Calling All Independent Maryland KidLit Creators!

Maryland Writers’ Association is sponsoring “Support Indie Summer,” a reading challenge for K-12 students, featuring independent Maryland authors and illustrators from Maryland Writers Association and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. If you are a member of MWA and/or SCBWI and a resident of Maryland with an independently published book, you qualify!

PARTICIPANTS

If you would like to be a participating author or illustrator, you and one of your books will be featured and promoted in the program. The cost to participate is $35.

What you get:

• Participants will be promoted directly to bookstores, libraries, readers and parents, schools, scouting groups, and homeschooling groups. They will also be promoted with one Tweet, Facebook post, and Instagram post from MWA.
• The participants bio, a photo of the participant and/or featured book, a website link, social media handles, and one book purchase link will be featured on MWA’s Support Indie Summer webpage.
• MWA will purchase one copy of the participant's featured book for inclusion in prizes for readers. That’s right--part of your $35 participation fee will be spent on your own book!
• Participants can choose to do YouTube readings of their picture books or first pages of a middle grade or YA novel, and/or can create activity sheet downloads as a part of the challenge.
  
  

QUALIFYING BOOK

• This book is self-published or published through vanity/subsidy publishing,
• there was no editorial process offered to author prior to publication,
• there are no means of broad distribution to retail customers,
• and there are no means of marketing provided for the author.
  
  

ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Readers can download a gameboard on which to mark their points. They earn points through activities like reading a participant's book, watching an participant's reading, leaving reviews, posting to social media about the challenge, doing a participant's activity sheet, etc.

Once a reader has earned ten points, they can go to a link to fill out a survey to be entered into a drawing to win a stack of books from their selected genre, e.g. Picture Book, Middle Grade, YA, or Graphic. Your book will be a part of a reader’s prize package!

The challenge will run from June through August. The reader drawing for prize books will take place in September.

To sign up, go to https://tinyurl.com/MWAIndieSummer21.

* PARTICIPANT SIGN-UP DEADLINE IS MAY 8, 2021 *

Not an independent kidlit creator?

There's still a role for you! Be on the lookout for information on how to support your fellow creators in the Indie Summer 2021 program. Start by following MWA on
Twitter: @marylandwriters
Instagram: @marylandwriters
Facebook: @MarylandWritersAssociation