New Zealand-Based Booktrack Launches Writing Contest with Hugh Howey
Booktrack, the New Zealand-based eBook soundtrack company, has partnered with best-selling author Hugh Howey and digital writing community Wattpad to launch a competition that will reward creativity in words and music with up to $20,000 in prizes.
Founded in Auckland in 2008, Booktrack allows users to create synchronized soundtracks for eBooks and other digital text content, with the audio paced to match individuals’ reading speeds. The company’s patented technology offers a music content creation and distribution platform that turns reading into an immersive movie-like experience. In 2012, Booktrack won the New Zealand Innovators Awards for Innovation in Media, Music and Entertainment.
By partnering with Howey and Wattpad, Booktrack is offering Howey’s fans a unique opportunity to express themselves through both words and music.
Writers are being encouraged to write fan fiction stories based on Howey’s novel Half Way Home and submit the content to Booktrack—potentially with a soundtrack. Music fans are urged to create their own Booktracks for Half Way Home.
The winning writer will earn a $5,000 prize, as well as editorial feedback on the piece from Howey himself. Finalists will earn $1,000 prizes.
The soundtrack winner will receive a $5,000 prize, as well as the chance to co-produce a soundtrack for Howey’s latest novel The Hurricane.
“Storytelling can be so much more than mere words. I love what Booktrack makes possible. Now, a soundscape can heighten our reading experience,” Howey says. “This competition is perfect for bringing fans into a creative collaboration. I can’t wait to see what immersive and inspired experience they help create.”
The contest ends July 31, 2014. Submissions can be entered online here.
