Black Crake Books calls for manuscript
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday August 23, 2016 14:45
The campaign, which started on August 1, will run for a period of one year.
“Our aim is to promote Botswana’s literary voice to the world and to develop local talent. It is always disheartening to see only South African, Nigerian or Kenyan authors making a mark in African writing awards. We want to see more Batswana authors playing a part in the African literary scene.
“Most of these awards only accept published material and it is with this in mind that we conceptualised the #Fifty@Fifty campaign. We want to celebrate Botswana’s 50th birthday with 50 outstanding books that will win awards and bring pride and recognition to our beautiful country,” said Black Crake Books managing director, Nick Green.
Authors are asked to send the first three chapters and a synopsis of their book to the publishers. If the manuscript passes the screening process the author will be contacted to send in their well-edited full-length manuscript for publication. Only 50 authors will be considered on the #Fifty@Fifty Black Crake Books campaign.
“This is an exciting campaign for both us as the publishing house and the public at large. We anticipate many submissions during this campaign. There are many writers out there with finished and unfinished manuscripts sitting in their computers waiting for a break. We are happy to give these authors that break,” said Green.
Black Crake Books has previously published books such as Josie by Legodile ‘Dredd X’ Seganabeng, Tezcatlipoca’s Dream, a Mexican novella by Henry Green and Boathouse to Botswana by Nick Green, a humorous collection of catering and bush anecdotes from over 25 years in the hospitality trade.
“The #Fifty@Fifty campaign offers a new platform for Botswana’s established and unknown authors to shine. It is a fresh way to launch authors and introduce readers to our burgeoning new talents in all their favourite genres,” Green ended.
The publishing house will not be accepting works that are poetry or non-fiction. Entries must be written in English. Previously published or self-published works will not be considered. Manuscripts must have a minimum word count of 65,000 words. Only one manuscript per author will be accepted. Manuscripts should be submitted in Word.doc format only. Submission deadline is September 30, 2016.