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| The SilverWood Team - lovely ladies producing lovely books |
One of the things I like about my UK indie publisher, SilverWood Books is that they
work immensely hard at creating exciting opportunities not only for their own authors but for
other writers as well.
At SilverWood's recent Writing & Self-Publishing Open Day, Publishing
Director Helen Hart announced that SilverWood had teamed up with Kobo Writing
Life to offer a writing competition. The prize…? A digital publishing deal! At
the Open Day, she and KWL’s UK Manager, Diego Marano, outlined how the competition
would work.
(Diego is such an interesting guy to listen to on the subject of
ebooks, if you ever get the chance!). Since then, Helen Hart has let me know that she’s negotiated for Berforts, one
of SilverWood’s regular book printers, to sponsor a paperback edition too. So
the lucky winner will now receive a digital and print publishing package,
while the runner up gets a Kobo Aura H2O (their new waterproof e-reading
device…might have to check that out myself for relaxing reading in the bath!).
If you’ve written a novel, or you’re in the process of writing one (and
you’re unpublished or self-published) then this competition is a fantastic
opportunity. Entrants are asked to submit a one-page synopsis (no longer than
500 words) of the plot of the book they would like to publish along with first
chapter (no longer than 5,000 words).
One Winner and one Runner Up will be
selected by a dedicated review panel on the basis of the combined strength of
the synopsis and the single chapter submitted.
Find out more about the Open Day Writing Competition on the SilverWood site
here and on the Kobo Writing Life site here.
One of the competition judges is writer and television presenter Dr Sanjida
O’Connell. She’s the author of eight books including the historical novels ‘The
Naked Name of Love’ and ‘Sugar Island’. Spotting the historical fiction
connection, Helen Hart introduced me to Sanjida so we could produce this article for my for Tuesday
Talk Slot:
Sanjida,
what are you working on at the moment?
I'm writing a psychological
thriller set in Yorkshire. It's part of a two book deal with Corvus; the first
one is coming out in spring 2016.
What
are you most looking forward to in judging the Open Day Writing Competition?
I'm looking forward to being
immersed in someone else's imaginary world, being absorbed by their use of words
and transported by their story.
What
is best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
Rather than waiting for
inspiration to strike - just write! Set aside time, a few times a week if you
can, dedicated to writing, researching or editing your manuscript. The rest of
the time, carry a notebook with you to jot down any ideas, quirky scenes you
observe or conversations you overhear!
Do
you have a top tip about promoting books online?
Content is crucial but presentation is also key - so I would make sure
you use a good technical editor and/or copy editor and who will also proof read the final draft. Also use a graphic artist to create a stunning and eye-catching
book jacket, that will work well at thumb nail size as well as full
scale. I know many writers say that using these professionals is expensive - but isn't your work worth the best you can afford?
Thank you, Sanjida!
To
enter the writing competition please visit Kobo Writing Life’s
online entry form
And if you want to get a flavour of what SilverWood’s recent
Open Day was
like, check out their film
here on You Tube
I must confess to having a small role myself, and the chance to give my
little book ‘Discovering the Diamond’ a wave… and Helen Hart’s just reminded me
that ‘DtD’ is a good read for anyone polishing their manuscript before entering
a competition! You'll be able to find me quite easily in the video - just look for my 'trademark' hat!
If you want to find out more about the competition, drop the SilverWood team a line (info@silverwoodbooks.co.uk)
If you want to find out more about the competition, drop the SilverWood team a line (info@silverwoodbooks.co.uk)
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Helen