What They're Talking About

15th Annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards: 2008 Women’s Crime & Mystery Short Story Competition

$3100 worth of prizes

Harper Collins First Prize: $750 & the coveted Scarlet Stiletto Trophy Donated by Sally Brown

Kill City 2nd prize: $400

Readings Books Films Music Third Prize: $250 (voucher)

Allen & Unwin Young Writer’s Award: $250

The Kerry Greenwood Malice Domestic Award: $500

The Cate Kennedy Award for Best New Talent: $350

The Dorothy Porter Award for Innovation: $250

Pulp Fiction Bookshop: Funniest Crime Award: $150 (voucher)

Chronicles Bookshop: Best Investigative story $200

Thanks also to Spinifex Books

Story length: 5000 words max.

Entry: $10

Closing date: August 31, 2008

Judges: National Convenors, Sisters in Crime

Entry form attached

Further information: Sisters in Crime, GPO Box 5319, Melbourne 3001 or ring Carmel Shute: (03) 9537 2781 (a/h); 0412 569 356

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PRESS RELEASE

AUSTRALIA’S INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS

LAUNCH NEW ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE

THE ‘INDIE’ AWARD

Australia’s independent booksellers will show their support for Australian authors with the launch of their major new prize, The Indie Award.

The $18,000 prize will honour an Australian author for the best book of the past twelve months, with the winner to be announced on Monday 6^th October 2008. The award is being managed by Leading Edge Books, a group of independent bookstores with member stores across Australia, both metropolitan and regional, including many of Australia’s iconic independent bookshops. The award will demonstrate independent booksellers’ commitment to Australian books and writers, with over 120 bookshops working together to sponsor this annual award.

Leading Edge Books General Manager Chris Burgess says the launch of The Indie Award is an exciting initiative for independent booksellers.

“Independent bookshops make up over 20% of all books sold in Australia and maintain a strong and vibrant position in the market. This compares very favourably with about 10% in the UK and only 5% in the US. Independent bookstores hold a special place in the hearts of their customers as havens of enjoyment, stimulation and relaxation in an ever-busier world. We feel the launch of The Indie Award sees them take their rightful place in the spotlight as key supporters of Australian authors. Their incredible passion and knowledge of books makes them uniquely placed to judge and recommend the best Australian books of the past year to their customers and the general reading public.”

Over 100 titles have been submitted to The Indie Award panel in the categories of Fiction, Debut Fiction, Non Fiction and Children’s Books. Independent booksellers around the country are now madly reading, with the winner from each of the four categories to be announced on 25^th August. The winner of The Indie Award for the book of the year will be chosen by the booksellers from the four shortlist category winners and announced on Monday 6^th October.

The initiative has received wide support from across the entire industry as these messages indicate:

“Everywhere else in the English-speaking world, bookselling has become the province of chains, of massive centralisation, of venality and a steady loss of competence on the shop floor. Thank God we still have booksellers passionately committed to our shared reading culture. This is something we must not give up. For nearly thirty years I've made a living from writing fiction in this country with the steady support of independent bookshops. This year I've been lucky enough to have a novel reach the top of the bestseller lists. A literary novel at number one. Hand-sold all the way there by people who take books personally.”

Tim Winton, Author

“The independent bookselling sector is stronger, more vibrant and more important in Australia than anywhere in the English-speaking world. This is good for authors, good for publishers and above all good for readers. As independent publishers we applaud our bookseller colleagues for their initiative in creating and sponsoring this award.”

Patrick Gallagher, Executive Chairman and Publishing Director, Allen & Unwin

For media enquiries and further information contact: Chris Burgess

On telephone: 02 9497 4022  Fax: 02 8208 3274  E: burgessc@leadingedgegroup.com.au

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Strolling around the best of the blogs this weekend I came across this:

Crime in Singapore

"The notoriously crime-free island state of Singapore (equally notorious for executing or caning some of thse who do practice criminal trades there) is the setting for the first in a new series of "Asian Crime" fiction from a Singapore imprint, Heliconia."

More things to read people!

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Genre Flash 2 has just been released.

Click for catalogue of Sisters in Crime and Friends current and upcoming books.

Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction Headlines What They're Talking About What We're Talking About Australia

The Murderers' Club is now available in the UK and Ireland. Check out the cover on my website:

http://www.pdmartin.com.au/news.asp?id=62

And if you're in that part of the world or know someone in the UK or Ireland, please let them know about the new book!

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