Thank you for your interest in the Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author Project.
Which contest is for me?
We offer two library-driven contests each year to support Illinois authors. Submission details for each project are below.
Illinois Author Project for Indie and Self-published authors
The 2023 contest closed to submissions on June 1, 2023.
- Click the link for details about the prizes available.
- Each book that is submitted to the contest must be:
- Indie-published
- In an adult fiction or young adult fiction genre
- Written by an Illinois resident
- Available in either ePUB (strongly encouraged) or PDF file
This year's contest is in its judging phases.
2023 Manuscript Project for Authors
Here is how our contest works:
- Participating authors must live in Illinois, and the manuscript being submitted must be unpublished and in an adult fiction genre.
- Submissions must meet certain other criteria in order to be eligible. Please verify that your manuscript includes:
- A Title Page with the following:
- Title (Working)
- Author Name
- Word count number (entries must be no fewer than 50,000 and no more than 100,000 words)
- A Synopsis on the title page (50 words or less)
- An Author Bio also on the title page (100 words or less)
- The Manuscript itself must be formatted as a single Word Doc or PDF
- 12 pt (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman)
- 1.5 line spacing
- Multiple files not accepted.
Note: failure to meet criteria may result in disqualification for the entry.
The 2023 contest is now in its judging phases. Click here for a list of semi-finalists.