Settle Storytelling Competition 2012

Settle Storytelling Competition 2012

Settle Storytelling Festival presents a competition in collaboration with social audio platform Audioboo to find Britain’s best newcomer to the ancient art of storytelling.

To commemorate 2012 being the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm, the festival is asking budding storytellers to tell their own version of a fantastical Grimm’s fairy tale – like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel or Snow White.

Record and upload your entry here by July 31st 2012. Prizes include £50.00, £25.00 and £10.00 National Book Tokens. The overall winner will be invited to perform at the Storytelling Festival 2012. The Festival takes place from 11th – 14th October 2012. This year’s line-up includes award winning and international renowned storytellers. This is your chance to share the stage with them.

The Brothers Grimm wrote many of the most well known and well loved fairy stories in the world and everyone has a favourite – so pick your story, make it your own and start telling it. Let your imagination go wild, make it about your family, your friends or your school. Set it anywhere you want – anything goes – and if you’ve ever really kissed a frog, we’d love to know what happened!

To get some ideas listen to these stories:

Faustin Charles

Jamie Crawford

Dave Tong

You can also listen to last year's two winning entries by clicking the links below:

Vera Jacques, The Wooden Baby.mp3

Amelia Fawcett - The Fox and the Crow.mp3

About Audioboo

Audioboo allows people to record, submit and share audio clips online so it’s the perfect way to show off your storytelling talent.

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Competition rules:

The competition is open to anyone who does not work full time as a professional storyteller.

• Stories should be no more than five minutes long.
• Stories should be uploaded to the Audioboo channel by 31st July 2012.
• Stories must be Grimm Stories. They can be the traditional versions, or adapted in any way.

Entries must not:

• contain material which is offensive or promotes an illegal activity (e.g. underage drinking, substance abuse, computer hacking, etc.)
• include mention or performance of any copyrighted media production including but not limited to music, films, books, television programming, etc., or identifying descriptions of any media property.
• have been previously submitted to, or broadcast in, any recorded media.

Terms and Conditions

1. Prizes are non-transferable, non-negotiable and no cash alternatives will be offered.
2. Settle Stories reserves the right to substitute the prize for another prize of equal value.
3. By entering the competition, the entrant agrees to the terms of the Settle Stories privacy policy and The Settle Storytelling Competition terms and conditions.
4. By entering the competition the winner(s) consent to any publicity generated as a result of the promotion, and use at any time on the Settle Stories website.
5. Settle Stories will not accept responsibility for any entries not received through technical fault, incomplete, illegible or other damaged entries. Proof of entry is not automatically proof of receipt.
6. Settle Stories' decision in all matters relating to the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
7. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
8. All prizes are non transferable. Arrangement for the fulfilment of prizes will be made by our 3rd party sponsors. We/they reserve the right in our sole discretion to substitute any and all prizes with prizes of a comparable value. Settle Stories is not held liable in any way for the prizes given by our sponsors.
9. Settle Stories makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the merchantability or fitness for purpose of any prize offered as a result of any Settle Stories competition or promotion.

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award 2013

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award 2013

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award was founded jointly by Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories, in memory of Frances Lincoln (1945-2001) to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction. The Award is now open for entries.

The Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or the ethnic and cultural origins of its author. The prize of £1,500, plus the option for Frances Lincoln Children’s Books to publish the novel, is awarded to the best work of unpublished fiction for 8-12 year-olds by a writer aged 18 years or over, who has not previously published a novel for children. The writer may have contributed to an anthology of prose or poetry. The work must be written in English and it must be a minimum of 15,000 words and a maximum of 35,000 words. Previously submitted manuscripts which were not short-listed will be considered for entry.

The purpose of the Award is to:
• Take positive steps to increase the representation of people writing from or about different cultural perspectives whose work is published in Britain today
• Promote new writing for children, especially by or about people whose culture and voice is currently under-represented
• Recognise that as children’s books shape our earliest perceptions of the world and its cultures, promoting
writing that represents diversity will contribute to social and cultural tolerance
• Support the process of writing rather than, as with the majority of prizes, promoting the publication

The closing date for the 2013 Award is Monday 31 December 2012.
For entry forms contact: E: diversevoices@sevenstories.org.uk T: 0845 271 0777
More details available at www.sevenstories.org.uk/learning/projects

RBA Short Story Competition

RBA Short Story Competition

2012 short story judge is Booker shortlisted author Clare Morrall.

