Rakuten Kobo, one of the world’s leading companies in the eReading sector announced a new initiative “6 novels in search of an author”, using its self-publishing platform, Kobo Writing Life, in collaboration with Mondadori Store, Italy’s most extensive bookstore chain, and PassioneScrittore.it, a portal that provides services for self-publishers. The initiative is aimed at Italian writers who want to rise to the exciting challenge of winning the possibility of realising the dream of a lifetime: being published and distributed.

With the continuous growth of the self-publishing phenomenon, which in recent years has led to publishing successes such as that of Andy Weir, with “The Martian”, and Anna Todd, with “After”, more and more authors are opting for self-publishing. So much so that, according to Bowker, the US government agency that manages the ISBN (International Book Standard Number) for the identification of books,  in the last 12 months the self-publishing sector has grown globally by 21%. It is precisely for this reason that Kobo, that has always paid close attention to the needs of both its readers and innovative publishing developments, has decided to launch an initiative that aims to offer visibility to new generations of Italian creative writers.

“6 novels in search of an author” is a contest with two different sections: on the one hand a “Self-publishing tournament” and, on the other, a “Writing competition”.

For the first category, participants, as well as being over 18, must enrol between 15 November and 15 December 2016. They will need an active account on https://it.kobo.com/writinglife and their work, which should be not less than 200,000 characters (including spaces), must be available on the portal https://store.kobobooks.com/it-it from the moment of enrolment until the end of the tournament, even if they are already available on other platforms. as well as the publication of an extract, of a maximum of 25,000 characters, on Kobo Writing Life by 1 December 2016 and not be in violation of copyright or any other form of intellectual property rights held by third parties. Consequently, the competition will be divided into two parts: a collective review on the pages of the Kobo Store Italia, which, from 21 December 2016 to 20 February 2017 will call on the platform’s readers to vote and comment on all of the work in competition, and a professional review, by a jury of experts, chaired by the literary agent Maria Paola Romeo, that will draw up a shortlist by 30 May 2017.

For the second category, meanwhile, users, only if over 18, can register, again between 15 November and 15 December 2016, and create their own account on https://it.kobo.com/writinglife and by filling in a special form on www.kobowritinglife.it, in which a file in the Word of PDF format can be uploaded. The document must only contain the title and a synopsis of the work, in a total of not more than 5,000 characters, in addition to the complete work, that must be not less than 200,000 characters (including spaces), and that, to be admitted, must also be unpublished, in prose and in Italia, completed at the time of enrolment in the competition and  not be in violation of copyright or any other form of intellectual property rights held by third parties. Subsequently, a jury of experts will select the winners by 30 May 2017.

From a shortlist of 12 finalists, each section will choose three winners, a total of 6 participants, who will receive a publishing contract from Kobo, both for a printed and digital version of their work, along with promotion and distribution on the Kobo Store Italia and the main outlets of the Mondadori Store chain, also through the innovative “Book on demand” service offered by the network.

In addition, until 15 December 2016, to assist all those who would like to participate and to register correctly, a help line will be available on this link.

For more information, please go to: www.kobowritinglife.it