Self-publishing advocate and super-prolific best-selling author Hugh Howey is backing an innovative literary competition which offers total prizes of $20,000.
The contest is being run by Booktrack, which is a service which allows anyone to add a synchronized movie-style soundtrack to an ebook or other digital text content, with the audio paced to an individual’s reading speed.
Howey calls Booktrack a mix of Wattpad and ACX (Amazon’s audiobook operation) and says it’s a brilliant writing platform as well as a platform for a soundtrack. You just write or copy in your story, choose from the tens of thousands of mood tracks and effects, and layer them in.
The contest is based on using Howey’s novel Half Way Home, which is his wife’s favorite, and which has been made free to read on Booktrack.
There are two competitions, as you can either add a soundtrack to a chapter of Half Way Home, or write and soundtrack an original fan fiction story based on the novel.
In more detail, the two contests are:
1: Use Booktrack Studio to write your own Half Way Home fan fiction and give it an immersive soundtrack. The winner will get $5,000 and editorial feedback from Howey.
2: There is also a soundtrack competition where you create or mix existing audio for a chapter from Half Way Home. The winner again gets $5,000 and the chance to soundtrack Howey’s novel The Hurricane.
The first contest is officially called the Hugh Howey Booktrack and Wattpad Fan Fiction contest and the second contest is the Hugh Howey Booktrack and Indaba Soundtrack Contest.
Both contests share the same rules and submissions are now open for both until the closing date of July 31, 2014. Entries will judged and the winners announced by August 31.
To submit an entry, you must publish a new Booktrack story to enter each contest. Entrants must be over the age of 13.
You must code a story with HUGHHOWEYSOUNDTRACK or HUGHHOWEYFANFIC in the form provided at the time of publishing.
Entrants can submit entries in both contests and can also submit multiple entries in both contests. Entries may be revised during the competition period.
All entries must:
- Be received during the Competition Period
- Be published by July 31, 2014
- Be written and submitted in English
- Be appropriately rated
- Not contain offensive material
- Adhere to the general terms on the Booktrack platform (http://booktrack.com/terms)
- Include an audio soundtrack using the Booktrack studio
- Include an original cover
Soundtrack Contest entries must:
- Use one of the chapters from Half Way Home by Hugh Howey from the Booktrack Text Library
- Add code: HUGHHOWEYSOUNDTRACK at point of publishing
Fan Fiction contest entries must:
- Be fan fiction based on the characters, themes and/or locations in Half Way Home by Hugh Howey
- Be 5,000 words or less;
- Add code: HUGHHOWEYFANFIC at point of publishing
- Also be posted on Wattpad.com (link) in adherence to their terms (http://www.wattpad.com/terms)
The winner of the Fan Fiction Contest will get:
- $5,000
- A video trailer of their winning work created and promoted by Booktrack
- Editorial comment by Hugh Howey of an original work of up to 10,000 words.
The four remaining finalists of the Fan Fiction contest will get $1,000.
The winner of the Soundtrack Contest will get:
- $5,000 USD
- A video trailer of their winning work created and promoted by Booktrack
- 12 months Indaba Pro membership
- The chance to co-produce the Booktrack for the Hugh Howey novel Hurricane
The four remaining finalists of the Soundtrack contest will get $1,000 and 12 months Indaba Pro membership.