1st prize £500
(approx 805 US$; €609)

2nd prize £150
(approx 241 US$; €182)

3rd prize £50
(approx 80 US$; €60)

Closing date 31st October 2012.
Entries can be on any subject but must not be longer than 3000 words. Entries can be posted or emailed to us. Please see our website for more details about the entry fee and how to enter
www.ruberybookaward.com

Neal James wows Waterstones

Waterstones - Saturday, 9th June 2012

78 - 80 St. Peters Street, Derby

Standing at the corner of St Peters Street and Babington Lane in the centre of Derby, the Waterstones branch occupies an impressive and imposing three-storey site, and was 'home' to Rob Eldridge, my editor, and I for seven hours at the weekend.

Sean Heavens, the store manager, provided a constant supply of assistance and advice throughout the day, and is seen here with copies of the only two titles which remained and the end of the event. Maybe we should have taken the picture at the start of play! 'Two Little Dicky Birds' and 'Short Stories Volume One' sold out during our stay, and the event was a wonderful success. Diary dates should be forthcoming from Sean for a return later this year.

A small shot like this cannot give the true impression of the efforts put into the various displays by Jinny, one of the Waterstones staff. The view from outside the store windows was truly impressive, and many passers-by stopped in their travels through town.

Yours truly outside the entrance to the store just prior to setting up for the day. Rob's efforts as stand-in camerman were, once more, invaluable throughout the event.

Lynn and I are frequent visitors to Derby, and pass the store many times on our various shopping expeditions. I've stood outside this window on countless occasions and wondered what it would feel like to see my books there - now I know. It's a buzz which you never forget, and sets the hairs at the back of the neck on end. There I am, at the top of the pile for everyone to see - amazing!

You inevtiably bump into friends and colleagues at events like this, and today was no exception. Here, I'm talking with fellow CIMA member Adrian Randle and his wife Cathy prior to signing their copies of two of the titles available on the day.

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As a parting comment, I must thank, once more, Waterstones in general, and the store staff in particular, for making the day such a success. Jilly I have already thanked for the displays, but she also kept Rob and I supplied with tea all day. Last but by no means least, Alison - I am very grateful for all of the preparatory work which she undertook to get the event in the diary, and for the assistance which she gave me in the weeks running up to the day itself.

Waterstones - Saturday, 21st April 2012

Bridlesmith Gate branch, Nottingham

Many thanks to Shane Maxwell-Atkin, Waterstones regional events co-ordinator, for setting up the book signing session, and to the branch staff who made both Rob Eldridge and myself very welcome during the day.

Yours truly, ready and waiting behind the superb display which the branch provided for the signing. The collage to the right was ideal for concealing a continuous supply of tea provided by the staff.

Promotional poster supplied by Pneuma Springs Ltd, my publisher, in prominent position in the front window of the Bridlesmith Gate store. Grateful thanks to Vivian for the artwork.

Up and running with the first copies of the session, and much appreciation to my editor, Rob Eldridge, for doubling up as cameraman for the day.

Sally Hindson with 'Two Little Dicky Birds' and 'Threads of Deceit' to complete her set of the Neal James collection.

A final note of thanks to all of the staff at the branch for looking after us during the day, and providing support for the event.

Crowdfunders - A New Tool For Independent Authors

There's a new internet phenomenon, spreading across the World Wide Web faster than cute pictures of cats, and they are becoming the way to get small, independent projects off the ground. They’re now widely used by charities, independent filmmakers, video-game designers and, of course, authors. But what exactly is a crowdfunder, and how can it help you?

The Express Diaries

My new novel, The Express Diaries, has been paid for using this novel method, and in this brief article I’m going to discuss my experiences.

What is a crowdfunder?

In many ways crowdfunders are a very old idea, made possible by very new technology. They bring together the project designer (from now on I’m going to use ‘author’ for simplicity) and their target audience directly, cutting out the need for publishers or agents.
Here’s how it works; the author announces his project on a crowdfunder site (we’ll talk about them in a second), listing exactly how much money he needs to get his novel off the ground. Interested members of the public then donate towards this project. They run for a specified period of time (usually about 6 weeks), and if the number of pledges hits or exceeds the minimum target, then the novel is funded.

You can probably already see the advantages; for the author, no money is wasted on producing books that won’t sell; for the audience, they get their money back if the project fails (a little more on this later), and they get to help novels out that they genuinely want to see the light of day.

So how does it work?

There are a number of different fundraising websites, but only two of them are commonly used at the moment. The first is the massive US-based www.kickstarter.com (so ubiquitous that crowdfunders are often called ‘Kickstarters’) and the second is the smaller European www.indiegogo.com . Anyone anywhere in the world can pledge to either site, but you need a US-based tax code to start a project on Kickstarter, so the choice of which site you use really comes down to where you are based – although a Kickstarter-UK site is due to arrive at some time towards the end of the year.
My own novel is being funded at www.indiegogo.com/expressdiaries

Setting up a project is as simple as registering at these sites and filling in some online forms.

