The Arrowhead Library System (ALS) joins libraries throughout the state in announcing the call for entries in this year’s Minnesota Author Project statewide contest for independently-published Young Adult and Adult Fiction.  This is the contest’s fourth year. The Minnesota Author Project Communities Create category, introduced last year, is also inviting entries for its second year. Communities Create seeks creative written work by Minnesota organizations and communities.
Submissions in all three categories will be accepted from April 1-May 31, 2021.
 For the Young Adult and Adult Fiction categories, winners will receive:
- $1000 each in adult and young adult categories (provided by the Minnesota Library Foundation and BiblioLabs)
- Honors at the 2022 spring Indie Author Project Reception
- Opportunities to promote your book(s) at Minnesota public libraries
- Inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal
- Opportunities to earn royalties through the Indie Author Project Select collection
- If available, print copies of your book will be purchased and made available for checkout through Minnesota’s public libraries.
- Inclusion and promotion in Indie Minnesota, a digital collection of local authors available on BiblioBoard Library. (Winners and finalists)
- Multiple submissions are welcome.
Each book that is submitted to the contest must be:
- Indie-published
- In an adult fiction or young adult fiction genre
- Written by a Minnesota resident
- Available in either ePUB or PDF file
For the Communities Create category, the winning organization/group will receive:
- $1,000 cash prize (provided by the Minnesota Library Foundation and Bibliolabs)
- Honors at the 2021 Minnesota Library Conference
- Honorary plaque
- Printing of the winning book
- Opportunity to have the winning book available throughout the state in the Indie Minnesota collection on BiblioBoard Library
- Media promotion throughout Minnesota
Each book that is submitted to the Communities Create contest must be:
- Created by a Minnesota-based organization or group
- A recommended minimum length of 10,000 words or 20 pages
- Available in either ePub or PDF format
For additional details, visit:
https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/minnesota/ for the Adult and Young Adult categories
https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/minnesota-creates/ for the Communities Create category
For free resources to get started and for a link to the Indie Minnesota Collection, visit https://www.mnwritesmnreads.org/
And everyone, writers and readers alike, is encouraged to check out the indie Minnesota library. Download the Biblioboard Library app or go to https://library.biblioboard.com/module/indie-minnesota.
