For Immediate Release
August 1, 2014
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. -- Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) has joined forces with JukePop, Inc. and Black Hill Press to promote and support writing and reading with the launch of the Summer Writing Project.
A collaborative effort to identify up-and-coming literary talent, the Summer Writing Project provides aspiring authors with an opportunity to create novellas (a written, fictional narrative normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel) and submit these stories one chapter at a time for immediate quantitative and qualitative feedback from readers.
Writers are encouraged to create novellas and submit chapters via jukepop.com. All entries must follow JukePop, Inc.’s criteria for submissions at www.jukepop.com/home/submissions. Novellas should be 10,000 to 30,000 words in length, although compelling characters and evocative content are deemed more important than word count. Novellas will be featured on the SCCLD web site based on JukePop Inc. reader analytics (retention + reading time).
“JukePop, Inc. is excited to bring this project to a community of readers, writers and library users,” stated Jerry Fan, Founder and CEO of JukePop, Inc. "It's really simple. The Summer Writing Project benefits the community, is free for writers to join, and is reinventing Santa Clara County Library District’s role in this new publishing era.”
Writers eighteen and older are invited to submit their stories to this year’s Summer Writing Project. “Do we have another Jack London, John Steinbeck or Amy Tan amongst us? I don’t know, but it will be fun to find out,” commented Gail Mason, SCCLD Library Services Manager for Collection Development and Reading Services. “This project provides the perfect complement to our annual Summer Reading Program, which encourages and celebrates reading for all ages.”
After the contest ends on August 31, 2014, Black Hill Press will select three (3) novellas from submitted entries and publish them in a special Summer Writing Project collection with cover artwork by noted artist Jeannie Phan. In addition, JukePop Inc. and Black Hill Press will promote contestants' serial e-book works to public libraries throughout California.
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About the Santa Clara County Library District
Known as one of America’s best 100 public libraries, the Santa Clara County Library District promotes knowledge, ideas, and cultural enrichment. Its collection includes more than 1.9 million books, videos, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, eBooks and extensive online resources accessible from home or work.
For eleven years, the Library has ranked as one of the best in the nation for its size by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings. Also recognized as one of America’s 2013 Star Libraries by Library Journal, the Santa Clara County Library District is one of the most-used public resources in the region.
The Santa Clara County Library District includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one branch library serving Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. In 2013, the Santa Clara County Library District had more than 215,000 library cardholders and welcomed 3.2 million visitors who borrowed 9.7 million items. Visit Santa Clara County Library District online at www.sccl.org.
About Black Hill Press
Black Hill Press is a publishing collective founded on collaboration. Its growing family of writers and artists is dedicated to the novella-a distinctive, often overlooked literary form that offers the focus of a short story and the scope of a novel. Black Hill Press believes a great story is never defined by its length.
About JukePop, Inc.
JukePop, Inc. is an incubation platform that combines community driven feedback and data analytics to help authors turn their concepts into great books. JukePop, Inc. believes there's at least one great book in every author, the difference is in how the story is told.
Contact:
Derek Wolfgram/Mark Fink/Lili Smith
Santa Clara County Library District
(408) 293-2326 ext. 3002/3010/3014