Why would people pledge their hard-earned money to a project?

Peter Parker learned to his cost that with great power comes great responsibility. Well, with a crowdfunder, with great pledges come great rewards. Crowdfunders are usually set up to have a number of tiers. For the lowest level of pledges (usually $10 or less) you usually receive an electronic copy of the book, and an acknowledgment. Higher tiers net you a signed copy of the physical book, and for even higher tiers the author may even write you into the story, or set it in your home town. Have a look at my funding site above for the sort of ideas we came up with.

Okay, okay – why would people pledge their hard-earned money to my project?

Well, that’s the real question, isn’t it, and a harder one to answer. Crowdfunders may seem risk-free on the face of it, but what nags at the back of every author’s mind is ‘What if nobody pledges at all? It’s humiliating!’

Well, the success of my crowdfunder has got an awful lot to do with www.yog-sothoth.com (YSDC) - a website devoted to the works of HP Lovecraft, and weird fiction in general. The Express Diaries was written in conjunction with YSDC, which helped me out in a number of ways. Firstly, it introduced me to my wonderful artist, Eric Smith, who has drawn in an enormous amount of interest with his fantastic cover and interior artwork. Secondly, it meant that The Express Diaries could be heavily featured on YSDC itself, and many of the early pledges came from subscribers to that site, meaning that The Express Diaries was fully funded in less than a week.

Another thing that helped me is that YSDC produced a trailer for The Express Diaries – you can see it here:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1dkJyywglI .

The trailer, if I may so myself, is pretty amazing, especially considering that Paul (the webmaster of YSDC) put it together with no prior experience of video editing – these things are relatively easy to do, and are amazing at helping draw people towards your project.

The first chapter of the novel is available free at www.indiegogo.com/expressdiaires , and again this has really helped to generate interest in the book.

How likely are you to succeed with a crowdfunder?

There’s been a recent study into the phenomenon of crowdfunders from a group interested in role-playing game supplements. It isn’t specifically about novels, but the statistics make interesting reading. Here’s a link to the study - http://www.geekindustrialcomplex.com/articles/crowdfunding-report-part-1 - but the very quick summary is this:

·         Kickstarter projects were far more likely to succeed than Indiegogo projects

·         The projects that did get funded were usually $5000 or less

·         The successful projects often ended up with significantly more than their target, and the failed ones with significantly less

With this in mind, for The Express Diaries we decided to try for a ‘bare-minimum’ non-profit target, with a hope that if things were successful, we would add in various ‘stretch goals’ – extra rewards for the funders if we passed higher goals. As of writing, we have just passed our first stretch goal, and are heading towards our second.

Any pitfalls?

A few. Other than the nagging fear that no one will pledge at all, one problem with crowdfunders is that they’re due a bit of a backlash. Many internet pundits are already loudly proclaiming that the crowdfunder market is saturated. Whether it is true or not, it’s what people are starting to talk about.
The second problem is the thorny issue of refunds. Pledgers are actually making a donation to your cause and, for indiegogo at least, you as an author are under no legal obligation to give the money back if the project fails, or even necessarily go ahead with the project if you receive all the funds. You would be committing career suicide if you didn’t honour this, however, because as an independent author all you have to rely on is your reputation. In this internet age, a bad reputation will spread a heck of a lot faster than a good one.
This problem is more of gossip than anything else – for the reasons I’ve mentioned above, the chances of an author taking the money and running are practically zero... but that doesn’t stop people talking about it on the forums.

Summary

My experience of running a crowdfunded project has been overwhelmingly positive. Here’s my advice – don’t believe the rumours. There are a lot of crowdfunded projects out there, but that can only be good for the consumers and the creators. Crowdfunders give creators a tremendous forum to show off their novels to the world, and give consumers a chance to help out projects that wouldn’t stand a chance of getting published by conventional means.

Crowdfunders are here to stay.

Nick Marsh is the author of Soul Purpose, Past Tense, The Ancients and The Express Diaries. Visit his website at www.nick-marsh.co.uk, or his blog at lordof1.blogspot.com 

Sutton-in-Ashfield, Myths and Legends

Hucknall Book Day, June 2nd

Storytelling at Hucknall Leisure Centre

Great Kimberley Book Read

Rufford Book Festival

NAWG Festival of writing

Askance Short Story Competition

Askance Publishing are running a short story competition which will raise money for charity. Here are the details:

Askance Short Story Competition

Deadline 30 June 2012

Askance social enterprise publishing house, based in Cambridge, England, welcomes entries from novice or experienced writers from anywhere in the world for their competition.

