Mystery Writers of America celebrate Poe bicentennial

Edgar Allan Poe would have been 200 in January. The Mystery Writers of America were in New York City at the end of April to hand out Edgar Awards for the worthiest mysteries of the year while (belatedly) celebrating the birth of our first mystery novelist.

Could you win the Breakthrough Novel Contest?

Amazon and major publishing house, Penguin Group, are again teaming up to find the next breakthrough novel. Could your novel be the one? If you are an author of fiction whose manuscript has yet to find a home, you have nothing to lose by entering and everything to win. Unlike a great number of writing contests, this one doesn’t require an entry fee. And the top prize is a publishing contract with Penguin.

But you needn’t be the Grand Prize winner to come out ahead. Several of last year’s runners-up also ended up with major publishing contracts. That’s thanks to their books’ exposure to judges who are among the biggest names in publishing including bestselling authors, literary agents, and acquisitions editors. This year’s judges are just as impressive.

So, get that manuscript in its best possible shape now. Entries are only accepted between February 2 and February 8, 2009. Good luck.