News – Corvus Announces Month-Long Talent Scout

Corvus, the women’s fiction imprint at Atlantic Books, is on the hunt for a new romantic novelist and will launch a talent scouting competition in September in conjuction with book discovery website Lovereading.co.uk.

The LoveAtFirstWrite talent scout, which will run for one month between September 12 and October 12 2014, will encourage aspiring writers to send in their proposal for a romantic novel, based around a couple’s first meeting.

From Romeo and Juliet’s fateful kiss to Elizabeth’s clash with Mr. Darcy at the Meryton ball, writers have proved that true love springs from the most unlikely of encounters. LoveAtFirstWrite is looking for a romantic novel with an original set-up, written with flair and charm, so that its creator can find their happy-ever-after with their new publisher.

Entrants for LoveAtFirstWrite should be able to describe their characters’ first meeting in a tweet, followed by a book synopsis and first chapter (no longer than 5,000 words) emailed to loveatfirstwrite@atlantic-books.co.uk. Entries will be read by the Corvus editorial team, then whittled down to a shortlist, which will be judged by a dedicated panel of experts, including Maddie West (Corvus Editorial Director), Sarah Broadhurst (Lovereading Lead Reviewer), Elisabeth Gifford (author of The Secrets of the Sea House) and Lindsey Mooney (Kobo Vendor Manager, UK & Ireland).

The winner will be announced in November 2014, and will have their novel published by Corvus as an eBook and paperback original in 2015.