As most of you already know, I run the
Chapter Book Challenge (
ChaBooCha) in the month of March, every year. This past March was the second year the challenge has run. Membership, which is completely free, went from 23 people in the first year of the challenge to a little under 100 people in the second year. We had published authors and agents guest posting and we had many prizes throughout the challenge. The challenge is to write a book, a complete first draft, of an early reader, chapter book, hi-lo book, middle grade book or YA book from March 1st through March 31st.
I have had some really great feedback from the members of the challenge, and I really love running this challenge. The members who also joined the
Facebook group have been really helpful to each other and have helped each other immensely throughout the writing process. I am very happy to continue running this challenge.
However, all of the prizes, with the exception of a few donated by guest authors, given out during the challenge are bought and mailed by me. Granted, I can run the challenge without the prizes, but I love adding prizes into the mix. And I think the members like the prizes too.
So far, word of mouth has been great in helping the group grow, but I also would like being able to do a bit of advertising for the challenge to get more people to join in the coming years. I already pay for the domain names for the challenge, but I'd like to build a proper website for it and do all of the other things that running something like this more professionally will require.
I will also be keeping the challenge free to join.
For these reasons, the members of the Chapter Book Challenge are joining me in creating an
anthology of fairy tales. The fairy tales are flash fiction pieces with a minimum of 300 words and a flexible maximum word count of 700 words. The fairy tales range from alternate versions of traditional fairy tales to completely new and original fairy tales. All stories are kid-friendly but are still interesting reading for adults. We have had many of the members turn in stories for it so far, and some have offered some black and white illustrations for the anthology. The anthology will be offered in both print and e-book formats, and all profit from the sales will go towards the Chapter Book Challenges.
Anyone who is
signed up as an official member of the Chapter Book Challenge (sign-ups now would go towards next year's challenge as this year's has ended) will be allowed to submit two stories for the anthology. The
sign-up for the anthology, allowed if you are
signed up for the Chapter Book Challenge, is
here and the
Facebook event for the anthology, which can only be joined after joining the
Facebook group is
here.
Deadline for submissions for the anthology from Chapter Book members is May 1st, with some extensions allowed for a May 7th deadline. The title of the anthology, the cover and the inside illustrations are the next step after the stories are all in and ready. I can't wait!
I will let everyone know when the anthology is ready and available for purchase. I'm really excited about the project and have been loving the submissions for the anthology so far. I know everyone is going to love the anthology!
