Announcing the AfRo Writing Competition

Remember the call for submissions post for Africana Pocketbooks in July? (if you don't remember, you can click here). There's more good news where that came from. 

Africana Pocketbooks (Ghana) has launched a romance writing competition, dubbed the AfRo Writing competition (AfRo was coined from Africana Romance), with the objective of producing Ghanaian romance novels featuring locations, heroes, heroines and storylines that reflect contemporary Ghana.

The competition will run on Facebook through an interactive process where writers, readers and friends can contribute to the creative process.

If you're already polishing your manuscript in your head, then keep reading; it gets better:

COMPETITION DETAILS

• The competition runs from 1st September, 2011 – 1stDecember, 2011.
• There will be three stages of the competition.
• Stories entered in the competition must be completed by 1st December, 2011, as the winner will be expected to submit a full manuscript at the end of the competition.
• To enter the competition, leave comments or ‘like’ any entries, please join the Afro Romance Writing Competition Facebook group.

STAGE 1: Synopsis: 1 Sept. – 22 Sept., 2011

• Post a short synopsis of for your romance on AfRo’s Facebook page by using the "create doc" function. Synopsis shall not exceed 1000 words, and should cover the entire story including the end (no cliffhangers or teasers, please). Remember: Keep it simple.
• Entries will be subjected to peer reviews in an open, creative process taking place on Facebook.
• The process will be overseen and moderated by representatives of Africana Pocketbooks.
• On 22nd September, the editorial panel will select ten (10) synopses that will go through to Stage 2.
• All ten winners will get feedback on their synopses.

STAGE 2: Get writing: 30 September – 20 October, 2011

• The ten winners will enter Stage 2 of the competition by uploading the first chapters of their novel on AfRo’s Facebook page, using the "create doc" function. Chapters should not exceed 3000 words.
• Entries will be subjected to peer reviews in an open, creative process taking place on Facebook.
• The process will be overseen and moderated by representative of Africana Pocketbooks.
• On 20th October, the editorial panel will select five (5) winners who will go through to Stage 3 of the competition.
• All five winners will get feedback on their sample chapters.

STAGE 3: Get serious: 28 October – 18 November, 2011

• The five winners will enter Stage 3 of the competition by uploading the next three chapters of their novel on AfRo’s Facebook page. The chapters should be posted one at a time, one week apart, i.e.:
• Chapter two must be posted between 28th October and 3rdNovember
• Chapter three must be posted between 4th and 10thNovember
• Chapter four must be posted between 11th and 31stNovember

• Chapters should not exceed 3000 words each.
• The samples will be subjected to peer reviews in an open, creative process taking place on Facebook.
• The process will be overseen and moderated by representatives of Africana Pocketbooks.

The Winner of the AfRo competition will be announced on 1stDecember, 2011.

THE PRIZE

The overall winner will enter into an editorial process with Africana Pocketbooks and our editor, which will result in a contract including full editorial process, publishing and printing of at least 10,000 copies, and promotion in Ghana. The finished title will be scheduled for publication in 2012.

The two runners-up will get detailed feedback on their entries with the aim of making them eligible for future publication.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE COMPETITION

• Eligibility: The competition is open to Ghanaian writers, or writers resident in Ghana
• Story settings: Stories must be set in Ghana and feature Ghanaian locations, heroes and heroines.
• Guidelines: Submission must adhere to the Africana Romance (AfRo) writing guidelines.
• Stories must not have been submitted earlier to any other publishing houses

Good luck to all

FWoWA

Cassava Republic Press calling for submissions

Cassava Republic Press is a Nigerian-based publisher 'obsessed with changing the way the world thinks about African fiction'. The publish high quality, affordable fiction, non-fiction  and children’s books that inspire young readers to develop a love of books from an early age. Non-fiction focuses on socio-cultural and historical events.

They also organise writing workshops and school writers-in-residence programmes under their RAW (Reading And Writing) Initiative. Cassava Republic Press was listed as one of the top ten brands to look out for in 2009 by the design bible Monocle Magazine.

