Dan Holloway
English author, poet and campaigner Dan Holloway shares the good news of the revival of a major literary prize that welcomes self-publishers.
The Young Writer of the Year Award, previously won by such luminaries as Sarah Waters, Simon Armitage, and Zadie Smith, is being relaunched after being in abeyance since 2009, under the sponsorship of The Sunday Times and agents Peters Fraser Dunlop (PFD). And its new literary patrons are passionate that the award, worth £5000 to the winner and free to enter, should have a strong representation from self-published writers.
The award is open to works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry published between July 1st 2014 and June 30th 2015 by writers aged from 18-35, living in the UK or Ireland.
PFD’s Robert Caskie, whose clients include Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit, said that this is “a wonderful opportunity for self-published authors to get the attention they deserve.” He believes there is a wealth of literary talent (and by literary, he is keen to stress that he is talking of quality across genres and not just “literary fiction”) amongst self-published writers that is being left behind in the current media emphasis on commercial series, and it is that wealth of talent he hopes the award will tap into.
Explicit Search for Self-published Literary Talent
PFD is looking to compile a shortlist of self-published titles for the judges, who include past winner Sarah Waters, that will sit absolutely equally alongside titles submitted by traditional publishers and demonstrate the diversity and talent that exists in self-publishing.
Caskie is keen to stress that this is an award that is first, foremost, and only looking for quality, and is not a popularity contest. He encourages authors who have found it hard to be heard in the melée and may be disappointed with their self-published sales to submit on a level playing field.
This is a fantastic opportunity for self-publishers to be read by one of the UK’s greatest living writers, to be judged alongside their traditionally published peers, and to show the literary world that self-publishing is the natural home to works of the highest quality.
For further details, see http://www.petersfraserdunlop.com/prize/. To enter, go to http://www.societyofauthors.org/sunday-times-pfd. Deadline for entries: Tuesday 30th June 2015
OVER TO YOU Get your entries in, folks! And please feel free to share news of any other new award opportunities you may hear of for self-published authors, via the comments box.
Indie #authors - don't miss this new award opportunity for #selfpub books, as reported by @agnieszkasshoes Click To Tweet
Despite the rather provocative title (not chosen by the author, BTW), this article in the New York Times is thought-provoking. I think there is merit in questioning contests aimed at “young” writers, when the intent seems to be the support and discovery of EMERGING writers. Just here to gently push for parity for my fellow “late” bloomers. All the best to the participants. 🙂
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/opinion/whats-so-great-about-young-writers.html?_r=0
I absolutely agree, and I very much support the advocacy for “debut” or, in your words “emerging” writers, but this was intended as a piece designed to get the word out about a great opportunity rather than a discussion of those issues
It is always frustrating for self-published authors to contend with, not only a bias against self-publication but age constraints. I was forced to go the self-publication route after wasting almost a year trying to make headway – my debut book ‘The Ivory Towers & Other Stories’ was launched on Amazon in Dec 2018 – at the young age of 66!!
What are the best recources for freelance editors (I mainly do self published memoirs, fiction and academic edits) to find clients? I was a journalist for several years (Huffington Post, DC Daily, The Progressive) as well as an editor for serveral magazines but after contracting Lyme disease (check for ticks!!), my days as a globe trotting reporter were over so I started a small editing and proofreading firm and we are now getting into some publishing and author representation. We are close to Nashville and get steady work from 2 Harper-Collins imprints but, of course, in exchange for steady monthly work, the pay is paltry and they only allow freelancers to get projects that total 500 pages per month. Just thought I would check. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Brady
I would recommend Reedsy, who act as an interface between writers and the best professionals in editing, formatting, design etc.
And as a trail runner, yes, I seem to spend a lot of my time checking for ticks!