Contest

Guidelines for Submissions
Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest 2009

The Word Guild Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest 2009 Media Release #1
www.thewordguild.com; office voice mail 519-886-4196
This release is available as a downloadable Word document at http://www.thewordguild.com/newsreleases/index.html

Sept 10, 2008
For immediate release


BEST NEW AUTHOR CONTEST 2009

Writing contest for first-time authors accepting both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts

Toronto—The Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest is accepting both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for the 2009 competition.

First-time authors will have another opportunity to win a $1,000 cash prize, or a $1,000 advance and book publishing contract, in the sixth annual contest. Entries are due by November 28, 2008.

The competition encourages never-before-published authors to submit manuscripts expressing Christian faith in a clear, original and inspiring way.

Larry N. Willard, the publisher of Castle Quay Books Canada, noted that the contest continues to attract a high quality of entry and the entries in last year's contest were all of exceptional quality making the selection of “one” winner exceedingly difficult.

In previous years, up to 30 manuscripts have been submitted, approximately half of which were fiction. In 2008, 8 nonfiction entries and 21 fiction entries were submitted.

It is increasingly difficult to find a publisher willing to invest in promoting a first-time author who doesn't have a track record of previous book sales, or a pre-existing public speaking platform, observed N. J. Lindquist, the executive director of The Word Guild. She explained that most Christian publishers now are owned by large multi-national corporations, who are looking for the next blockbuster bestseller such as the Left Behind novel series or The Purpose-Driven Life, or books by "marquee authors" such as mega-church pastors.

"Larry Willard has shown exceptional commitment to Canadian Christian writers," Lindquist said.

Castle Quay Books, which Willard founded in 2002 while he was executive director of Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada, became independent earlier in 2007 and is one of the few non-denominational Christian royalty publishers in Canada. The contest was co-sponsored for its first five years by Augsburg Fortress in partnership with its Castle Quay imprint.

"Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada has been an encouraging and very important pillar as we tried to develop the Canadian writing industry together, and they will continue to be the distributors for all of Castle Quay's books in Canada," Willard noted.

Dr. Kevin Dautremont of Moose Jaw, Sask., received the 2008 award for his historical fiction, The Golden Conquest and Alison Mary Sharpe of Renfrew, Ont. received the 2007 award for her nonfiction manuscript, A Drawer Full of Odd Socks: Biblical Meditations.

Previous winners' books are already on the market: One Smooth Stone, a novel by Marcia Lee Laycock of Ponoka, Alberta; The Defilers, a suspense novel by Deborah Gyapong of Ottawa; Seven Angels for Seven Days, an autobiographical work by Angelina Fast-Vlaar of St. Catharines, Ont.; and The Chicago Healer, a novel by Paul Boge of Winnipeg. Castle Quay also has published contest runners-up, such as the autobiographical account Walking Towards Hope by Paul Beckingham of Vancouver.

"The Best New Author Contest has made us aware of some highly gifted Canadian writers over the last five years. Several of the winners are now being translated into other languages," Willard pointed out.

He went on to say, "We are having an impact on the Canadian Christian publishing industry. As the Christian community becomes more aware of our local talent and begins to 'buy Canadian,' I expect we will see the day when authors who started their careers in this contest will become prominent names on the bookshelves of people all over the world."

The winner will be announced during The Word Guild Writing Awards Gala on June 15, 2009. The contest is open to any Canadian citizen or permanent resident who affirms the Apostles' Creed, is not currently under contract with a publisher, and has never had a book published by a royalty-paying publisher or on a work-for-hire basis.

This contest is administered by The Word Guild, an association with the mandate of connecting, developing and promoting Canadian writers and editors who are Christian. For submission guidelines and entry form, go to www.thewordguild.com or leave a voice mail message at 519-886-4196.


Attention Editors: Please capitalize "The" when referring to The Word Guild.

Media: For further information or for photos of previous winners, contact Jane Twohey, Contest Administrator, The Word Guild at admin@thewordguild.com or voice mail 519-886-4196; or Larry Willard, President, Castle Quay Books Canada at larrywillard@rogers.com or 416-573-3249.