Inkshares, the crowdfunded book publisher (kind of like if Kickstarter and GoodReads had a baby…that was also a publisher?) and Nerdist are expanding on their successful 2015 collaboration to include Nerdist’s sister site, Geek & Sundry.

Starting this month and continuing through March 15, Inkshares is looking for submissions for the next great Space Opera, to become part of the Nerdist and Geek & Sundry curated collection.

Today we announce the first of six publishing contests, alternating between our friends at Nerdist and Geek & Sundry. Each contest will aim to find a book within a specific theme, to be announced at the launch of each contest (and sometimes before). The rules will be the same as previous contests. We’re looking for the top three books in terms of unique-reader pre-order counts within the specified time period. For this contest, that means any pre-order placed between February 1, 2016, and March 15, 2016. All three winners will be published by Inkshares even if they haven’t reached their pre-order goal. One (or more) will be selected by Nerdist or Geek & Sundry to be in their collection on Inkshares. This contest will find the next great… SPACE OPERA!!! We’re thrilled about this for a couple of reasons. At Inkshares HQ we grew up reading Asimov, Herbert, Card, and Heinlein, which sparked our passion for all kinds of books. And then there was that little movie that just came out, what was it again? Oh yeah… STAR WARS, which made us feel like wide-eyed kids all over again. So if you’ve written or are writing a book about an adventure that takes place in space, we hope you’ll consider submitting to this second Nerdist contest. It just may be the next story to capture the imagination of the world, or better yet, the entire universe. Yours,

The Inkshares Team”

If you’ve never heard of Inkshares before today (I hadn’t), here’s a bit how the process works: You come up with a pitch, draft it, get members of the Inkshares community to give you feedback, then start a book campaign to get it published. Once you reach 250 pre-ordered copies, Inkshares will get to work – having their professional editors take a pass at the manuscript and generally doing all those wonderful publisher-ey things (marketing, distribution, production) that make many authors’ brains leak out their ears.

Obviously, the contest is a little different, in that you’re shooting for as many pre-orders as you can get, not just 250. As an author who went through indie publishing, then self-publishing (for the same book…loooooong story) the “one-stop-shop” model backed by respectable organizations appeals to me. I especially like that you have your social platform and Beta readers all in the same place.

So if you think that Lucas was a hack and you could do so much better (didn’t he realize that the Wampa was the true unsung hero of Empire?), then it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Drop over to the Inkshares site, create a profile, and create a new “space opera” themed project. You then have a little over a month to craft a successful campaign – throw a synopsis out there, offer up some sample chapters, put together an eye-catching cover, whatever it takes to hook the audience!

I’m intrigued enough that I’ll be taking part in this too – kind of like my own themed NaNoWriMo; but in February…so NaFreWriSpaOp (I’ll work on the acronym)? Is it possible I’ll get completely trounced by authors with far more experience on the Inkshares platform? If that doesn’t happen, I’ll be shocked. But at the very least, I’ll have dipped my toes into a new publishing paradigm and I’ll be that much more ready when the next Nerdist or Geek & Sundry contest is announced.

You can find me on Inkshares right here.

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