Buckle-up bookworms, as we crack back the covers to follow the footnotes of this twisted plot that has more pulp than a paperback!

Picture this as a children’s story that starts with…

Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night, a writer entered the fiction category of a book competition.

Two books were entered.

Sadly, the writer’s books never made the shortlist.

And the writer was okay with that until it was discovered…

Those two book entries were never read!

The cliched plot thickens…

30+ books were entered into this competition.

The entries included an amazing selection of children’s books, memoirs, novellas, short stories, and poetry by many talented authors.

However, proven by date-stamped data and other sources, two books remain unread in this competition.

Did these book judges judge a book by its cover?

“Did these book judges judge a book by its cover?”

Like most competitions, judges are either voluntary or they are paid for their valued services. But is it okay when a competition manager says this about their judges, “… I did not expect that they read every word of every entry.”

So how many other hopeful book entries in this competition were left unread?

Reading between the shortlisted lines…

As we continue to wade through this tawdry tale, the competition’s shortlists were proudly proclaimed.

Congratulations to all those nominated. Even those in the shortlist for the fiction category where some could be argued in certain publishing circles as being creative non-fiction.

But as we flip the page, another storyline emerged…

Someone far removed from the competition, noticed that among the fiction category’s shortlist stood the name of a board member. A board member to the group managing the competition.

To dare dream of a fair finale

They say troubled times helps to create a good character arc in a story, so the blue-collared writer penned a letter to the board who manages the competition.

Their plot twisted response— “…legal action…”  in a letter from the board’s President and Executive Director.

How’s that for irony, when a place claiming to promote all writers is threatening to sue a writer for writing!

“…a place claiming to promote all writers is threatening to sue a writer for writing!”

It’s enough to want to hide at the bottom of a publisher’s slush pile, never to be read again.

But then the Executive decided to change the rules after the shortlist was announced to claim “…it was the judges final decision”. 

You read that right, books not read and rules changed and they charged people for entering too! What sort of book competition is that?

Should a refund of the entry fee be requested while warning all other hopefuls to not bother?

Or is the entire story on this page fiction or creative non-fiction?

You be the judge!

*Author’s Note: I’d like to pass on my sincerest congratulations to all authors everywhere who publishes a book, it’s a tough task so you’re all winners in my book! 

Yeah, I had to sneak that last pun in.  :O)