For my literary friends scattered all over asking for
a birthday party this it. The call for entry for this
year’s NLNG competition is out. As usual, a lot of
writers embraced the news with joy.
Every year there is always a judges report before
awarding the prize. I am wondering how many people have sat down to read this report to know
why their submission did not scale through or the
criteria used by the judges in the competition. It is
necessarily not just for winning but also because
you want to be better in your craft.
Let me digress a bit. I expected to make a 2:1 in law school but I did not. I took a trip to school and
called for a breakdown of my result and I found out
that i only needed another A instead of a B to
make a 2:1. I cried because Unfortunately there is
no next time.
For the NLNG I read every judge’s report to see what I did not do well. Mercifully there is a next
time.
How many people bother to find out what the
criteria for judging the competition will be based
on.
For those who want to submit their works, are you aware that you have enough time to ‘touch up’
your book and do some repackaging quickly before
April deadline instead of sending your book off just
like that.
For my friends who write Drama and hoping to put
it in for the competition next year, do you know you have ample time to still work on it and reprint
or republish to better your chances ( I am assuming
you want to win).
The plank of my advice is based on two grounds;
1. What is worth doing is worth doing well
2. The bible asks the man who wants to build a house to first of count the cost lest he starts and
does not finish and be laughed at.
Now let us examine part of the judges report for
2012. I will quote the judges copiously
‘the 2012 attracted 214 entries under the
following criteria 1. Quality
2. Relevance to Nigerian situation
3. Vivid presentation of character and plot
4. Use of language
‘The initial short list was based on such factors as
overall packaging and other aesthetic elements, appropriateness of title, year of publication etc.
only 58 entries made it to this round(that is
from214 books)’
‘The panel of judges wishes to state that poor
quality of production is still a fundamental problem
affecting Nigerian literature. Some entries which would have stood a better chance of winning this
prize were marred by problems attendant upon
poor publishing.’
‘some books failed to rise to the final stage
because of issues like poor editing, proof reading,
binding and other publishing errors. Nigerian publishers ought to realize that this prize was an
international one’
In 2011, the judges said, ‘a total of 126 entries
were received. The initial short list was based on
such technical points as the year of publication,
appropriateness of title of the entry, overall packaging or visual aesthetics and illustrations.
Only 42 entries made it pass this stage.’
The last time the poetry prize was not awarded,
has any of the poets bothered to find out why so
that there won’t be a repeat.
I am not against vanity publishing or self publishing because there is no way only 3 or 4 publishing
houses can cater according to the politicians to the
‘teeming population’ of writers. However, you
must do your part. By the way, Adeleke
Adeyemi’s book, ‘missing clock’ was self
published and mine ‘The Great Fall’ was vanity publishing however it took me 3 years of editing
and editing to come out with that children’s book.
( mercifully today I have publishing houses who
want to publish me but am currently signed on with
publishers).
Next article what I think a self published writer or aspiring self published writer must do. In the
meantime use the criteria above and go through
that work before mailing it out.
Thank you.
I wish you luck

http://www.chinyeresworld./2013/03/06/what-are-the-nlng-judges-looking-for/

This is a nice thread that needs follow-up comments.