You heard it here first – I hope. Well, it might be a reminder… Cordite Books (an imprint of the Lagos based Paressia Publishers) is calling for African Crime Novel to be edited under a new series by none other than Commonwealth and Caine Prize winning bestselling author, Helon Habila. Now, the catch is there are prizes…. Wait for it!!
1st Prize: $1000 and a publishing deal with Cordite books!
2nd Prize: $250 (and our publishing house, SEVHAGE might consider publishing you! 😉 Hee hee hee)
3rd Prize: $200
4th and 5th: Honourable mention…
All these are plus the eye of the world with recogntion that would come from your mention … It might open vistas unimagined. Okay, the criteria?
CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION:
- African is defined as a citizen of the 53 countries in the continent of Africa and adjoining island, including descendants of such citizens who hold valid African passports.
- Authors must be resident in an African country and be ready to schedule readings across the continent if successful.
- Electronic copies of manuscripts are to be formatted as set out below and uploaded in the adjacent form
- Times New Roman, 13 points, Double spacing.
- Microsoft Office Word and compatible formats [e.g. Open Office]
- Documents should be named “Cordite Submission – Authors Name – Manuscript Title” eg “Cordite Submission – Ian Fleming – Octopussy.doc”. Synopsis documents should be named in the format “Cordite Synopsis – Authors Name – Manuscript Title”.
- Detailed contact details including previous publication and experience should form the first page of the manuscript uploaded.
- A detailed Synopsis of the manuscript, under 750 words, should be attached at the time of submissions using the appropriate upload button found on the right of the Cordite website!
DEADLINE: 30th NOVEMBER 2013!

This is as legit as possible and if you think it is a scam, write an African novel about the crime… It just might get you an award – if you try!
Pow! Pow! Pow! … and I am out!
Picture credits:
1. http://www.etsy.com/listing/79790601/smoking-gun-signed-print
2. Sisters’ Act: http://thedailystrawberry.com/pierce-brosnan-whoopi-goldberg-should-be-next-james-bond/
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