Just for WriMos: First Time Author Giveaway

Update

Following the inital post regarding this giveaway, I would like to update everyone on our contest for first-time authors and fellow crazy people who participate in NaNoWriMo. This has been posted on the community forums.

Self-publishing can be confusing for first-time authors, many of whom don’t have the money to hire professional help or the knowledge or skill to do it themselves. It can also be difficult to find good beta readers – we all know how useful the “Omigod, most amazing book ever!” feedback is from friends and relatives. :) A bad cover can help to sink a book, as can a lack of proofing and editing. What we want to do is give something back to the NaNo community by offering our help and services to one person. If there is enough response to this, it may become a yearly contest.

The winner will receive:

Beta reading and feedback
Proofreading and copyediting
A professional book cover
A Createspace print template
Interior formatting
Facebook and Twitter graphics to tie in with the cover
Marketing/PR advice
Blog tour

Rules

NaNoWriMo “winners” of the most recent National Novel Writing Month.
First time authors (first time to actually publish a novel).
Any fiction novel up to 150k words. (Less is better – I had second thoughts about this one, but it’s already on the forums and I can’t edit it.)
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Horror. (These can be YA or adult.)
Prospective authors must submit a synopsis and the first chapter of their project for consideration. If the chapter is short, submit two.
Post on this thread if you are interested in participating and we will contact you. (The NaNoWriMo site will show validation of participation for the most recent year and total words for your project.)
The judges will chose a winner based on the submitted material.
Winners will be chosen on April 8th, 2013.

Professional Services

Huge thanks to the following people who have volunteered their time, advice and services. (If you are interested in helping out, let me know.)

Judi Rohrig: Editing
Honored with the 2004 Bram Stoker for Excellence in Non-fiction for editing and publishing HELLNOTES, a weekly International electronic and print newsletter that served the horror communities, I also edited an anthology called STONES and served as editor, project coordinator, and marketing director for Lone Wolf Publications. My stories have appeared in MASQUES V, Cemetery Dance magazine, and several anthologies published by Daw Books. My story, “Tunes from Limbo, But I Digress,” will be included in the SHADOWS OF THE NEW SUN, a Gene Wolfe tribute anthology, to be released by Tor in August 2013.

Rabia Gale: Beta reading and feedback
Rabia is the very talented author of Rainbird and Mourning Cloak, as well as several short story collections. “I break fairy tales and fuse fantasy and science fiction. I love to write about flawed heroes who never give up, transformation and redemption, and things from outer space.”

Andrew Toynbee: Beta reading and feedback, proofreading and edit
Andrew is the author of A Construct of Angels. “A Construct of Angels pulls you in from the first page. I couldn’t put this book down…Lots of humor tossed in with a fast paced plot that has you flipping the pages to find out what comes next. The highest of compliments I can give an author is: The words disappeared and the scene played out in my mind. A Construct of Angels did just that for me.”

Kellie Sheridan: Marketing and PR advice, blog tour
Kellie is the author of Mortality and a marketing professional in the publishing field. “I am the author of Mortality, a YA zombie story set in a possible near future when the second wave of the zombie plague has destroyed our world. I’ve become a bit of a zombie addict in the past year and wanted to put a new YA spin on a genre that has been going strong for decades. Mortality will be available in both digital and print formats in Spring of 2013.”

Ravven: Beta reading, book cover art, POD template
I am a professional artist specialising in book cover art. (Hit the jump for examples of covers that I have done.)

Qwerty & Quill
Phil Worthington is a professional copywriter, award-winning Head of Creative, printer and book designer who has offered ebook and POD interior book formatting services.

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Postscript: Book Cover Art

For those not familiar with me or my work, these are samples of the cover art that I have done recently. I also keep a Pintrest board of my book covers.