A new contest for unpublished New Zealand writers of fiction, short stories, poetry and non-fiction is being administered by the NZ Society of Authors. Submissions to the NZSA/Pindar Publishing Prize close March 30th to have a chance of professional publication.

Sponsored by Pindar NZ, The New Zealand Herald, Whitcoulls and AstraPrint, this unique new award is for an unpublished manuscript which will be taken through to a published form and offered for sale nationwide.

This is a great opportunity for unpublished writers but it's always important to read the Terms & Conditions thoroughly not least of all so you'll get your submission correct. With any competition like this there are time constraints and the conditions reflect this. I thought there were a few important things to highlight from the T&Cs.
  1. The winner will be announced on June 15th and the book with launch in August. That's only just two months for the manuscript to be professionally edited, designed, printed and distributed.
  2. "If in the opinion of the judging panel no entry is worthy of the award it will not be given."
  3. "A fair contract, based on industry standards, will be offered to the winning author. If for any reason the recipient is not prepared to accept the contract, the award will be given to the second shortlisted manuscript."
  4. "The published book will only be available in Whitcoulls branches."

All that considered I'm looking forward to participating in the online voting after the shortlist is announced on 30 April.


Edit: The T&Cs state that the competition is open to any unpublished manuscript, not unpublished author as I implied.