I also don't think that the competition will be televised. It says that the shortlisted 5 will read from their work LIVE to professionals in the industry, invited guests and the judges but it says nothing about it being televised. I think the word LIVE may have made people assume that it will be broadcast LIVE...

Anyway, good luck to your friend Eric - on the Book Pl@ce website they said they'll be putting samples of the shortlisted 5's work...hope your friend's is one of them.

I suppose since I haven't heard from the competition organisers by now that means I'm out of the running...no surprise there...but I thought they would announce the names of the shortlisted 5 on the website by now? I can't find a link to the Lit Idol comp on the London Book Fair website...no mention of it at all on the Homepage.

Ah, the top thirty list has now been published!

(it's on http://thebookplace.com)

To my utter dismay, I'm not on it! Oh well, next year perhaps.... <img src=../images/smile.gif>

:D Nigel... SNAP!

I wonder if anyone on WW has been selected? That would lift my spirits. It's been a lousy day that's for sure.

Oh well, guess it's back to the grindstone for me!

Nahed

Colin M said

What I will say is just a short bit about reading aloud. I started reading work out about six months ago. I found it very difficult at first, but quite addictive and the benefits are huge, not just in personal confidence, but in the craft of writing.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I always read everything I write out loud. I don't read it to anybody, I just read it aloud. It's a great way of picking up typos, and seeing if I've got the nuances of the dialogue just right. I also find I pick up word or phrase repetition much better if I read it aloud.

Cas

You too, eh, Nahed?

If you've had a lousy day, it's time to go write something nice…

How about the story of a famous Hollywood producer who - on a rare visit to England - stumbles upon a discarded competition entry in the bins at the back of the offices of the London Book Fair with the words “Larry Spotter and his Unfeasibly Magical Gems, by J. K. Nahedling” and runs through the misty London streets gleefully clasping it above his head and shouting “At last, I’ve found it! I’ve found it!” etc, etc ?

It is vaguely demoralising to see a list of at least 30 writers who have been judged better than oneself. As they say in the army, however, "if you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have signed up."

I'm glad to see that the 30 finalists seem serious about writing - it would have been most galling if they were all seventeen year olds who just scribbled something down in the hope of winning!


Nigel

Nahedling...sounds like something out of the Lord of the Rings...

I've got my sight set on another competition now...Lichfield Prize - sounds rather posh. Won't you join me? See you there Nigel

Nahed x

Hello everyone - here goes my first entry (oo-er!)

Nigel and Nahed, I too have been waiting on the edge of my seat for months dreaming of Lit Idol success, but have just checked out the list to see I didn't make the cut either! But nevermind - getting shortlisted in over 1500 entries ain't easy, and the mind boggles how they decide who goes through and what merits a final place. I mean, it can't be easy. I think the negativity in the early part of this thread is sad. The book fair was just putting on a competition, nothing more, with a very, very good prize for all us budding rejection experts. What's all this hoo-hah about it being wrong coz you have to read an extract? Image is going to be important to any new author, young or old, so I don't see why this is a bad thing. I say fair play to the Book Fair peeps and let's hope a few more competitions like this come about. Wot'z that one you're on about like, Nahed?

Anyway, this is just me trying to pop my Writewords cherry, if you'll pardon the expression!!!

Davey hi and welcome to WW

Lichfield Prize (details you will find in the Jobs & Opps section) is £5000 first prize and an option for Warner Books to publish the winning ms. Closing date end of April...I think. You would need to send in the whole ms of an unpublished novel. Good luck to ya if you're going to enter.

Nahed

Thanks Nahed - sounds very posh indeed. Five grand is a tasty prize, but I dunno if I'd feel right sending in the whole manuscript. Still got a whole load of publishers/agencies for my 700 page epic to get rejected from yet!!

Maybe I'll try and knock a two hundred page quickie out by March!

Anyway, thanks for your warm welcome, and best of luck!


<Added>

Or maybe a two fifty pager by April!!!