Dread Central and Others Join with Inkshares for 2017 Horror Author Contest
Debi Moore
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You’ve no doubt seen us mention Inkshares more than a few times here on Dread Central, and we’re beyond thrilled to announce that we’ve teamed up with them and a few other sites/guest judges for the 2017 Horror Contest in order to find the next big voices in horror.
In a nutshell, the Oakland, California-based publisher is inviting horror authors to submit their work, which will then be judged based on reader interest (the number of pre-orders a book receives) to determine which three books the company will publish. In addition to pre-orders, guest judges such as The Purge writer/director James DeMonaco, reviewers from horror outlets (including yours truly), and reps from Barnes and Noble will nominate books for publication as well.
“We built Inkshares to surface the next generation of great storytellers. This contest is about the next generation of great horror storytellers,” Inkshares CEO Adam Gomolin said. “All of us at Inkshares feel tremendously lucky to have such amazing allies in the BloodList, Dread Central, HorrorTalk, and the Horror Writers Association.”
The contest, which runs August 15th to October 31st, was announced today by THR, and we’ll have lots more information for you soon. In the meantime, you can get the preliminary details by reading more below and then clicking here.
Why a Contest for Horror?
A sad fact is that horror is the red-haired stepchild of traditional publishing. Setting aside the Kings, Straubs, Barkers, and a select few others like Koontz and Cook—each championed by rare agents and editors—horror has always been treated as “dirty,” absent the flagship imprints we see in other genres. Only now, with the ascendancy of horror film franchises, runaway successes of self-published horror, and demonstrably large online horror communities are publishers waking up.
But the unfortunate result of this lack of respect for horror has been a lack of opportunity for talented aspirants and an according oligarchy of the uber talent. The Inkshares 2017 Horror Contest is about creating opportunities—about surfacing the next big voices in horror.
Co-Sponsors & Guest Judges
We have an amazing array of co-sponsors in this contest, including:
BloodList
Founded in 2009, the BloodList is a platform for discovering new, amazing talent within horror via an annual list and popular website highlighting the most liked screenplays, pilots, books, and shorts in the horror, thriller, and sci-fi genres.
Dread Central
Founded in 2006, Dread Central Media is one of the most well respected horror news sites on the Web and offers the most up-to-date information on the latest horror projects, including trailers, stills, video interviews, and audio podcasts.
HorrorTalk
Founded in 2002 and with a worldwide staff of reviewers, HorrorTalk.com is truly a global website dedicated to bringing you all things horror, from movies to books, comics to music, festivals to conventions, and everything in between.
Horror Writers Association of America
The Horror Writers Association is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it.
Our guest judges include some of the most influential people in horror across books, TV, and film:
James DeMonaco — Writer/director of The Purge series
Shane Keene — HorrorTalk
Brad Hodson — Horror Writers Association of America
Kailey Marsh — BloodList
Debi Moore — Dread Central
Alex Neal — Weed Road Productions
Jerry Smith — Icons of Fright
Brooklyn Weaver — Energy Entertainment
Sam Reader — Barnes and Noble
The Rules
We’re looking for the top three horror books on Inkshares in terms of unique reader pre-order counts for pre-orders placed between August 15, 2017, and October 31, 2017 (12:00 noon PT). The judges may also select additional books based on their own criteria. All three (or more) books will be published by Inkshares even if they haven’t reached their pre-order goal. There may be opportunities for the winners to develop their work into other media such as movies, television, and digital productions.
Categorized:News
