CHRISTIAN BOOK MANUSCRIPT COMPETITION

Thank you for taking interest in Quiet Garden’s 2nd Christian Writing Competition!

You will find the RULES and REGULATIONS for the competition below. This year we are also running TWO competitions – one for book manuscripts aimed at Young Adults and the second competition is for radio scripts!

First, please read our short message that will give you more guidance on how to be successful in this competition.

We believe that there are great stories out there aimed at Young Adults aged 12 – 18 years old.

How can this generation of young adults be inspired through stories and novels, biographies of people who overcame adversity or even inspirational books that offer advice and guidance about how to achieve success in life?

We at QG are proud to be associated with Ghanaian author Lawrence Darmani who writes for young adults and whose book, Grief Child, won the Commonwealth’s Prize for the best first book from Africa. The protagonist is a young boy and the story has a strong Christian theme. This is a good example of the type of novel you can submit. Or you can submit books that offer Christian advice on how to navigate the treacherous path of life.

Rules & Regulations

1. Organisers

Quiet Garden Publishing, a Christian Publishing house based in Uganda.

2. Eligibility

a) The Author

The Quiet Garden Writing Competition accepts original manuscripts with Christian themes written by Ugandan writers who are 18 years of age and above.

b) Categories

Books may be in the following categories

• Novels
• Biography
• Autobiography
• Inspirational or Motivational

NOTE: Absolutely no plays or poetry allowed.

c) The Manuscript

• Length – between 30,000 and 55,000 words

• Manuscripts should be original unpublished works or self-published books released on the market in the last two years.

• All submissions must be in English.

3. The Prize

a) The overall winner who will be awarded a cash prize of USD 350. Quiet Garden will also publish the winning book free of charge.

b) The first runner up will receive a cash prize of USD 200. Quiet Garden will help identify possible publishers for the work.

c) The second runner up will receive a cash prize of USD 100. Quiet Garden will help identify possible publishers for the work.

d) The judges reserve the right to not award a prize should the entries fail, in the judges’ opinion, to meet the required standard. Judges could also decide not to award the prize to consecutive winners.

e) Quiet Garden reserves the first right of refusal for publication for the award-winning manuscript and the first and second runners-up.

4. Number of Entries

      Limited to ONE (1) submission per writer.

5. Selection

Quiet Garden Publishing will check details concerning the eligibility of the authors and the manuscripts submitted. Only manuscripts of authors who meet the criteria will be accepted and sent to the judges. An independent panel of three judges who are experts in the field of writing will select the winners from amongst the manuscripts. The judges’ decision is final and no appeals or correspondence will be entertained at any point.

6. Shortlist

Will be announced in Sept 2022.

7. Prize

The winners will be given their prizes at a ceremony in November 2022 in the hope that the situation as concerns COVID-19 would not have returned.

8. Conditions of Entry

• Each entry must include (in the submission email or as a cover page – page 1 – of submitted work) the following:

1. 1. Title of the work
   2. Name of the Author
   3. A short biography of the author – a little personal information about you and your writing journey. Should not be more than 150 words
   4. A summary of the manuscript (the submitted work), not more than 150 words
   5. The Format:

• The title of the entry should be in the middle of the cover page. The beginning of the manuscript should start on a new page.

• The name of the author should be directly below the title of the work.

• On the top right-hand corner of the cover page, please specify the word count of the entire manuscript.

• Use Times New Roman font, size 12, double spaced.

• Margins should be one-inch all around.

9. Entries should be submitted by the author.

10. Submission

• All entries must be submitted in soft copy and emailed to: quietgardenug@gmail.com

• Entries will only be accepted from 2^nd June 2022 to 26^th June 2022

• Entries that fail to comply with any of the above rules and conditions of entry will be disqualified.

All the BEST!