Does anyone have views/experience of/opinion of 'Undiscovered Authors – a competition in search of new literary talent'?

www.undiscoveredauthors.co.uk/ent_submissions.html

It looks good – regional prizes, £10,000 first prize, possible publishing deal! But it is run by BookForce, who offer 'self-publishing services', though they insist they're not vanity merchants.

Has anyone entered this comp before? Deadline, by the way, is 31st January.

Robin

Hi

I entered this competition last year and actually won the North East Regional Prize for Fiction with my book, Karma.

It is a great way to get a foothold in the sometimes hostile world of publishing, and I am very glad that I entered. Whether my work is good enough to sell is another issue altogether!

What do you have to lose?

Regards,
Holly

This is the second comp i've looked at which has a min word of 90,000 - wonder why? My novel is 73,000, which isn't unusual for some genres.

Casey

It looks straightforward, though the prize of 'a publishing deal' shouldn't be taken as the same thing as being published by a commercial publisher: these guys don't make their money by selling your book, like a proper publisher, but by selling their services to aspiring writers. Nothing wrong with that in itself, as long as people entering know what they will and won't get out of it. However terrific the winners' work, there's very little they can do - PR activity notwithstanding - to persuade anyone beyond your nearest and dearest to buy it.

Emma

<Added>

Yes, the word limit is very odd - why that much, and not a more normal minimum of something like 70,000, I wonder? Makes me wonder if a lot of the self-publishers they get through their doors haven't learnt the value of cutting...

Well done, Holly!

I just entered this yesterday, so fingers crossed.

I'm still not convinced by 'publishing deal', but any crumb of recognition would boost the ego no end.

Robin

What do you have to lose?

On a note of dreary and perhaps unnecessary caution, I would point out that once this book has been published by this means you're a 'published author': i.e. you might be ineligible for some competitions/prizes/grants etc. if you or they are being scrupulous about their rules. Though as Miss Snark would say, it does show that someone other than your Mom and your dog thinks you can write, so it's certainly some kind of publishing credit.

Emma

Hi

I'm very new to this forum, and hesitate to write the following, but here goes:

I note a touch of negativity with regard to the 'publishing deal' which is offered. As far as I am concerned, Bookforce have offered me a 'traditional' publishing deal - I do not incur any costs whatsoever, and my book is being marketing as I type. I have no illusions with regard to the size of the company and that it cannot throw money at the book in the way that larger publishing houses can. My work will have to speak for itself, but I like to think that more than my 'nearest and dearest' will purchase the book - I am not going to belittle my own acheivement.

Obviously, there is a marketing aspect to this competition. They attract huge numbers of entrants: some (in the case of the winners) are offered full deals, and all entrants are given a discount on the self-publishing packages that BookForce offers.

With regard to the word limit, this is a new introduction. When I was shortlisted, I was expecting to have a 60,000 word book - this was unacceptable and I was asked to increase it to at least 75,000. The completed book eventually came in well over 90,000 words. This translated to about 360 pages - about average for most of the books that I tend to read.

Best of luck to anyone who enters this competition.

Holly