Accentuate Contest Update and Information on Anthology

Okay, the history of how it came to be... a couple of people in the Accentuate Writers forum wanted a means to have some of the regulars there on the board to do a compilation of short stories and writings from those on the board. I know contests can sometimes bring out the competitive best in folks, so I combined the two and the concept of a short story contest that resulted in a compilation of published shorts was born.

The question of what to do with the shorts was an issue, so I did a little research and decided to publish them as anthologies. This book will be a real book, with professional editing, professional cover design, professional formatting - in an industry standard trade paperback, with full distribution.

This resulted in my having to open a 'publishing company', which I've done, have the taxpayer ID and all that good rot. Then I had to be approved by an industry printer. I chose to go print on demand digital for the book since I don't want to outlay that much cash for offset printing at this point. However, the books will be quality, perfect bound, paperbacks with high gloss covers that meet all the requirements for shelving in retailers, and will be listed with the major distributor catalogues. They will all have ISBNs and will have LOC numbers and will be copyrighted as an anthology. I will seek shelf placement, but for now, we do know they will be on Amazon.com, B&N.com, and many other online retailers and they will be available by request at any national or regional book retailer (just have the ISBN and they can order it).

I have now purchased a block of ISBNs, was approved by the printer, and we're good to go.

I'm very excited about this project. So far, the Accentuate Writers contest has seven winners, so we have seven shorts so far being published, and we are currently in the midst of the third contest, which will provide three more winners. We will be hosting two more constests prior to the end of 2008, adding at least six more winners for a total of 13 winners, as well as featuring one or two of my own shorts, and then a forward from an established author - who I will announce as soon as the agreement on it is reached.

I'm hoping to start editing this project in October, to have it finished with the cover and all the information by the middle of December. We will release the trailer and the cover design in December, and with everything going like it should, we'll have printed books in hand by the end of January. I will officially release and launch the very first Accentuate Anthology in February, hopefully giving me enough time to get the free author copies mailed to all the contributing authors, free copies to everyone who has entered (yes, everyone who enters gets one free copy of the book per entry, even if they did not 'win' the contest), and then get review copies out to reviewers to start a buzz about the book.

The contest this month ends on August 20th, at 11:59. The entry fee is only $5, but this money only, for an additional $5, I'm offering a professional assessment and crit of your story, and that alone is a good investment in your writing. We currently have twelve paid entries, and several folks have already uploaded their entries to the contest. About half paid a crit fee and about half didn't - and paying for the crit in no way affects your chances of winning the contest. The judges won't even know if you paid the crit or not!

You have until 11:59 central time to pay your fee and upload your entry. At midnight, I will lock the entry thread, and nothing else will be accepted.

It's a chance to get published in a real book! It's a chance to have friends and family be able to purchase the book! It's a chance to win free copies of the book! And it's a chance to win cash!

This month's first place winner gets $100 bucks. Second and third get money too... free books, published credit, money honey, and you win... huh, not a bad thing, right?

So what's keeping you from entering?

Lastly... I plan to release two anthologies per year. If membership on the forum increases, and more people start entering the contests, I'd like to eventually make five or six winners per contests, and release four anthologies per year.

If you enter, you'll be a part of helping with that growth!

Love and stuff,
Michy