Book tokens competition.

I read about this over at Danuta Kean's blog (link on right).


National Book Tokens launch Not Yet Published, a literary prize exclusively for booksellers. The Not Yet Published prize celebrates National Book Tokens 75th anniversary and long association with the book trade. Inspired by Man Booker nominees Sarah Waters and David Mitchell, who were both booksellers before becoming bestselling authors, National Book Tokens is offering others in the book trade the opportunity to be published. First time authors are requested to submit an extract from the work, a proposal, an outline or a synopsis of no more than 10,000 words of either fiction or non-fiction. The winning bookseller author will receive a book publishing contract with Faber & Faber.Stuart Mathews, Managing Director of National Book Tokens comments:“National Book Tokens has been hugely supported by thousands of individual booksellers over the years, this prize acknowledges their expertise and commitment.”The prize is open to all booksellers from the UK and Republic of Ireland employed as of 1st February 2007, whether they work for a chain or an independent. The shortlist of authors will be announced in September and the winner announcement will be made on 14th November, to coincide to the day with National Book Tokens’ 75th anniversary.The judges are, Lee Brackstone, Editorial Director for Fiction at Faber, Julian Loose, Editorial Director for Non-fiction at Faber, Alex Clark, Deputy Literary Editor of the Observer, independent bookseller Patrick Neale, and authors Adele Parks and Francis Spufford.National Book Tokens continue to be a highly successful part of the books industry, with sales in excess of £30 million p.a. With the launch of an electronic book token scheduled for later this year, plans are underway for delivering sales well into the future.More information on the Not Yet Published prize, including the rules and conditions, can be found in the bookseller zone at www.nationalbooktokens.co.uk

Seems like a good thing. The only thing I don't understand is that you can send an extract or synopsis, wouldn't one want to submit both so that the extract makes sense. Sigh. I am so out of the loop when it comes to knowing such things.