Kakao Entertainment announced on the 27th that it will hold the '5th Kakao Page X Changbi English Adult Novel Award' contest in collaboration with the publisher Changbi.
Since 2020, Kakao Entertainment and Changbi have been hosting the English Adult Novel Award contest, leading the development of the Korean-style English adult genre. The first grand prize-winning work, the SF blockbuster Snowball, has been exported to 10 countries including the United States, Italy, and France, and its adaptation into a film has been confirmed. It also recorded a cumulative 1.02 million views on Kakao Page.
Other works discovered and published include 1931 Heupchalmajeon (1st contest excellence award), The Time of the Abandoned Spaceship (1st contest Kakao Page special selection), Sosohage Choindeuri Moyeoseo, Sochomo (2nd contest excellence award), No Humans Land (3rd contest grand prize), The Night the Storm Chased (3rd contest excellence award), and How School Became Home by Chance (4th contest excellence award). The 4th grand prize-winning work Tunnel is also scheduled for publication.
This year’s contest will award 20 million KRW to one grand prize winner and 5 million KRW to excellence award winners, with the number of excellence awards subject to the judging results. All winning works will have the opportunity to be serialized on Kakao Page and published as print and e-books by Changbi.
The contest is open to all genres for applicants from youth to adults. It covers all genres including adventure, SF fantasy, and romance.
Applications can be submitted via email from the 26th until March 24th of next year. Required documents include an application form, story treatment, and three copies of the main manuscript. Manuscripts should be at least 350 pages (over 70,000 characters) for unfinished works and at least 600 pages (over 120,000 characters) for completed works, with a maximum length of 1,250 pages (250,000 characters), based on 200-character manuscript sheets. Both new and established writers are eligible to apply. Final winners will be announced on May 15th next year through Kakao Page notices and the Changbi website after preliminary and final judging.
A Kakao Entertainment official stated, "The English Adult Novel Award has produced numerous bestsellers and established itself as the representative contest for Korean-style English adult novels. We look forward to great synergy between Kakao Entertainment, which holds the largest original intellectual property (IP) and an independent global platform network, and Changbi, a leader in the English adult genre and publishing industry, to create outstanding English adult novels that will thrive globally."
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