Commonwealth Short Story and Best New Book Competition

There's a call for entries to the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize. It's basically a competition open to all commonwealth countries including South Africa.

For the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, they are looking for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000 - 5000 words). Regional winners receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000. The prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean, and Pacific. The closing date is 4 December 2012 (12 noon GMT.)

For the Commonwealth Book Prize, you have to win the best first book. It is open to writers who have had their first novel (full length work of fiction) published between 1 January and 31 December 2012. Regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £10,000. The closing date for online entries is 18 December 2012 (12 noon GMT.)

For the first time, works translated into English from other languages are eligible for both prizes; and they are accepting self-published books from all Commonwealth countries.

You can find the online entry form and for further information, including the eligibility and entry rules, please visit: www.commonwealthwriters.org

Inspiration from Chuck Wendig

For all the Rosalites doing the Nanowrimo bootcamp, here's a little inspiration:

A NaNoWriMo opportunity from Avon Books!

In conjunction with NaNoWriMo, Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers brings you NaRoWriMo - National Romance Writing Month. Avon is encouraging aspiring romance authors to reach their goal of 50k words in 30 days with an aim to publish. Avon editors will be offering their expertise to the author community via online forums at www.nanowrimo.org.

Interested? Your NaRoWriMo romance fiction submission should be submitted by December 10, 2012 to Avon Romance’s online submission portal (www.avonimpulse.com), and tagged "NaRoWriMo."

For full details visit the Avon Romance site here

Happy writing!

Santa Shoebox Project

This year ROSA Johannesburg undertook to support the Santa Shoebox initiative, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who got involved.

Special thanks go to the following contributors:
• Daleen, for her generous donation towards clothing
• Anthony, who not only supplied sweets but also contributed to the clothing
• Annemarie for stationery and toys
• Elaine for toiletries
• Mandy for crayons

We put together ten boxes, so ten little girls will have a reason to smile this Christmas.

"Lights, Camera, Love" - Bronwyn Desjardins

Submission opportunities with Carina and Entangled

Carina Press, digital arm of Harlequin, are running a submission opportunity guaranteeing feedback and a response within 6 weeks. The catch is that you need to submit a completed/full masnuscript by midnight on Thursday 11th October. You can find out more here.

Entangled Press is running a boot camp for Nanowrimo via Savvy Authors. Spaces are filling up quickly, so you'll need to be quick. Check it out here. If you're not interested in submitting to Entangled, then check out the Savvy Authors general Nano bootcamp.

And if you're asking "what is Nanowrimo?" ... check it out here.

My take on writing competitions and SYTYCW.

My name is Joss Wood and my first book for Mills and Boon Riva, ‘She’s so Over Him’ set in Cape Town, South Africa is available on Amazon and in CNA's around the country and my second, ‘Wild About the Man’ will be released in January 2013 and is set on a luxurious game reserve in South Africa. 

Some of the ROSA's have entered So you Think You Can write and I wish them so much luck. I think writing competitions are a wonderful idea and I did enter the New Voices 2011 competition and came....drum roll please....absolutely nowhere! At the time, I was working on a manuscript with an editor at Riva but I thought I’d just torture myself and get some feedback from my peers. I did get feedback…mostly good, some iffy, one downright rude! As I said, I didn’t come anywhere and I wondered if I was any good at all. (Ah, writers, you’re got to love them! So needy, so insecure!)  I didn’t imagine that two months later I’d get a two book contract and then another three book contract six months later. 

The thing about writing competitions is that it is a way to grab the attention of an editor. With only 1 in five million manuscripts (ok, an exaggeration but you get my point :-) )  being bought out of the slush pile, this is an easier option. I follow quite a few of the Mills and Boon editors on Twitter and I can tell you that they are reading the entries with interest and they are actively looking for authors so a couple of new authors will probably be signed out of this competition. I really hope Kathleen and Louise are one of them! 

By the way, if you'd like to see their entries and vote for them click on these links: 

Louise: http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/manuscripts/series/harlequin-romance-mills-boon-cherish-and-mills-boon-riva/page/7/

Kathleen: http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/manuscripts/series/harlequin-romance-mills-boon-cherish-and-mills-boon-riva/page/11/

Having said all that about writing competitions, I don't think it is the only way to get published. It might not be your way, your road, your experience. I don't know the magic elixir to getting books in print but I do know that if you stop learning the craft, stop writing the words, stop submitting your work...if you don't take a chance and if you don't put yourself out there, you definitely won't get published. 

Whatever your road to publication is, I hope that you enjoy every second of the journey getting there.  

Best wishes,

Joss 
xxx
Facebook: josswood9
Twitter@josswoodbooks

She's So Over Him- Blurb



He’s back. He’s insanely hot. He’s absolutely the last person she should date. Maddie Shaw is a part-time bartender with a never-get-involved attitude to dating and a flair for the perfectly served drink. Yet when ex-boyfriend Cale Grant walks into her bar, a whole ten years after their massive bust-up, she’s blown away all over again by his dark chocolate voice and deep blue eyes. So, just how over him is she?


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shes-Over-Mills-Boon-ebook

About Joss:

Joss wrote her first book at the age of eight and has never really stopped. Her passion for putting black letters on a white screen is only matched by her love of books and travelling (especially to the wild places of Southern Africa) and, possibly, by her hatred of ironing and making school lunches.

Fueled by coffee, when she’s not writing or being a hands-on Mom, Joss, with her background in business and marketing, works for a non-profit organization to promote the local economic development and collective business interests of the area where she resides.  Happily, and chaotically, surrounded by family, friends and books, she lives in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa with her husband, young children and their many pets.