Borders, Inc., Court TV and Gather.com, today announced an alliance designed to find "The Next Great Crime Writer" through a multiplatform contest.
The contest will run in conjunction with the second season of Court TV's hit real-life series MURDER BY THE BOOK. Beginning today, Court TV viewers and Borders customers will have the opportunity to submit mystery/crime manuscripts to be evaluated and voted on by a community of readers, writers and aspiring authors on Gather.com. A panel of judges will select the Grand Prize Winner from a pool of finalists identified by the Gather.com community. The Grand Prize winner will receive a publishing and exclusive distribution contract with Borders, Inc. and $5,000 in advanced royalties. Complete contest details can be found at http://courttv.gather.com/ (please note: site goes live on Monday, October 1).
Court TV's MURDER BY THE BOOK, which premieres Monday, November 5, 10pm ET, is a 13-episode, one-hour series featuring best-selling crime authors including David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, and Harlan Coben. Court TV's promotion for the "Search for the Next Great Crime Writer" Contest will include on-air, Internet and guerilla marketing. Gather.com members and fans of crime fiction will have a unique opportunity to pose questions and interact with the authors via web site postings and interviews.
"Driving quality manuscript submissions is the key to any successful writing contest," said Borders Group, Inc. Executive Vice President, Merchandising and Marketing, Rob Gruen. "By joining forces with Court TV and Gather.com, we exponentially enhance the quantity and quality of submissions. This puts Borders in a unique position to make a dream come true for an aspiring and deserving writer."
"We are thrilled to launch yet another groundbreaking marketing initiative, which, for the first time, partners Court TV with Borders and Gather.com," says Mary Corigliano, senior vice president of marketing for Court TV. "Taking advantage of this multiplatform environment, we are extremely well positioned to lead the search to bring national attention to an unpublished mystery writer primed for his or her big break, while at the same time ultimately driving tune-in to our hit series MURDER BY THE BOOK."
Borders, Inc., a leading retailer of books, music, movies, gifts and stationary items, is the official retail sponsor of Gather.com. In addition to providing a guaranteed publishing and exclusive distribution contract and a $5,000 in advanced royalties, Borders will also promote the contest through its "Shortlist," a weekly e-mail sent to members of the Borders Rewards loyalty program, which now has more than 20 million members, and in Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide.
"Clearly, we are setting a trend here, using our base of loyal members in our strong social network to partner with two leading companies in their respective fields," says Tom Gerace (tom.gather.com), founder and CEO of Gather.com. "The Gather.com, Borders and Court TV alliance is a powerful mix of media that delivers a multi-faceted platform to identify, vet and elevate aspiring mystery writers."
Making the contest truly special will be an expert judging panel that includes three of this season's featured MURDER BY THE BOOK novelists, Sandra Brown, David Baldacci and Harlan Coben. These best-selling authors will draw on their expertise in the field as they select the "Next Great Crime Writer" from the top five finalists.
