History short story competition

 

The annual The Writers & Artists’ Short Story Competition is seeking work from all writers of historical fiction, all nationalities, in English. The guest judge is Celia Brayfield.

What they want:

“Clearly evoke the time and place your historical piece is set within no more than 1,000 words.  

“That means we don’t just want a title of ‘Hastings: 1066’. We want to get a sense of the world your protagonist is walking through. What’s happening? How are people dressed? What are they eating? How do they talk?  The winning entry will have succeeded in completely immersing us in their chosen period.

“Your entry can be a standalone story or part of a larger piece you’re working on. And it CAN involve fantastical elements if you so wish, though it must still be set in the real world. So long as it’s unpublished and it’s set in the past then you’re eligible to enter. Entries must be submitted via email to competition@bloomsbury.com with the subject heading: 'Historical fiction competition'.  Best of luck!”

See the rules here: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions

Competition deadlines:

Entries must be submitted by midnight (GMT) on Sunday 11th May.

A winner and two runners up will be announced on this website on Tuesday 27th May.

Prizes:

First prize: £150, a pair of tickets to visit Beamish Museum and a copy of Writing Historical Fiction: a Writers & Artists Companion [I’ve been to Beamish more than once and it’s a fantastic venue to visit- Nik]

Runners up: £25 each and a copy of Writing Historical Fiction: a Writers & Artists Companion

 

 

Boom in e-books – my way forward

Reported in City & Finance, Daily Mail, August 27: The CEO of Bloomsbury, Nigel Newton is looking forward to tapping into the boom in digital books. ‘Newton believes Britain is “one year behind America”, where e-book sales trebled in the first six months of 2010 to £120m. The report ends, ‘With a £33m warchest, Newton is looking for further acquisitions after beefing up its non-fiction wing following a spate of recent takeovers.’ So small-to-medium publishers had better watch out. I’d like to think his acquisitions would be new authors rather than other publishers, but maybe I’m being a bit naive there.

Anyway, I’m embracing the e-book. I’ll still buy and treasure printed books and wherever possible I’d like to see and hold my books in print, but e-books have their advantages too.

In light of the above, I’ve accepted the job offer of editor made by Gary Dobbs, the chief western editor for Solstice Publishing (pictured right in pensive mode).



Gary achieved the impossible by getting his Black Horse Western Tarnished Star to outsell any other Hale westerns and in record time. His Tainted Archive blog is worth visiting regularly too. He has constantly banged the drum for a western revival in books. And he is the driving force in getting the Edge gritty western series by George G Gilman into e-book format (published by Solstice). This western line for Solstice is shaping up into an exciting project and I’m honoured and pleased to be a part of it.