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The Word Guild

Contests/Awards

Best New Author

BEST NEW CANADIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHOR CONTEST SUSPENDED

November 5, 2009 
For immediate release

The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award, a contest for first-time authors sponsored by Castle Quay Books Canada and The Word Guild from 2003 to 2009, has been suspended.

The contest was very successful, attracting fiction and nonfiction manuscripts from across Canada from Christian writers who had never before published a book. It was administered by The Word Guild as part of its mandate of inspiring excellence, strengthening the Canadian Christian writing and publishing community, and helping Canadian writers who are Christian to find new publishing opportunities.

Winning manuscripts were awarded a publishing contract and a $1,000 advance, or a $1,000 cash prize from Castle Quay Books, which is one of the few non-denominational royalty-paying Christian publishers in Canada. This competition also offered never-before-published authors a unique opportunity to obtain manuscript critiques (written comments) from two expert judges. This valuable feedback helped entrants to improve their writing and to make their manuscripts more marketable.

The contest sponsors jointly concluded that the contest had run its course over seven years and had accomplished many of its goals. Due to the current financial downturn and widespread industry changes impacting book publishing and retailing, Castle Quay has a number of books queued, waiting to be published when economic conditions improve.

The Word Guild is working on plans to introduce an innovative new contest in 2010 for unpublished authors who have written book-length manuscripts. Recognizing that manuscript critiques were an important component of the contest, the organization also intends to develop manuscript critique services.

Larry Willard, the founder and president of Castle Quay Books, called the decision to suspend the contest “a natural progression.” He explained, “We created the Castle Quay Books Best New Author contest to come along side The Word Guild and help encourage unpublished Canadian Christian authors to develop their gifts and hone their craft, and expand the pool of contributors who had a truly Canadian perspective on national and international issues.”

He added, “What a success it has been! Since that time we have received hundreds of manuscripts and seen dozens of new authors arise to become significant writers and contributing voices in our country.”

The Word Guild extends sincere thanks to Larry Willard for his visionary sponsorship of the Best New Author Award. As he observed, "The Best New Author contest has produced some excellent work and made us aware of some highly gifted Canadian writers.”

 We also wish to thank Andrew Seal and Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada, who co-sponsored the contest for its first five years in partnership with its Castle Quay Books.


WINNER - BEST NEW CANADIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHOR 2009

Congratulations to the winner, Frances M. Hudson of Calgary, Alberta, for her non-fiction manuscript, Special Angels: A Journey of Deliverance from the Nightmare of Familicide.

 

FINALISTS - BEST NEW CANADIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHOR 2009

For the first time, all the finalists vying to be named Canada's Best New Christian Author are women. The finalists are:

W. C. Heuvel, of Iroquois, Ont., for her contemporary novel, The Tales of Evergreen: The Dark Forest
Jayne Self of Orangeville, Ont., for her mystery novel, Caught Dead: A Dean Constable Mystery
Kim Forrest of Brampton, Ont., for her contemporary novel, Out of Sight
Sandee Yanke of Churchbridge, Sask., for her contemporary novel, Junk
Ruth Carter of Carnarvon, Ont., for her contemporary novel, Not By Myself
Frances M. Hudson of Calgary, Alberta, for her non-fiction manuscript, Special Angels: A Journey of Deliverance from the Nightmare of Familicide

The winner will be announced on June 17 at the annual Awards Gala, at World Vision Headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. See the news release here.

 

BEST NEW CANADIAN CHRISTIAN AUTHOR CONTEST

First-time authors have an opportunity to win a $1,000 cash prize, or a $1,000 advance and book publishing contract, in this contest, sponsored by Castle Quay Books Canada.

This competition offers never-before-published authors a unique opportunity to obtain manuscript critiques (written comments) from two expert judges. This valuable feedback will help entrants to improve their writing and to make their manuscripts more marketable.

The 2009 contest for Best New Canadian Christian Author is now closed. You may review the entry guidelines for the 2009 contest below. If you plan to enter work in the 2010 contest, please wait until the entry guidelines have been updated and the contest reopens in September 2009.

Jump to the Guidelines for Submission and Entry Form.

Read the news release. Download Contest Rules and Contest Entry form.

