Newspaper, publishing house launches book prize

According to Kerrin Cocks of 30° South Publishers, most book prizes are judged by a panel of judges, and many manuscripts sent into publishers are often evaluated on their synopses alone. It has been decided to re-create that theme but allow the public to be the judge instead.

So far the competition has been advertised for two consecutive weeks in the Thursday edition of Citivibe, The Citizen's leisure and entertainment section, giving authors a chance to put together a synopsis of their manuscript.

Then, each Thursday for 10 weeks starting 26 July 2007, Citivibe will publish one 500-word synopsis from a shortlist. The reading public can then vote for it on www.30degreessouth.co.za, using a grading system.

Voting for each entry will only be open for one week starting on the Thursday it is featured in the paper. This allows the same amount of voting time and exposure for each author and encourages the public to actively participate in the competition on a week-by-week basis. At the end of the 10 weeks, the votes will be tallied and the winner announced.

The winner will receive R10 000 cash courtesy of The Citizen; his or her manuscript will be published by 30° South Publishers in time for Christmas 2007; and his/her book will also be submitted for the 2008 Exclusive Books Homebru promotion.