Free contest, Creative Publishing's Unpublished Authors Print Ready Competition, prize: publication contract (worldwide)
Deadline: last day of each monthCreative Print Publishing Ltd. is proud to introduce a bold and exciting new venture for unpublished writers across the English-speaking world.
The chance to see your unpublished book in print with our Unpublished Authors Competition.
To have your book promoted and marketed with skill and vigour.
All submissions to be sent using the form at the bottom of this page.
OUR PLAN
To choose one novel every month, selected from the submissions sent in to us by writers as part of the competition.
Each month will have its own genre. (Please see below for details.)
Each month the winner will receive a contract of agreement.
Copyright will in all cases be retained by the author.
The winner will be published and the book receive promotion and marketing along with all our other titles.
Each winner will be announced as it happens on our news page and on the competition winners page subject to contract.
Winners will have their books published and receive royalty payments.
At the end of the twelve-month period all the twelve winners will be considered for the CREATIVE PRINT UNPUBLISHED AUTHOR BOOK OF THE YEAR.
THE COMPETITION
The writing competition runs for twelve months from May 2011 to April 2012. The closing date for a genre is the last day of the month in which that genre appears. Thus, 31 May for Romance;
30 September for Crime; and so on.There are 12 genres, which is one for each month. They are:
- MAY 2011 - Romance
- JUNE 2011 - Thrillers and suspense
- JULY 2011 - Action
- AUGUST 2011 - Women's Fiction
- SEPTEMBER 2011 - Crime
- OCTOBER 2011 - Humorous and Comical
- NOVEMBER 2011 - Novellas (any genre)
- DECEMBER 2011 - Young Adult & Teen Fiction
- JANUARY 2012 - Science Fiction
- FEBRUARY 2012 - Historical and Mythological
- MARCH 2012 - Westerns
- APRIL 2012 - Horror and the Supernatural
THE RULES OF THE COMPETITION1 All submissions must be written in English and be original and print ready.
2 All submissions to be sent using the form at the website.
3 All scripts must be sent as a single file in Word, document single spaced typed ms, page size A5, with all margins set at 1.7cm. Text should be justified and not smaller than size twelve point type. A new page for each chapter.
4 Authors may submit novels in different months and categories, but not the same novel twice.
5 There is no limit as to length, except in the case of novellas.
6 Only unpublished authors of fiction will be considered. If you have gone down the route of vanity published / self-published fiction with an ISBN, you are not eligible. (Non fiction does not count and you may submit. Poems or short stories in anthologies do not render you ineligible either.)
7 Books formerly submitted to Creative Print Publishing Ltd and rejected by us for publication cannot be considered.
8 Anyone unsure of any aspect of the competition or these rules may contact us by email, marking your subject clearly as COMPETITION QUERY.
9 Attempts to influence any member of Creative Print Publishing Ltd staff will mean disqualification.
10 Authors may use a pseudonym but your own name and details must be given, for contractual purposes.
11 It is essential that you complete the ENTRY FORM online.
12 CLOSING DATE. The last day of each month for the genre of that month 23:59 BST.
If you do not have access to Word processing, please write to us or telephone and we will be able to suggest alternatives.
UK Tel: 0845-868-8430.
International Tel: +44 (0)845 868 8430
This competition is organised and administered by Creative Print Publishing Ltd. an independent publishing house with no legal or financial connections to any other company or entity.
All decisions are made by the management of Creative Print Publishing and their decisions will be final.
NOTES ON GENRES
The choice of genre depends on the dominant theme in a novel. Some books cross boundaries, but it is usually possible to detect a dominant theme.
These notes may help you to decide into which category your book falls.
1 Romance.
Love, with or without a happy ending. Usually written from the point of view of the central character, who may tell the story.
2 Thrillers and suspense.
Taut, exciting tales set in the present or the recent past. These books have a strong resourceful hero or heroine. They are full of action. There is always doubt about the outcome. Danger is important. Such novels can be set in exotic locations: mysterious foreign cities, desert regions, secret research establishments. Think John Buchan, Hammond Innes, James Bond, Jack Higgins, Alfred Hitchcock.
3 Action.
War, espionage, adventure. May involve government corruption or dirty tricks in multinational business corporations. Lots of intrigue. And often a beautiful but dangerous woman.
4 Women's fiction.
Anything that appeals to adult women of all ages from 18 years upward.
A broad category. Can deal with just about any subject of interest to women of all ages..
May be gritty and realistic: dealing with adultery, divorce, abuse.May be of the Harlequin/Mills & Boon variety, with a feisty heroine. Exotic locations and exciting jobs are often featured.
Medical stories are popular here. Doctors and nurses. A life-threatening disease that must be diagnosed and cured in time. A love interest somewhere.
5 Crime
Hard-boiled private eye. Gentle hero or heroine drawn into events they do not understand. Police procedurals. Gangsters. Murder and mayhem. Think Raymond Chandler or Elmore Leonard.
Or your story may be a cosy detective puzzle not unlike Agatha Christie. This genre is very wide.
6 Humorous and comical.
A novel that makes us laugh, or at least smile often. May be set in the real world of family or business. May be set in a school or college. Satire has a place here too.
7 Novellas.
Short novels on any subject, set in any period, including the present. The plots are spare and linear. No space for multiple sub-plots. Models may be any of the novellas of John Steinbeck. Or Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Will usually be no more than about 80 pages or 20,000 words.
8 Young Adult & Teen Fiction.
Covers all possible subjects. Must appeal to youngsters between the age of 11 and 18 years. Generally short. Deals with the problems facing youngsters growing up in a difficult world. First love and romance. Bullying. Lack of self-esteem. Sporting heroes.
9 Science fiction and Magic
In spite of the name can also include science fact. Can be set in the contemporary world or be futuristic. May be set on another planet or in a parallel universe. Think Alien and Flash Gordon. Think Brian Aldiss or Terry Pratchett. Or in the Magic section think of Hans Andersen, Anne McCaffrey, G K Chesterton, Richard Adams.
10 Historical & Mythological.
Stories set in the past. Any country and any age. Anything up to the end of World War 2 in 1945.
May be sword and sandal tales. Remember Gladiator? Or more recent times, perhaps, as in Brideshead Revisited. War stories involving danger, love, passion, heroism. The Home Front during two World Wars.11 Westerns.
The usual Western tale of guns, adventure, danger. Pushing the boundaries of the Frontier.Tough heroes, feisty heroines, corrupt sheriffs. Gold rushes. Diamond mining. Tensions between ranchers and sheep farmers. Between cattle barons and hard-working settlers. Shane by Jack Shafer. The novels of Louis L'Amour. Anything by Nelson Nye or some early Elmore Leonard. Can be set in North America (USA and Canada), Australia, New Zealand or southern Africa.
12 Horror & the Supernatural.
Vampires. Voodoo and the living dead. Apocalyptic. And, of course, good old ghost stories.
Creative Print Publishing Ltd is an upfront, ethical and entirely principled company. We expect our authors, and indeed all who approach us, to behave in the same principled way.
For our Creative Unpublished Author Print Ready Competition there are a number of rules. First and foremost is the central point: that this is a Competition for Print Ready Unpublished Authors. The rules are clear and must be followed.
Contact Information:
For inquiries: click here
For submissions: submit online here (bottom of the page)