 

BACKGROUND

The Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest, which was launched in 2003, is administered by The Word Guild as part of its mandate of inspiring excellence, strengthening the Canadian Christian writing and publishing community, and helping Canadian writers who are Christian to find new publishing opportunities.

The contest was co-sponsored for its first five years by Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada in partnership with its Castle Quay Books imprint. Castle Quay Books Canada was founded by Larry N. Willard in 2002 while he was executive director of Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada. After Willard left that position, he continued to direct Castle Quay, which became independent in 2007 and is one of the few non-denominational Christian royalty publishers in Canada.

"Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada has been an encouraging and very important pillar as we tried to develop the Canadian writing industry together, and they will continue to be the distributors for all of Castle Quay's books in Canada," Willard noted. The Word Guild extends our thanks to Andrew Seal, the Canadian director of Augsburg Fortress, for his support of Canadian writers who are Christian and The Word Guild.

 2006 Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest winner Marcia Lee Laycock of Ponoka, Alberta, at The Word Guild Awards Gala, with award presenters Larry Willard (right), publisher, Castle Quay Books Canada and Andrew Seal (left), Canadian director, Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada.Marcia's winning novel One Smooth Stone was published by Castle Quay Books Canada in September 2007.

 

 

BEST NEW AUTHOR WINNERS

 2009 - Frances M. Hudson of Calgary, Alberta for her non-fiction manuscript, Special Angels: A Journey of Deliverance from the Nightmare of Familicide.

 

 

 


2008 - Dr. Kevin Dautremont of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for his fiction manuscript, The Golden Conquest, awaiting publishing.

 

 

 

 


2007 - Alison Mary Sharpe of Renfrew, Ont. for her nonfiction manuscript, A Drawer Full of Odd Socks: Biblical Meditations.

 

 

 

 


2006 - Marcia Lee Laycock of Ponoka, Alberta, for her novel, One Smooth Stone (Castle Quay Books Canada, 2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


2005 - Deborah Gyapong of Ottawa for her suspense novel, The Defilers (Castle Quay Books Canada, 2006)
Photo courtesy of Chris Humphrey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



2004 - Angelina Fast-Vlaar of St. Catharines, Ont. for her autobiographical work, Seven Angels for Seven Days (Castle Quay Books Canada, 2005)

 

 

 

 

 


 

 



2003 - Paul Boge of Winnipeg, for his novel, The Chicago Healer (Castle Quay Books Canada, 2004)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other books have been published by Castle Quay that are directly related to discovering the author through Best New Author Contest. These include Paul Boge's novel sequel, The Cities of Fortune (2006), and a biography titled Father to the Fatherless: The Charles Mulli Story (2005).

The autobiographical account titled Walking Towards Hope: Experiencing Grace in a Time of Brokenness (Castle Quay Books Canada, 2005) was authored by contest runner-up Paul Beckingham of Vancouver. Walking Towards Hope went on to win The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Award for best life story book in 2006.

Willard noted that, "The Best New Author contest has produced some excellent work and made us aware of some highly gifted Canadian authors over the last five years. Some of our contestants have continued writing further books, gone on to be published by other publishers, or developed careers writing for Canada's top Christian and mainstream newspapers. Several of the winners are now being translated into other languages."

"We are having an impact on the Canadian Christian publishing industry," he added. "As the Christian community becomes more aware of our talent and begins to 'buy Canadian,' I expect we will see the day when authors who started their careers in the Best New Author contest will become prominent names on the bookshelves of people all over the world."

 

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS 2009

Download the 2009 Guidelines for Submissions in PDF.
Download the 2009 Entry Form in PDF (to write your answers on a hard copy)  WORD or  (to keyboard your answers into the electronic form).

A PDF file requires Adobe Reader. If you don't have Adobe Reader, click the icon below to download it free of charge:

 

 

Jump to: Eligibility | Rules | Fees | Judging | How to Enter

 

Competition Purpose

To encourage first-time Canadian authors to write fiction and nonfiction books expressing Christian faith in a clear, original and inspiring way.

Prize

The winning manuscript will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize, or a $1,000 advance against future royalties and a book publishing contract, should Castle Quay Books Canada decide to publish the book. The winning writer will receive publicity through media releases and other materials. The winner will be announced during The Word Guild Writing Awards Gala on June 17, 2009.

Eligibility

  1. The contest is open to any professional or non-professional writer who has not previously had a book published and who is not currently under contract with a publisher. * (see below)
  2. The contest is open to writing by all Christians who affirm The Apostles' Creed.
  3. The contest is open to Canadian citizens (including Canadian citizens living abroad) and to non-Canadians living in Canada who have legal permanent resident status.
  4. The contest is open to original manuscripts written by the entrant that have never been published previously; in particular, books that have already been self-published are not eligible.
  5. Members of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Contest administrative committee and their immediate family members are not eligible.
  6. The Word Guild reserves the right to decline entries.

*For the purposes of this competition, a first-time author means a writer who has not previously had a book published by a royalty-paying publisher or on a work-for-hire basis. This includes sole authorship, or co-authorship with another writer. An author who has self-published another book or books previously is eligible to enter the contest provided he or she paid ALL the costs of publishing the book(s). An author who has written a book for a company as part of his or her job will qualify unless the person was identified as the sole writer of the piece, or the content or product was sold as the author's own work.

Rules for manuscript submission

  1. Manuscripts must be received no later than November 28, 2008.
  2. Manuscripts will not be returned.
  3. One entry per writer.
  4. Must be an original, never-before-published, completed manuscript of book length (no less than 30,000 words and no more than 90,000 words) written in English by the entrant.
  5. May be in any fiction or nonfiction genre; no poetry or plays.
  6. If the author represents the manuscript to be nonfiction, such as a life story told in the first person or third person, but it contains fictionalized segments, the author must write a cover letter to accompany the manuscript that clearly explains what aspects have been fictionalized. (For example, the manuscript is based on a true story, but the author used fiction techniques to create scenes or dialogue, or changed details to protect the identity of characters, etc.)
  7. Target readership must be adults or young adults; children's manuscripts are not accepted.
  8. Target readership may be Christian believers or mainstream/secular/unchurched readers.
  9. A manuscript that was previously submitted in this contest may be resubmitted one time if significant rewriting and revision has been done by the author. Please enclose a cover letter describing the major changes, additions and deletions, so that judges can determine which sections have been rewritten, added, etc.
  10. The manuscript may not be simultaneously submitted to another book publisher anywhere in the world while it is being considered for this contest. An entrant who is not named on the shortlist of finalists may submit the manuscript elsewhere after the shortlist is announced. Shortlisted entrants who are not contacted by the publisher within seven days after the announcement of the winner may submit the manuscript elsewhere.
  11. Should employ a style that is positive (i.e., not destructive or accusatory) and objective (i.e., based on defendable facts and interpretation of biblical text; not highly subjective or ethereal) in presenting Christian faith
  12. Should set forth Christian truths and biblical information in a manner that is both fresh and clearly expressed, avoiding religious jargon, poorly explained biblical allusions or Christian "shorthand" that may confuse non-Christians.
  13. May address complex and often ambiguous issues -- such as the changing shape and structure of families, racism and prejudice, the search for spiritual fulfillment, evolving roles for men and women, poverty and unemployment, aging -- in ways that are honest, open-minded and compassionate.
  14. Must not violate the rights of any third party.
  15. Must follow the Canadian Press Stylebook.

Manuscript Format

All entries MUST follow standard format. Any entries that do not follow this format will be disqualified, and entry fees will not be returned:

  • Clean printing with a laser printer or good quality inkjet printer using black ink.
  • Good quality sharp photocopies are acceptable.
  • Times New Roman 12-point font for all text including any footnotes or endnotes (titles, chapter headings, etc. are excepted).
  • Single-sided pages, numbered sequentially. Pages must be numbered.
  • Double-spaced lines.
  • Margins of at least 1" (2.5 cm) at left, right, top and bottom.
  • Include cover page listing manuscript title, word count. Do NOT put the author’s name on the title page or anywhere else in the manuscript.
  • Word count must be no less than 30,000 words and no more than 90,000 words (footnotes or endnotes are excepted).
  • Manuscript should be submitted as a stack of loose pages, in sequence, bound by elastic bands.
  • Do not staple or bind manuscript pages. Do not insert manuscript into binders, folders, etc. Do not "three ring punch" pages.