Winners will be published in an anthology and receive a small cash prize.

For rules and terms and conditions please visit http://askancepublishing.wordpress.com/competition/

Festival of Writing

Run by The Writers' Workshop, The Festival of Writing is the UK's largest writers' conference.

The WW Festival of Writing is not a 'literary festival' but a festival run entirely by writers for other writers. They have designed the festival around giving writers everything they need to break into print including the ability to pitch directly to agents and publishers.

The festival will take place from 7th to 9th September at the University of York, with comfortable on-campus accommodation. You can learn more about the festival and book tickets at http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/events.html.

As a member of NWUK you can access a Writing Group Discount of 15% -- just quote GRP on your booking form.

Here’s an overview of their programme:

Friday 7th September

13.00 - 14.00	Registration for those attending Mini Courses
14.00 - 18.00	Mini courses (optional) • How to Write a Novel, with Harry Bingham • Self-editing your Novel, with Debi Alper • Children's Authors Do It Differently, with Nicola Morgan • Creativity masterclass, with Andrew Wille • Historical Fiction, with Emma Darwin •Be a Professional Self-Publisher and Succeed, with David Gaughran and Talli Rowland
14.00 - 18.00	Registration and collection of room keys
16.00 - 17.00	Afternoon tea - dip out, drop-in
18.00	Bar opens Come along to meet agents, editors and fellow writers.
19.30	Dinner
20.45 - 21.15	Literary Night Live Your chance for a panel of experts to hear and evaluate your text. Terrifying, but useful. More details to follow soon. Last year's winner ended up with an agent! The one before got an agent, got published - and is one of the guest speakers this year.

Saturday 8th September

08.00	Breakfast
08.30	Registration for Saturday arrivals
9.10 - 10.10	Festival Welcome & Keynote Address - JoJo Moyes Author of 9 novels, JoJo has been a full time novelist since 2002, when her first book Sheltering Rain was published. Her last novel, the critically acclaimed The Last Letter From your Lover, won the 2011 RNA Novel of the Year award and has been translated into eleven different languages. She also writes regularly for The Daily Telegraph.
10.10 - 10.40	Coffee break & JoJo Moyes booksigning
10.40 - 11.40	Workshops - Session 1 See workshops for more info. When you book your Festival ticket, you will be asked to select your workshop choice.
11.50 - 12.50	Genre Panel/ Q&As Your chance to learn from the experts and ask the questions you want answered. Choice of (no prebooking required): Literary Fiction Science Fiction/Fantasy Children's/Young Adult Women's Fiction Historical Fiction Crime/Thriller Script Writing In nearly all cases, panels will include both authors and agents/publishers.
12.40	Buffet Lunch
14.00 - 15.00	Key note address: The Agent & The Publisher Bill Massey, Deputy Publishing Director, Orion Books Gillian Green, Editorial Director (Fiction), Ebury/Random House Alan Mahar, Publishing Director, Tindal Street Press Jim Gill & Simon Trewin, United Agents
15.10 - 16.10	Workshops - Session 2 See workshops for more info.
16.10 - 16.40	Afternoon Tea - plus author book signings
16.40 - 17.40	Workshops - Session 3 See workshops for more info.
18.45 - 19.15	Gala Dinner Reception ~ Drinks ~ Come along to meet agents, editors and fellow writers.
19.15	Gala Dinner & Competition Presentations After-dinner speech:

Sunday 9th September                                                                                                

08.00	Breakfast
09.00	Registration for Sunday arrivals
09.20 - 10.00	TBC
10.10 - 11.10	Workshops - Session 4 See workshops for more info.
11.10 - 11.40	Coffee break & author booksignings
11.40 - 12.40	Workshops - Session 5 See workshops for more info.
12.40	Buffet Lunch
14.00 - 15.00	Workshops - Session 6 See workshops for more info.
15.10 - 15.50	Keynote Address with Stuart MacBride Stuart MacBride is the bestselling crime fiction author of The Logan McRae series, including Shatter the Bones, which reached No. 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller list. The McRae novels have won him the CWA's Dagger in the Library, the Barry Award for Best Debut Novel, and Best Breakthrough Author at the ITV3 crime thriller awards. Stuart's other works include Halfhead, a near-future thriller, Sawbones, a novella aimed at adult emergent readers, and several short stories.
15.50 - 16.00	Wrap-up & farewells