Serendipity Literary Agency and She Writes Press Announce Their First Memoir Discovery Competition

In an effort to promote and publish more women's voices, the agency and publisher have teamed up to offer one Grand Prize Winner a publishing contract with She Writes Press.

She Writes Press and Serendipity Literary Agency announced recently that they have joined forces to offer one author a partnership publishing contract for their memoir.

The Memoir Discovery Competition's Grand Prize winner will receive a publishing deal with She Writes Press and a She Writes Press Publishing Package, valued at $3900, which includes such services as: custom interior design for up to 120,000 words; custom cover design; print-on-demand setup with Lightning Source (LSI); e-book file preparation and upload to Amazon, B&N, and iBookstore; distribution to the trade via Ingram Publisher Services; a professional proofread of the final, laid-out manuscript; copyright filing; warehousing of short-run printed books; preordering and fulfillment of all orders; telephone and e-mail support from a She Writes Press project manager; and more.

It was Serendipity Literary Agency CEO and author (You Should Really Write a Book: How to Writer Sell and Market Your Memoir) Regina Brooks who, inspired by She Writes Press's mission to support the efforts of women writers, first came up with the idea for the contest: "As an agent, writers often send me wonderful memoirs that have great potential but don't feel right for the Big Five publishers," Brooks said. "I reached out to She Writes Press because I was interested in partnering around our shared passion for promoting and publishing women's voices, and in giving one standout author a remarkable publishing experience."

In addition to the publishing package, the contest's Grand Prize winner-along with her fellow top five entrants-will receive a fifteen-minute, one-on-one consultation session with Brooks. All entrants will also receive a short written assessment of their submission, with suggestions for what their next editorial steps might be if they wish to pursue publication.

She Writes Press publisher Brooke Warner said she and press co-founder Kamy Wicoff are especially happy with this extra offering for all participating authors. "Our hope is that this contest will rally writers," Warner said. "We designed it specifically so that all entrants get constructive feedback, and we feel great about being able to give everyone who submits a chance to come away with ideas for how they can improve their work."

The Grand Prize winner will be selected based on the merit of her entry, which must consist of either a query letter and at least two full chapters of the work, or a query letter and a full-length nonfiction book proposal. The contest is open to trans women, genderqueer writers, and non-binary-identifying writers, but specifically not to male-identified writers. The deadline for entry is August 31, 2014.

"She Writes Press is always on the lookout for opportunities to engage our community and promote women's voices, and this contest is a perfect opportunity to do just that," Warner said. "We're thrilled to be partnering with Serendipity Literary on this, and we can't wait to see all the great submissions that are sure to come!"

Don't miss the last few days to submit your work! To participate in the contest entrants should go to bit.ly/1z2HoB0

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