New for 2009

  • DO NOT include the author’s name anywhere on the manuscript. The cover page should only list the manuscript title and the word count.

An entry consists of:

  1. THREE copies of the manuscript (good quality photocopies are acceptable).
  2. FOUR copies of the completed entry form. Please email one completed entry form to ISmail:admin. In the subject line, please type, Best New Author Contest 2009 Entry Form – your name.
  3. Cheque made payable to The Word Guild for the correct entry fee (see below).

Entry Fees

This contest has two categories of entries. Entrants must choose one of two options:

  1. Category One. $50.00 entry fee. The entrant's manuscript will be evaluated by two judges but the entrant will NOT receive any feedback or written critique from the judges. Enclose cheque payable to The Word Guild for $52.50 Cdn ($50 + $2.50 GST) for residents of Canada. For non-residents of Canada, enclose cheque for $50.00 US.
  2. Category Two. $150.00 entry fee. The entrant's manuscript will be evaluated by two judges and the entrant will receive two manuscript critiques (written comments). Enclose cheque payable to The Word Guild for $157.50 Cdn ($150.00 + $7.50 GST) for residents of Canada. For non-residents of Canada, enclose cheque for $150.00 US.
  3. Note: Entrants cannot ask to switch from Category One to Category Two or request manuscript critiques after the judging is complete. Entrants must choose one of two options at the time of entry.

Judging

Judges chosen by executive members of The Word Guild and Castle Quay Books Canada will select a shortlist of entrants. Castle Quay Books Canada editorial and management staff will choose the winner. The decision of the judges will be final. Castle Quay Books Canada reserves the right to select no winner if, in the sole opinion of the judges and the editors, none of the manuscripts submitted is of publishable quality.

Castle Quay Books Canada reserves the right to award a $1,000 cash prize in lieu of a $1,000 advance against future royalties and a book publishing contract.

If Castle Quay Books Canada elects to publish the book, it will offer a standard form author’s agreement to the author of the winning manuscript. Those terms of the offer not specified in the printed text of the standard form author's agreement will be determined by Castle Quay Books Canada at its sole discretion. The winner may request reasonable changes in the offered terms, but the publisher shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes. Winners will be required to complete a full proposal form as supplied by Castle Quay Books Canada.

Should Castle Quay Books Canada decide to award a $1,000 cash prize in lieu of a $1,000 advance and author's contract, the winning writer will be free to submit the manuscript elsewhere.

Castle Quay Books Canada may, at its discretion, consider for publication manuscripts submitted by other entrants.

Comments made by the judges in the manuscript critiques are private, and are meant to help the entrant improve his or her writing. The judges' comments are not reviews and may not be used as endorsements of the manuscript. As a condition of entering this contest, entrants must agree that they will not make the judges' comments public or quote from the judges' comments, including on websites or book jackets, without first obtaining the express written permission of the judges.

Mailing of Judges' Comments: If you entered Category Two, you will be mailed the two judges' critiques after the shortlist is announced.

Shortlisted Entrants

  1. Those entrants chosen as the shortlisted finalists, if any, will be notified no later than May 31, 2009.
  2. Finalists should be prepared to send a good-quality (preferably professional) head and shoulders photograph for publicity and promotional purposes.
  3. For publicity purposes, finalists should be prepared to send the news release announcing the shortlist of finalists to local or denominational publications and media outlets that would potentially publish news about the finalist's inclusion in the awards. Instructions will be sent to all finalists about how to adapt the news release and add personal information to create local news interest.
  4. Finalists are invited to attend the Awards Gala. If the winner is present, he/she will be asked to make a few brief comments.

Sending Manuscripts

All entries must be sent to the address below. Do not send entries to Castle Quay Books Canada. Entries must be received no later than November 28, 2008.

Best New Author Contest
The Word Guild
Box 34
Port Perry ON L9L 1A2

For instructions about courier deliveries, please email ISmail:admin.

For inquiries, email ISmail:admin or call 519-886-4196.

Entrants are advised to keep a copy of their submitted work for their own protection. Castle Quay Books Canada and The Word Guild will not be responsible for lost, damaged or mislaid manuscripts. Manuscripts will not be returned.

This contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law.