Overview
Welcome to the official website of The ABC's Children's Picture Book Competition now in its third year. Here you will find a unique competition that is a new adventure in children’s publishing. (Click here to read an interview with Rita Mills , the Executive Director of the Competition) The idea for The ABC’s was conceived in a brainstorm session when the topic turned to all the rejection letters everyone was getting from submissions to the traditional publishers. Research into the market yielded the fact that for roughly every 12,000 submissions an average of three books are actually published. Overwhelming odds don’t you think? So we set out to put together a program that was unique to the industry, and I think we have reached that goal. The winner of the competition will be chosen from 10 finalists, and an illustrator will be assigned to each finalist’s story. The illustrator will produce a piece of spec art and both will then be posted on this website for a two-week internet vote. Then the fun begins for the finalists who help solicit votes for their particular book. HOW DOES THE COMPETITION WORK? Ten finalists will be chosen from the entries that are submitted, and an illustrator will be assigned to each finalist’s story. The chosen illustrator will produce a piece of spec art to give the competition a visual feel for the internet vote and both will then be posted on this website for a two-week internet voting period. Then the fun begins for the author/illustrator teams who are chosen as the finalist. They will put on their marketing hats to help solicit votes for their story. When the dust settles, the winning teams from the internet vote will receive the Grand Prize as outlined below. NEW THIS YEAR—For every 300 entries in the 4th round of this competition, another finalist’’ story will be published .
WHERE TO START? Start by taking a look at the previous rounds of the competition so you can get a feel for the types of stories that we are looking for. To take a look at the FINALISTS IN THE 1st COMPETITION, start your journey by clicking here. To take a look at the FINALISTS IN THE 2nd COMPETITION start your journey by clicking here. To take a look at the FINALISTS IN THE 3rd COMPETITION, start your journey by clicking here. If you have an original manuscript, you are invited to enter the competition. Your odds of winning are far greater with this competition than catching the eye of a major publisher. Below are the specific manuscript guidelines for entries:
THE ABC’s FOURTH ANNUAL COMPETITION
GRAND PRIZE The winners of the internet vote will receive a royalty-based publishing contract along with one thousand copies of their finished book. They will also have access to additional copies of the book at a greatly reduced rate. The ABC’s Competition is ideal for those children’s authors who want to do school visits and sell books as part of the presentation. One thousand books sold at full price can net the author more than $15,000 in sales on top of the royalties involved in the publishing contract. The publisher of the winning book will be The ABC’s, an imprint of Bluebonnets, Boots & Books, a Houston , Texas based publisher. As the publisher, The ABC’s will be responsible for all the things that any traditional publisher would do including art direction, production, marketing, PR, and distribution. The ABC’s has distribution in place to make the books available to all bookstores as well as libraries through out the US . For every 300 entries in the 4th round of this competition, another finalist’s story will be published .
WHO IS ELIGIBLE? Any author, published or unpublished, over the age of 21 who is a United States citizen with an original, unpublished manuscript is eligible to enter the competition. All manuscripts not under contract at the time of submission are eligible. Simultaneously submitted manuscripts are acceptable. The winner must sign an affidavit confirming the manuscript isn't under contract to another publisher. An agent must be notified of your submission if they are representing the manuscript entered in the competition. Entries can be co-authored however both of author’s contact information must be on all the entry paperwork. AUTHOR’S RIGHTS This competition retains only the book publishing rights to the winning entry in the United States. All sub rights (animation, plush, TV, etc.) of the winning story will remain with the Author. The Author of the winning entry will receive 1,000 copies of the printed book to distribute as they wish through back-of-the-room sales, hand selling, school visits, and as a fundraiser. All distribution to bookstores and libraries is retained by the publisher. The publisher will retain the right to an unlimited number of reprint runs for a five-year period. After five years all the publishing rights revert back to the author. |
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