The Lulu Blooker Prize

No, I didn’t misspell that. The Lulu Blooker Prize is a prize devoted to books which have their origins in blogs. As the name of the prize suggests, the prize is sponsored by Lulu, a pretty popular print-on-demand service that enables authors to have their books published pretty inexpensively and flexibly. The first prize is $10 000 and a tremendous amount of exposure by virtue of being the winner of the prize. There are also category prizes of $2 500 each.

I took a look at the list of entrants and look what I found:

Our very own Tertia Albertyn has entered her book, So Close, for consideration. I’m certainly holding thumbs and toes for Tertia. According to the site, the short list will be published on Monday, 12 March 2007 so we’ll know who will be up for the prizes then. If you are wondering who the judges are, they include Paul Jones, Arianna Huffington and Julie Powell (the first winner of the prize in 2006).

What I find really exciting about this prize is that it celebrates the writing we see on blogs every day and highlights the fact that a blog could just be the beginning of a publishing career. In fact, Tertia is a great example of a person who began writing about her experiences with IVF and her struggle to fall pregnant and those writings translated into a wonderful, powerful and heart wrenching book.

Tags: lulu blooker prize, lulu, self-publishing, tertia albertyn, so close, arianna huffington, paul jones, julie powell