And the good news! They are accepting submissions. But there's a little catch. They accept submission only two times a year: January and August. Submissions received outside of these months will not be considered. So you have twenty-six days to polish your manuscripts and submit...or wait four months!

They accept submissions by email only. Any hard copy submissions will not be considered.

What to submit:

For fiction, send a 500-word synopsis with three sample chapters to editor@cassavarepublic.biz.

For non-fiction, include a cover letter in your email indicating the subject and your qualifications. 

Sample chapters must sent as a word attachment saved in the following way: date of submission(dd.mm.yy).surname.firstname.book title. [E.g: 02.09.09.Yinka.Allen.To PlayWithFire.doc]. Your name should appear only on the title page, and nowhere else in the manuscript.

The subject of the email should be: Cassava Submission: [Author’s name], [book title].

[E.g.: Cassava Submission: Yinka Ishmail, The Quiet Sisters]

All submissions are logged and read chronologically. 

Cassava Republic is based in Abuja, Nigeria. For more information, visit their website or 'like' them on Facebook or 'follow' then on Twitter @CassavaRepublic.

Don't say I didn't tell you!

Cheers

FWoWA

Introducing AFRICANA Pocketbooks

If you've been following the FWoWA group page on Facebook, then you've probably already heard about them. AFRICANA is a publishing house that produces competitively-priced, popular pocketbooks for the West African mass market.

Africana concentrates on current African events, biographies on inspirational stars and leaders, African history and politics, self-help, romances and popular fiction.

And here’s the good news! Africana is currently accepting submissions from African authors and authors relevant to African readers. They are looking for good quality stories, particularly romance and crime, between 30,000 and 50,000 words. Submit to info@africanapublishing.com. They will only give feedback on publishable manu­scripts.

For more information visit them on their website, Facebook page or blog (in Danish).

Cheers

FWoWA

Can African writing be competitive in today's world?

The art of creative writing keeps evolving and the rules keep changing. Things that were done a few years ago aren't acceptable anymore. Think of it like the movies. Ten years ago, movies took time to build up and reel you in; today viewers have so many options that movie makers have to grab the audiences' attention within the first five minutes of the movie.

So it is with writing. There are still readers who appreciate the written word to the point that they'd read simply for the enjoyment of the literary word. For the most part, though, many readers want a story that will snag their attention from line one. With the number of writers (aspiring or otherwise) at an all-time high*, a writer needs to be able to grab a reader's attention quickly--and most importantly hold that attention for the duration of the story.

Unfortunately, I think this puts African writers at a bit of a disadvantage. Our storytelling seems to be the type that builds up. Many of us will remember a period growing up, when we made time for storytelling; so we were required to be patient and allow the narrator to reel us in. In fact, in the most traditional sense, there's usually an ambiance--people gathered by a bonfire as a wizened elder impart life's lessons through folktales.

So how do we compete in today's world? More importantly, how do we ensure we don't lose our African-ness in the process?

I can think of a couple of things: knowing the basic rules, and learning/applying the new trends. That way the African-ness we may be so afraid of losing will draw in both African readers who want to read more stories they can relate with, and non-African readers who will see our stories are a cultural adventure.

Any thoughts, any one?


Cheers,
FWoWA

Announcing the Bill Burt Award for African Writing

Hi folks,


We've all gone AWOL for a bit. I hope that means life is good and we're just so busy. 


Well, I have another announcement: 


There is once again an new writing competition, this time open to Ghanaian Writers. It is called the Burt Award for African Literature. This year's is the second edition, I believe.

The Award is organised by the Ghana Book Trust and sponsored by CODE, a Canadian NGO, with support from Canadian patron, Bill Burt. 

Three awards will be presented annually:

Gold:  CAD $12,000 

Silver: CAD $6,000 

Bronze: CAD $3,000 

Prizes will be paid in Ghanaian Cedis, so may be affected by currency exchange rates.

I don't yet know when the deadline is, but I understand it is in April 2010. I'll confirm later.

For more information, check out the official announcement on the Ghana Book Trust website.

I hope you're getting out those old Young Adult manuscripts!

Cheers

FWoWA