There are a lot of great events happening in the next few weeks. Below are a few I’m keeping on my radar.

Dewey’s Read-a-thon

As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I love books and may in fact be a bit of an addict. One of the very few things that stops my Mount To-Be-Read from reaching the atmosphere is Dewey’s 24 hour read-a-thon.

Don’t let the name fool you. Reading for the full 24 hours is not in any way mandatory, though you certainly can if you wish. I simply use it as an excuse to cram as much reading as I can into my waking hours.

The read-a-thon runs twice a year (in April and October). For the east coast of Australia, this read-a-thon should be starting around 11 PM on Saturday, 18 October (though I make no promises as to the accuracy of this calculation).

If you are looking to connect with fellow book bloggers, or are simply trying to get Mt TBR back under control, please feel free to join in the fun by signing up or by following #Dewey and #Readathon on Twitter. I’ll be participating, so you can expect to see me report in here about how I go or you can catch me on Twitter.

Hachette’s Next Big Thing

If you’re more interested in writing, and in Young Adult fiction in particular, Hachette Australia wants to hear from you.

 

Hachette Australia wants your manuscript!

Hachette Australia is proud to publish amazing YA authors from Australia and around the world, including Jessica Shirvington, John Marsden, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Ally Carter and James Phelan – and we’d love to add your name to that list. Throughout October, we will be accepting submissions of YA novels in all genres. If we fall in love with your manuscript, you will receive editorial feedback, and you may be offered a contract for publication.

We love stories that keep us hooked, new worlds we can disappear into, and characters that can become our new friends. If that sounds like your manuscript, we can’t wait to read it!

Be sure to read the guidelines carefully before submitting.

Conflux Workshops

Perhaps you don’t have a completed manuscript lying around or you don’t feel it’s ready to submit to a publisher.  There are a number of workshops being held at Conflux that might help. I’ve already mentioned I’ll be discussing how to make the most of working with an editor. Some fellow members of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild will also be on hand. If you already have a completed manuscript, Nicole Murphy and Russell Kirkpatrick will be running Countdown Six, an epic six-hour workshop that will help you prepare a synopsis, query letter and the first chapter of your story for publication.

Writers who are still in the process of drafting may be more interested in Chris Andrews‘ workshop on structuring a novel. Chris ran the CSFG’s novel writing circle before stepping down this year and is now offering his experience to a broader audience. This will be the only workshop to run on Monday 6 October.

All other workshops will be running on Friday 3 October. Registration is required, so please visit Conflux to sign up.

Anime for Cancer Research

Cancer has hit the Australian SF community hard in recent years. Anime reviewer John Samuel has come up with his own unique way of contributing to the battle against this disease: once a month, he auctions off his review copies.

The Rules

1. Once a month I’ll post a list of titles for the monthly donations.
2. Australian residents can then leave a comment indicating how much they are prepared to donate to a cancer charity to win a particular disc (don’t forget to tell me which disc you want).
3. The minimum pledge is 1/3 retail price
4. The highest pledge will win the disc
5. I will close the comments after about two weeks with a final comment identifying the winners.
6. Winners will forward a receipt for their donations to me.
7. I will then privately email the winners to obtain snail mail details (again within Australia only), and send them the disc(s).
8. I will pay for the postage.
9. I will match all winning pledges up to 2x retail per disc.
10. My default charity is the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, but I will match the cancer research charity of the winner’s choice.
11. I am willing to re-open bids on titles offered in previous months. Leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

The current auction closes in just a few days, so if you are an Australian anime fan please check out the offerings for September and make a bid.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.