For
Immediate Release
Contact
Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster: Contact
Gather.com: Jean Anne Rose Liz
Bradley Pocket Books Kel & Partners jeananne.rose@simonandschuster.com liz@kelandpartners.com (212) 698-7579 (857) 891-5531
Nearly 500 Manuscripts Submitted
by Aspiring Romance Novelists from Across the Country NEW YORK, New York/BOSTON, Mass., September
26, 2007 — Gather.com, the leader in social
media for adults, and the Pocket Books imprint of Simon & Schuster, a
global leader in the field of general interest publishing, today announced the twenty-five
semifinalists in The Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition. In
the quest to find America’s next great romance novelist, the semifinalists were
narrowed down by the Gather community from nearly 500 manuscripts submitted
from across the country since August 2007. The names and hometowns of the
semifinalists are cited below, and can also be found online at romancenovel.gather.com.
The
announcement of the semifinalists in the romance competition follows a positive
review from USA Today, which praised the two winning novelists in
Gather.com’s original First Chapters competition, Terry Shaw and Geoffrey Edwards, whose novels were
published this fall by the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster. “Excitement around the First Chapters competition
continues to build as people increasingly realize the power that their
participation has in selecting the world’s next great literary talents,” says
Tom Gerace, Gather.com founder and Chief Executive Officer (tom.gather.com). “The
high quality of the romance submissions has ignited a feverous flow of activity
and engagement amongst our members, who have always been captivated by good
writing.” Beginning today, the second chapters of each
semifinalist will be reviewed and rated by the Gather community until the end
of Round Two on October 8, 2007. “Romance writers are one of the world’s most passionate
groups of people,” noted Louise Burke, Executive Vice President and Publisher,
Pocket Books. “The First Chapters Romance competition has allowed Pocket Books
to leverage the power of social media to identify undiscovered talent and provide
our customers with fresh, carefully plotted, and well-crafted romance writing.” As the official retail sponsor of Gather.com,
Borders, Inc., a leading retailer
of books, music, movies, gifts and stationery items, is promoting the First
Chapters competition via email to its millions of Borders Reward®
members. The winning title will be featured in over 1,000 Borders and
Waldenbooks stores nationwide. The Grand Prize winner will be awarded a
guaranteed publishing contract with PocketBooks along with a $5000 advance. To obtain more information regarding
the specifics of the judging, please reference the competition timeline below. GATHER.COM FIRST CHAPTERS ROMANCE WRITING COMPETITION
TIMELINE Submission period: 08/1/07 - 08/22/07 Full romance manuscripts submitted to romancenovel@gatherinc.com. Round
One: 08/27/07
– 09/18/07 Posting of chapter one at romancenovel.gather.com -
Gather.com community votes to select 25 semi-finalists Round
Two: 09/24/07
– 10/08/07 Posting of second chapter at romancenovel.gather.com
–Gather.com community votes to select five finalists Round
Three: 10/11/07
– 10/30/07 Grand Prize Judging Panel votes to select a
Grand Prize winner Grand
Prize Winner announcement: 10/30/07 Members of Grand
Prize Judging Panel: ·
Lauren
McKenna, Editor, Pocket Books ·
Maggie
Crawford, Editorial Director, Pocket Books ·
Tom Gerace, Gather Founder & CEO ·
Sue
Grimshaw, Romance Buyer, Borders About Simon
& Schuster Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS
Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing,
dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all
ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's
Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and
international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more
information, visit our website at www.simonsays.com. About Borders Group, Inc. Borders Group, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol BGP. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., the company is a $4.1
billion global retailer of books, music, movies, and gift and stationery
items. More information on Borders Group is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com. About Gather.com Gather.com (www.gather.com)
is the leader in social media for adults. Gather.com members connect around
shared interests ranging from politics to books and from cooking to travel, and
they’re compensated for their activity on the site. Members can engage in
conversation with state and local politicians, health and financial experts,
personal coaches, bestselling authors, and more. Over one million people visit
Gather.com each month to read content created by Gather.com members. Gather.com
has a highly educated, highly informed adult audience membership -- a
demographic elusive to most social networking sites. This demographic has made
Gather.com an exceptional partner to media companies, advertising agencies,
leading consumer brands, book publishers, and movie studios. Gather.com is a
privately held, privately funded company headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts. Investors include Allen & Company, The American Public Media
Group, Hearst, The McGraw-Hill Companies, and Southern California Public Radio.
For more information, visit www.gather.com
or call (617) 720-4000, x1032. ### |
