Poisoned Pen Press Announces Discover Mystery Award

Poisoned Pen Press has announced the inauguration of its Discover Mystery Award, a first book contest specifically for unpublished writers trying to break into the mystery genre. The winner will receive a cash prize and a publishing contract with Poisoned Pen Press.

Founded in 1997, Poisoned Pen Press is one of the country's leading independent mystery book publishers. For the first time in its history, Poisoned Pen Press is opening their submissions to previously unpublished writers through the Discover Mystery Awards Program. Writers now have the opportunity to submit their manuscripts to Poisoned Pen Press without the need for a query letter — or the worry of having a manuscript rejected outright.

"We take our mission to discover mystery very seriously and pride ourselves on finding great new voices in the world of mystery fiction," said Jessica Tribble, Publisher as Poisoned Pen Press. "We are looking for fresh, new voices and created the Discover Mystery Award as a means of giving unpublished mystery writers an open invitation to submit their manuscripts to Poisoned Pen Press. We would like to encourage writers to pull out that manuscript they've had hidden in their desks, dust off the keyboard, and finish that mystery, or finally do something about that novel idea that has been bouncing around in their heads. We can't wait to see what we'll discover."

Entries of unpublished manuscripts between 60,000 and 90,000 words must be received by the publisher by April 30th, 2012, and an entry fee does apply. Entries will be judged by members of the Poisoned Pen Press editorial staff, along with celebrity guest judge crime novelist Dana Stabenow. The Discover Mystery Award will be presented on May 31st, 2012.

Visit the Discover Mystery Contest page on the Poisoned Pen Press website for more information.