Grace Notes Books

This competition is closed and no longer accepting entries.

Grace Notes Books is thrilled to announce the 1st annual Discovering the Undiscovered competition for Novels & Memoirs. The winning entry will receive publication of their manuscript and be offered a choice of either a cash prize of $1000 or a $500 advance and a standard royalty agreement. The winning author along with two runners-up will also receive free books or products as well as cash prizes!

Guidelines for Novel/Memoir Submissions

1. Judging will be blind at all levels. Initial judging will be conducted by a network of published writers and editors selected by Grace Notes Books. All entrants will receive feedback from their first round readers. Finalists will receive the same feedback as well as more extensive feedback from our final judges. The final judging will be conducted by the Grace Notes editorial staff. The winning entry will receive publication of their manuscript and the option of either a $1000 cash prize or  an advance $500 against royalties and a standard royalty contract of 15% of the cover price (retail is generally $12.99 for our trade paperbacks). In addition, the winning author will receive 3 contributor's copies of their book upon publication. All finalists will be considered by Grace Notes Books for future publication and those offers may be made at the end of the competition.
2. Manuscripts between 70,000-100,000 words. All manuscripts must be in a standard 12 point font, thoroughly edited, and sent electronically. We do not accept postal entries.
3. Author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Email your manuscript as an attachment with your Name, Address, Phone Number, Title of Entry, and Paypal Confirmation number in the body of the email. Each entry will be tracked by number. After paying your entry fee, Paypal will direct you to our information page which will give you specifics for sending your manuscript.
4. Grace Notes Books seeks works of quality and we do not believe that genre restricts quality. A great writer is a great writer whether they’re writing staunch literary epics or fun science fiction stories. We really enjoy stories that push the boundaries in either direction, stories that have a strong entertainment value and are executed in the finest literary styling.  In other words: Send us anything and everything. Just be sure it’s wonderful. We are not interested in pornography for the sake of pornography; graphic elements are acceptable but must be pertinent to the story itself.
5. A non-refundable entry fee of $25 must accompany each manuscript. Entries received before January 1^st are eligible for a discounted entry fee of $20. While we wish this were not required, we are a fledgling publishing company chasing a dream (in the middle of an economic crisis) and an entry fee is a necessary evil. The entry fees accrued will be contributed to prize money and book advances for this contest, with a smaller amount being donated to the monthly competitions hosted at notesandgracenotes.com, publishing costs for the winning title, and marketing for the winning book. Please see our rebate policies as we offer several ways to reduce the costs of your entry.
6. By entering this competition you are acknowledging that you have read and agree to abide by these rules and that you may be disqualified for breaching these rules without a refund of your entry fee. However, you are under no obligation to accept the publishing offer should your manuscript be selected as the winner. In the event that the winning author declines the publishing offer, Grace Notes Books will select another of the three winning entries for the publication offer. The winning author will not receive any advance payments but will still be eligible to receive the cash and product prizes they are entitled to.
7. All entries will receive their initial judges feedback before October 1, 2010. Those entering before the early bird deadline will receive their feedback before June 1, 2010. These entrants may opt to revise their entry based on their judges feedback and re-submit it for ½ off the usual entry fee. Entries received after the early deadline will not be eligible for resubmission.
8. Authors entering two manuscripts will pay a discounted entry fee of $35 before the early deadline and $45 regular deadline.
9. Authors entering both the novel and the Collected Shorts/Novella competition will pay a discounted entry fee of $30 before the early deadline and $35 regular deadline.

Novel/Memoir Competition Timeline:

Contest Begins November 1, 2009

Early Bird Deadline January1, 2010

Final deadline April 15, 2010

Deadline Extended to May 1, 2010

Revision deadline for early entrants June 20, 2010

Finalists Announced July 1, 2010

Winners announced September 1, 2010