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Writing Opportunities 2024

The Prototype Publishing Prize

Information
Closing date: 
31 January 2024
Entry: 
Open to writers resident in the UK or Ireland. No entry fee
Prize: 
£3,000 plus publication by Prototype will go to the best book-length project A second prize of £2,000 plus publication by Monitor Books will be awarded to the best proposal for a short-form work.

Prototype Publishing, along with partners Monitor Books and frieze magazine, has announced the Prototype Prize, a new, bi-annual prize for published or unpublished writers and artists working at the intersections of different literary and artistic forms.

The prize of £3,000 plus publication by Prototype will go to the best book-length project by a writer or artist resident in the UK or Ireland. A second prize of £2,000 plus publication by Monitor Books will be awarded to the best proposal for a short-form work. Both prize-winners will have an excerpt of their work published by frieze.

The judges for the inaugural prize are Bhanu Kapil, Tom McCarthy and Elizabeth Price, who will work alongside an editorial board from the publishers.

Submissions of work that "interrogates the boundaries of established formal, narrative and genre conventions" are encouraged. Fiction, poetry and non-fiction prose are all eligible, with no restrictions on style, form or subject-matter, with interdisciplinary approaches particularly welcomed.

The prize will open for submissions for one month in January 2024. A shortlist of five proposals will be chosen by the judges and announced in June 2024, and the two winners announced at an event at the South London Gallery in September 2024, with both books published in spring 2025. The prize is supported by Shane Akeroyd, Sadie Coles and Emmanuel Roman, and by public funding from Arts Council England.

The Prototype Prize will run in conjunction with an adjacent development programme in partnership with New Writing North, supporting underrepresented and emerging writers and artists through a six-month long scheme consisting of monthly seminars with leading practitioners, and editorial development and group feedback sessions. This programme is open for submissions from 13th September until 23rd October 2023.

Please check exact dates of opening and closing of the Prize on the website.

More details

 

The Selfies Book Awards UK 2024

Information
Closing date: 
7 January 2024
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s fiction or adult non-fiction in the UK between January and December 2023. Entry fee: £35 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus other prizes

Now in their sixth year, the hugely popular Selfies book awards - powered by UK trade journal BookBrunch and sponsored by Ingram Spark® and LitPR- will again reward three self-published authors for their publishing excellence.

Supported by the London Book Fair and NielsenIQ, these awards recognise one of the fastest growing parts of the book market, with submissions now open for indie authors who in 2023 have published a book in three categories: adult fiction, children's books or, for the first time, adult general non-fiction.

Submissions will be accepted until midnight on Tuesday 2 January 2024. Shortlists will be announced in February, and the three winners will be announced in the London Book Fair Author HQ on 12 March 2024.

Jo Henry, Managing Director of BookBrunch, said: "We are always eager to see the wealth of titles published by independent authors in the UK. Over the past five years we have had an exceptionally rich pool of self-published books submitted that we are incredibly pleased to help bring to a wider audience. I am sure that this coming year will be even better!"

The winner in each category receives £750 plus a profile in BookBrunch and full PR support for their title, while all shortlisted authors receive access to LitPR's education and empowerment resources and free entry to the London Book Fair and membership of the Author HQ club. Comprising a theatre and networking area, Author HQ provides a forum for discussions on approaches to publishing and includes networking events and 'how-to' style panels, one of which will be curated by the Selfies this year. Shortlisted authors will also be invited to a networking event at the London Book Fair hosted by IngramSpark.

The shortlisted titles are judged by experts from the book industry who are looking for: A fantastic story that entertains and delights the reader; A well-produced book; An enticing cover and blurb that successfully addresses the target audience; and finally, an effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy that has the potential for great sales.

All titles submitted for the 2024 awards need to have been published in English between January and December 2023. Entries will only be accepted from UK authors who are predominantly or only self-published, ie where the author themselves acts as the publisher/creative director.

In order to register, authors should go to www.bookbrunch.co.uk, click on the subscribe button and select the 6 month subscription box, using the code SELFIESBOOKAWARDS2024. The fee of £35 will include a six-month subscription to BookBrunch (normally £65). Please see www.theselfies.co.uk for more details, and follow along on #theselfiesbookawards.