Kobo, Mills and Boon and W H Smith Romance Writing Life Competition...

April seems to be the month for competition announcements.

Following on from my Sunday post, about Choc Lit, there's now another opportunity for writers of romance in the UK, Canada, and the United States, announced today.

The winning writer receives a publishing contract with Mills and Boon, which includes print and digital release; plus it will be "jointly promoted" by all three names: Kobo, Mills&Boon, and W H Smith.

There's a prize for second and third place- a Kobo Glo HD.

Now to take part, you must have an active Kobo Writing Life account to enter, and they do give you a helpful link.

The first of many?

Their link takes you to a page, but you need the create an account via the link on the bottom left (in light blue/green) and you can then proceed to sign up to Kobo Writing Life as an author.

Now that bit is the off-putting part of the process- I'd assume they class signing up as being the active bit...

So what do you need to submit?

A maximum 500 word synopsis, and the first chapter of your romance manuscript, no longer than 5,000 words. These will be "reviewed by a judging panel".

(I'm sure I don't need to remind you, but just in case, give the ending on the synopsis...)

They're including all romance genres, and while saying it's not limited to their existing categories, I do wonder how much that will play a part.

And for those who want to submit a title they've self-published - you're in luck.

The deadline for entries is the 14th July- but you might want to check whether that is UK time, or US.

As the successful writer will be announced a month later, 14th August, the winner will need their complete manuscript ready for submitting to Mills and Boon in September-with the release date of the winning entry in early 2016.

And the manuscript needs to be 70,000 words, or more...

For full details pop along to the Kobo Writing Life page. It has all the links you need, including the one for the application form- make a note of how they want your manuscript put together before you click submit...

If you enter, good luck.






Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti and http://freedigitalphotos.net

Not Got an E-Reader Yet?

Yes, I'm back...

E-readers seem to have been a popular Christmas present again this year, but I think Christmas 2012 will have seen the biggest choice of devices available.

In the UK the choice has previously been Kindle or Sony- despite Sony readers having been available first, they couldn't compete with the Kindle once it became available to UK readers.

(You may even have taken to reading your e-books on your smart phone...)

But this year there's been an explosion of devices available from new e-readers to tablets.

Publishers have finally got their act together this year too.
You can buy e-books direct from many publisher now- the big mainstream publishers will likely cost more than you'd pay at Amazon, but buying direct from a small independent publisher is a great way of discovering new writers and supporting these important organisations too.

Tablet devices were selling well before Christmas, as they offered the practicality of reading books and being able to access the Internet (though you are paying a higher price).

In October I bought my kobo glo and I'm really happy with it. (It has much better battery life than the first generation Sony e-reader I had.) With the adjustable font and text size, along with the front light, it's great for reading in the car as daylight fades- I couldn't do that with my previous reader.

How do you choose the right e-reader for you if you're finally venturing into e-books? The answer is as usual, research.

Don't be put off by the variety of technology discussed on the TechRadar website, it has some interesting reviews on Tablet devices and e-readers, so type in the name of the device you're interested in finding out about in the search box and go from there.

There are lots of online reviews available, so compare views.

You can try out Kindles in Waterstones book stores, and Kobos in WH Smith's. In fact wherever e-readers (of whatever make) are sold instore you'll find them on display to try out. (Talking the UK here.)

This Christmas (over 3 days) I read 2.25 novels, and at least 10 previews of books I was interested in. It was lovely to spend Boxing Day curled up on the sofa reading - and my books didn't get bent or creased by something resting on top of them in my bag...

I do still buy paper books- just ask my family - but you can't beat e-books and readers for space saving. :-)

Happy New Year...