponsored by the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference (THWC)

and St. Martin's Press, LLC

I have read, understood and agree to the foregoing rules. I affirm that the enclosed manuscript is original and was written by me. I further affirm that I have never written a published mystery novel of the type described in the rules.

Signature of Entrant: ____________________________________________
Name of Entrant: _______________________________________________
(please print or type)
Manuscript Title:__________________________________________________

Address of Entrant:________________________________________________
City____________________________State_____________Zip______________
Phone:______________________________________Email:________________
Date:__________________________________________________________

Please send your manuscript to:

St. Martin's Press/ Hillerman Mystery Competition
Thomas Dunne Books
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010

And mark the outside of the package HILLERMAN MYSTERY COMPETITION

A word about self-published mysteries:

A note from WORDHARVEST in response to your most common question: Although the judges make the final call, in general self-published mysteries are allowed. If a self-published book sold thousands of copies, got a starred review in Publishers Weekly, or otherwise made a big splash, it would be disqualified.