Great Lakes Novel Contest and Prize

Rob Smith of Drinian Press,

LCC, and I of Bottom Dog Press have made a major effort here to encourage novel writing from our area. Clearly the folks back East and West have their publishing agents and publishers. We want to publish a novel set in the Great Lakes Region by a writer living in that area...our heartlands.

And so we're kicking off this: Great Lakes Novel Contest & Prize

Believing in the value of life and writing in the Great Lakes Region, Bottom Dog Press, Inc. and Drinian Press, LLC announce the Great Lakes Novel Prize. The winning entry in this contest receives a prize of $350 (USD), publication, and a royalty contract. Additionally, a second finalist may be named to receive publication and a royalty contract. The writer must live in the Great Lakes Region and the novel must be set there. Send hard copy of unpublished novel (40,000 -80,000 wds.) along with $20 handling fee to Great Lakes Novel Prize, Drinian Press, PO Box 63, Huron, OH 44839 between Sept. 1 and October 31, 2009. Include one cover sheet with title, name and address, and second cover with only book title. Name should not appear in the manuscript. Final judging will be by established novelist. For full guidelines visit: Bottom Dog Press, Inc. (smithdocs.net) and/or Drinian Press, LLC (DrinianPress.com)

Guidelines:
• Writing must be set in the Great Lakes Region by an author presently living in the Great Lakes Region. We are defining that region as including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Western New York State, and Western Pennsylvania as well as the Province of Ontario.
• Submission must be an unpublished work of fiction, written in English, either a novel or composite novel (collection of interrelated short stories). Length: 40,000 - 80,000 words (150 to 300 pages)
• The contest is open to all writers in English, published or unpublished, who live within the defined region. No one directly connected with Drinian or Bottom Dog Presses may enter the contest.
• Entries must be postmarked during the months of September and October 2009. Entries postmarked after October 31, 2009 will not be accepted.
Send to: Great Lakes Novel Prize, Drinian Press, PO Box 63, Huron, OH 44839
• Manuscripts must be typed. Clear photocopies of typed manuscripts are also acceptable. Do not send your only copy. *Manuscripts cannot be returned.
• Final judging is by an established novelist and will be conducted anonymously. Your name and other identifying material may only appear on the cover page and nowhere else in the manuscript. Your submission should include a cover sheet with name, street and email addresses, and phone numbers and a separate title page which ONLY lists title and approx. word count.
• Please include a nonrefundable handling fee of $20.00 (U.S. dollars) for each manuscript (US check or money order payable to Drinian Press, LLC). You may include a stamped, self-addressed postcard to confirm receipt of your manuscript, and a stamped, self-addressed business-sized envelope if you wish to be notified concerning the results. Bottom Dog and Drinian Presses assume no responsibility for lost or damaged manuscripts. Manuscripts will not be returned.
• The winner will be announced on February 15, 2010; book published that spring.
• All authors who enter will receive a copy of the published book.
• Endorsed by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association.