:the editors' blog

The General Publishing team at Penguin Group (Australia) is keen and excited to read new work from Australian authors, and as such we’ve developed the Monthly Catch. For the first week of every month, we throw our doors open to unsolicited manuscripts. In this time period (the 1^st to the 7^th of every month), please send through submissions based on the guidelines below.

We are only accepting submissions electronically – all hardcopy submissions will be recycled. And we are only accepting submissions in the first week of every month; anything that comes through outside of this time will not be considered.

When you send through your submission, you’ll receive an automatic email acknowledging receipt. All manuscripts are carefully read and assessed, but we can only respond to those who are successful. If we do not contact you within three months of submission, please assume that we have decided not to pursue your manuscript. No further correspondence will be entered into.

We are not currently considering poetry, educational textbooks or plays/scripts. For books for children and young adults, please see the separate submissions instructions below.

Attach your manuscript and a short synopsis (of no more than 300 words) as separate Word documents and send via email tomonthly.catch@au.penguingroup.com.

In the subject line of your email, please state the title of your book, whether your book is fiction or non-fiction, and then genre (eg Heiress in Love: Fiction/Romance or The Address Book: Non-Fiction/Memoir).

Please include in the body of your email the following information:

• Title.
• Brief summary (two or three sentences).
• Brief author bio (two or three sentences).

• Any previous publishing history and/or any writing awards you’ve received.
• Where would your book sit in the marketplace – i.e. what books would you see as comparison titles to yours, what authors are similar to you, who is the intended audience for your book, etc.
• Has this proposal been sent to other publishers?
• Have you previously submitted this, or a similar, proposal to Penguin? If so, please give details.

Australian Book Review seeks applications for the ABR Copyright Agency Fellowship.

ABR are seeking a substantial non-fiction article with an Asian focus – either a profile of a major Asian literary/cultural figure or a discursive essay with Asian literary/cultural themes.

The Fellowship is worth $5000.

Any Australian writer with a significant publication record (books, creative writing, essays or journalism) is eligible to apply.

Applications close 20 March 2012.
The ABR Fellowships are intended to reward outstanding Australian writers, to enhance ABR through the publication of major works of literary journalism, and to advance the magazine’s commitment to critical debate.

Full guidelines are available on the ABR website:
https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/programs/copyright-agency-fellowship

For further information please contact ABR Editor Peter Rose on (03) 9429 6700 or via email.

Griffith REVIEW 37: Small World
Travel in the global village
Publication date: August, 2012
Deadline for submissions: 13 April, 2012
Early submissions encouraged

As a nation girt by sea, global travel has always been central to Australia’s identity; from the first Indigenous explorers who migrated to the continent hundreds of thousands of years ago to the passengers of the First Fleet leaving their homeland for a destination beyond the limits of the known world. We are a nation of immigrants, tourists and expats who are more at home than ever in the global village where boundaries and borders start to shift for those who hold more than one identity or passport.

Small World will explore the way we travel now – whether it’s exploring wild, dangerous or weird places, or travelling not as passive tourists but by engaging. This edition will also consider how technology – from planes and television to social media and international banking – has changed our sense of the world.

This edition considers what we can learn from our own travels or flights of fancy and from those who reach our shores from other lands.

Submission guidelines available for download at http://griffithreview.com/contact-us

The Bridport Prize 2012 website is now open for entries

The Bridport Prize is the richest open writing competition in the English language – with £5000 first prize for a short story (of up to 5000 words); and £5000 first prize for a poem (of up to 42 lines). The category of Flash Fiction attracts £1,000 to be won for the best short, short story of under 250 words.

The Bridport is also known as a tremendous literary stepping-stone – the first step in the careers of writers such as: Kate Atkinson, Tobias Hill, Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore.

Anyone can enter – so long as the work is previously unpublished. It costs £8 per story, £7 per poem or £6 per flash fiction and the NEW closing date is 31st May 2012

Each year the prize is judged by well known writers – this year we are delighted to announce that Gwyneth Lewis will be judging the poetry, and Patrick Gale, the short stories and flash fiction

The 2011 anthology of winning entries is available for just £12 or £15 overseas (including postage and packing). The 2010 and 2009 anthologies are available in limited numbers for £7 and £5 (£10 and £8 overseas)

Enter online at: www.bridportprize.org.uk

Or download an entry form: www.bridportprize.org.uk/entryform.pdf

Or email for a pdf entry form: frances@bridportprize.org.uk

Or send an SAE for an entry form to be posted to you

The Bridport Prize
PO Box 6910
Dorset
DT6 9BQ
UK

Congratulations to Theresa Layton, author of the short story ‘The Afghan Hook’. Theresa’s story was one of four winning stories in our short story competition in 2010. The story was then published in Award Winning Australian Writing 2011, edited by Adolfo Aranjuez, and has been favourably noted in a review of the book by Matthew Lamb in this weekend’s Australian.

Go Theresa

You can read the story online in Issue 10:04 here …

In recent years, publishing costs and market pressures have contributed to the demise of the novella in print. However, thanks to advances in digital publishing and the rise of social media and e-readers, some industry experts are predicting that this may be the beginning of a ‘golden age’ for novellas.

Griffith REVIEW is pleased to announce a competition open to all residents and citizens of Australia and New Zealand, calling for submissions for The Novella Project, a new publishing initiative supported by the Copyright Agency Ltd.

Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges and the winning selections will be featured in late 2012 in Griffith REVIEW’s fourth annual New Fiction Edition.

In addition to publication, winners will receive a share of the prize pool of $30,000 plus a share of royalties from digital sales of each novella sold separately as an eSingle.

