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Welcome to Undiscovered Voices 2014!

Before everyone gets excited, this opportunity is only open to SCBWI members in good standing that reside in one of the current 27 countries of the EU, 4 European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, or 5 candidate countries (as listed here) 

Since I get close to half of my visitors from outside the United States, so I wanted to make sure those visitor knew about this. There is a separate contest for unpublished illustrators (see bottom).

Undiscovered Voices is a competition for unpublished and un-agented writers and illustrators living in the EU. In partnership with SCBWI British Isles and Working Partners.

Open for entries: 1st July to 15th August 2013

An anthology will present a selection of novel extracts from 5+ to Young Adult novels and be sent to editors and agents in the UK. The anthology is produced thanks to the kind support of Working Partners Ltd. To submit your written extract, please read the following eligibility criteria, rules and information, and then go here to fill in the online submission form and upload your entry.

• Click here for Tips for Writers. 

Submission eligibility:

• You must be a member in good standing of SCBWI and reside in one of the current 27 countries of the EU, 4 European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, or 5 candidate countries (as listed here).
• Only un-agented writers may submit work for consideration. Writers must remain un-agented until the anthology is published in February 2014.
• You must be an unpublished fiction author. This means you have not had a novel or collection of short stories accepted for publication or currently published in any country. Authors with only picture books published may submit. Authors who have only published non-fiction books or who have only been published in newspapers, magazines, anthologies or non-print medium (i.e. radio, web, etc.) are also eligible. Similarly authors who have ghost-written for book packagers or have self-published may submit work (but not an extract from any self-published work). Authors with adult fiction published are not eligible.
• Any submissions that do not follow the following guidelines or include the appropriate information will be disqualified. 

Submission rules:

• Find out more about previous Undiscovered Voices finalists here.Your submission must the first 4,000 words of an already completed novel for children, aimed at any age from 5 years to Young Adult.
• Your submission must be written in English.
• No picture book texts will be considered.
• You must include a synopsis of your novel at the end of the extract, which should be a maximum of 75 words.
• The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the extract or synopsis.
• The document should be written in 12 point, with a page number on every page.
• The document that is uploaded must be a .doc, .docx or .rtf file.
• Only one submission per member.
• You must fill in every required field in the online form, including a biography of a maximum of 50 words, written in the third person. Should you be selected, this is how it will appear in the anthology.
• You may not resubmit any extract from a novel you submitted for consideration in previous Undiscovered Voices anthologies. Authors included in previous anthologies may not submit an entry for the current anthology. Honorary mentions from previous anthologies may submit, as long as it is from a different novel.
• Submissions must be entirely the original work of the author and must never have been published, self-published or published on any website.
• Submissions should not include or require any graphic art or special fonts.

Submission information:

Find out more about previous Undiscovered Voices finalists here.

• There is no submission fee for this contest, but you must be a current member of SCBWI and live in one of the current 27 countries of the European Union, 4 European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries or 5 candidate countries.
• The contest opens for entries on 1st July 2013. The deadline is midnight on 15th August 2013.
• To submit your entry, go here to fill in the online form and upload your extract. Submissions are only accepted by this means. They will not be accepted by email or by post.
• By submitting your entry, you agree to give SCBWI-BI permission to publish and promote (both online and offline) the extract in the 2014 anthology together with your name, as it appears on the SCBWI roster, and email address. No pen names can be used.
• A panel of children’s book editors and agents will make the final selection for the anthology in autumn 2013, and the long-list will be announced in December 2013 and the selected entries in January 2014.
• The ebook will be produced in early 2014 and copies of the anthology will be distributed free of charge to a comprehensive list of UK children’s book editors and agents, as well as a select list of US agents and editors. It will also be distributed to the media in order to achieve the most widespread industry attention to the authors and their stories.
• The authors of the selected works will receive one copy of the anthology (in ebook format). In addition, they will receive judges’ written comment sheets on their work. The selected authors will be invited to attend a ‘getting discovered’ workshop (18th January 2014) and the book launch party (26th February 2014) to meet in person with the judges and other agents and editors who attend.
• To become a member of SCBWI, visit http://www.scbwi.org/Registration.aspx. For membership queries, please email [email protected]. You can find out more information at www.scbwi.org or www.britishscbwi.org.
• Copyright remains with the author.
• The judges’ decision is final.
• No corrections or alterations can be made to submissions after receipt. The selected pieces will be proofread prior to publication.
• Entry implies acceptance of the rules and eligibility criteria, as listed above.
• A list of selected authors and honorary mentions will be posted on the Undiscovered Voices Blog and updated on the website once the judging is final and the results are compiled.
• You can contact us with any queries about the anthology, the submissions process, rules or eligibility at: scbwianthology “AT” hotmail.co.uk

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy