MarketingVOX: After the success of its first writing competition earlier this year, Gather.com will launch a new writing contest to find two romance novelists and reward them with book deals, courtesy of Simon & Schuster, imprint by Pocket Books and distribution and promotion through Borders, according to a press release.
The First Chapters Romance Writing Competition is a social platform that will channel its userbase to rate submitted manuscripts.
Gather is accepting romance manuscripts during the first few weeks of August and will post the first and second chapters of would-be novelists during September and October at romancenovel.gather.com. Ultimately, users will select five finalists at which point judges representing Gather, Borders and Pocket Books will decide the two winners.
Retail sponsor Borders will invite members of its 18 million-strong Borders Rewards customer loyalty program to participate.
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