More details at Griffith Review website here…

Maximum 800 wds. Closes December 16.

Judged by joanne burns

First prize $300, Commended entries $100.

Winning and shortlisted entries will be published in the small wonder anthology. For more information on this competition go to, The Column

Terms and Conditions of Entry

1.    Maximum length 800 words.

2.    Entries must be typed using 1.5 line spacing and 12 pt font size. The pages must be numbered. The title of the entry and word count must appear on the submitted work.

3.    Prose poems or micro fiction under consideration by another competition or publication or previously published or awarded, at a national level, will not be accepted.

4.    Entries will be judged anonymously. The author’s name must not appear on the manuscript.

5.    The judges’ decision will be final. No correspondence will be entered in to.

6.    Entrants must be over 18 years of age.

7.    Entrants must be either Australian citizens (living anywhere), or permanent residents of Australia.

8.    Entry fee is $7.00. Multiple entries are acceptable.

9.    Entries can only be made electronically, via the Submissions Manager on the Spineless Wonders website www.shortaustralianstories.com.au

10. The closing date is 16 December 2011. Late entries will not be accepted. Entries will be accepted up until midnight.

11. Results will be announced in March, 2012.

12. Spineless Wonders will publish shortlisted and winning stories in small wonder anthology. All published entries, including the winner, may be edited.

To enter, go to Spineless Wonders Submissions Manager

https://spinelesswonders.submishmash.com/Submit

Please note: the entry form has a default cover note section. Simply enter Not Applicable in order to proceed.

USQ and the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) have joined forces launching a play commission competition worth $15 000. The competition is open to female playwrights producing new theatrical work with nationally significant themes. The play will receive a staged reading by USQ students in mid 2012 with the potential for a full professional production in 2013/14. To be considered for the playwright’s commission, a one page plot and style synopsis, including a target market brief, character breakdown and your CV needs to be submitted.
Closing date: Wednesday 30 November
More info: For further information, including application details, visit the Playwright’s Commission site.

Last chance to enter the new Commonwealth Book Prize and Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The prizes are part of a new initiative, Commonwealth Writers, an online hub to inspire, inform and create a community of writers from all over the world. Together with the prizes, Commonwealth Writers unearths, develops and promotes the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. Enter online at www.commonwealthwriters.org.

Commonwealth Short Story Prize: Wednesday 30 November 2011 (5pm GMT)
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000.

Commonwealth Book Prize: Friday 9 December 2011 (5pm GMT)
Awarded for best first book, the Commonwealth Book Prize is open to writers who have had their first novel (full length work of fiction in English) published between 1 January and 31 December 2011. Regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £10,000.

The Brooklyn Review is now accepting submissions for Issue #29.

The Brooklyn Review is published annually by Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. Begun almost 30 years ago by Allen Ginsberg,
The Brooklyn Review has been overseen throughout its history by esteemed writers such as L.S. Asekoff, Amy Hempel, Josh Henkin, and Jonathan
Baumbach. We’ve been honored to publish work by Sapphire, Wayne Koestenbaum, Young Jean Lee, T Cooper, Ann Lauterbach, and David
Levinson. While traditionally having published only poetry, short fiction, plays, and visual art, The Brooklyn Review is expanding to include multimedia works as well as interviews with working writers and artists.

The editors invite submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, photography, artwork, short films, and multimedia pieces from September 1st until December 15th. See below for medium-specific guidelines.

Please address your submission to the relevant editor (see the *About* page at www.brooklynreview.org for updated staff information), and send to the following address:
English Department
The Brooklyn Review
Brooklyn College
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210

International submissions are encouraged and can be sent to brooklynreview@gmail.com

*Poetry*: Up to three (3) poems may be submitted per contributor.

*Fiction / Creative Nonfiction*: One (1) short fiction piece may be
submitted per contributor. Submissions should not exceed 15 pages,
double-spaced in standard 12-point font.

*Drama*: One (1) dramatic work may be submitted per contributor. Submissions should not exceed 15 pages, double-spaced in standard 12-point
font.

*Art*: Up to three (3) works of art may be submitted per contributor. Submissions should be sent as high-resolution .jpg files (150 dpi, not
exceeding 1500 pixels in any dimension) to brooklynreview@gmail.com. File names should include the artist’s last name and a shortened version of the title (e.g. stanford_thebattlefield.jpg). The body of the email must include the artist’s full name, address, email address, phone number, title(s) of submitted work, medium, and size. If accepted, the artist must provide a high-resolution digital image of the work (300 dpi, 5×8”).

*Photography*: Up to three (3) photographs may be submitted per contributor. Submissions should be sent as high-resolution .jpg files (150
dpi, not exceeding 1500 pixels in any dimension) to brooklynreview@gmail.com. File names should include the photographer’s last name and a
shortened version of the title (e.g. stanford_thebattlefield.jpg). The body of the email must include the photographer’s full name, address, email
address, phone number, title(s) of submitted work, medium, and size. If accepted, the photographer must provide a high-resolution digital image of the work (300 dpi, 5×8”).

*Film / Multimedia*: Up to two (2) films or multimedia works may be submitted per contributor. Submissions should be sent on DVD via mail.

*Other*: If you’d like to submit something that doesn’t fit into one of the above guidelines, please email us at brooklynreview@gmail.com – we’d
love to hear from you.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but we ask that you notify us in the event that a piece under consideration is accepted elsewhere.  Previously published submissions will not be considered for publication. All rights revert to the author subsequent to publication. Inclusion pays two (2) copies.