What to submit?
A short proposal of 250 words consisting of the basic idea, a brief background and/or characterisation and/or plot summary along with a sample excerpt of 250 words from the manuscript. Proposals could be fiction or non-fiction in English.
When to submit?
The deadline for submissions is midnight IST on 20th September 2014.
LitMart Sessions for Selected applicants
- The pitch can be in any interesting format – storytelling, video, slide deck, but cannot exceed 3 minutes
- The pitch will be followed by a short Q&A from the jury/panel
- The jury evaluations and next steps will be announced once all the pitches have been completed
Terms & Conditions
- Only unpublished authors can apply to LitMart
- The Bangalore Literature Festival is only a facilitator via LitMart to connect aspiring authors with literary agents, commissioning editors and publishers. We cannot guarantee and do not promise any publication deals or commercial contracts from the event
- The decision of the jury is final and the Festival does not have any influence on the same
Guess how many words on this page so far? Yes, 250!
“If you can’t describe a book in one or two pithy sentences that would make you or your mother want to read it, then of course you can’t sell it.”Michael Korda, Simon & Schuster, 1984
Judges
Ajitha G.S.
Bio
Ajitha G.S. has been an editor in various media and formats for the past 17 years. She is currently senior commissioning editor, HarperCollins Publishers India.
Anuj Bahri
Bio
Anuj Bahri is the proprietor of the Red Ink literary agency.
Deepthi Talwar
Bio
Deepthi Talwar is an Editor with Westland.
Madhavi S Mahadevan
Bio
Madhavi Mahadevan has published three novels that are feminist retellings based on the Mahabharata. The Kaunteyas: Queen Kunti’s Mahabharata; Bride of the Forest: The Untold Story Of Yayati’s Daughter; The Forgotten Wife: The Story of Hidimbi and Bheem. She has also written two collections of short fiction, contributed to several anthologies and published award-winning books and short stories for children.
Mita Kapur
Bio
Mita Kapur is the founder and CEO of Siyahi, India’s leading literary consultancy. Her first book, The F-Word, is a food book, memoir and travelogue. She has edited Chillies and Porridge: Writing Food, an anthology of essays on food. As a freelance journalist, she writes regularly for different newspapers and magazines on social and development issues along with travel, food and lifestyle. She has received many awards, including the Femina Women Super Achiever Award (2018) at the World HRD Congress, the Maharani Gayatri Devi Award for Woman of Excellence (2014), and the Karamveer Puruskar (2009) for her work as a journalist in creating social awareness and for being the best literary consultant in the country. She curated Masala Chowk, a food court in street food in Jaipur in 2018, and was a member of the executive council for Jawahar Kala Kendra from November 2016 – October 2018. She is also the producer for the Woman Up! Summit, and Soul Connect Experiences, and was producer for Mountain Echoes – The Bhutan festival of Art, Literature and Culture (2010-2019). Mita is currently Literary Director for the JCB Prize for Literature.
Rashmi Menon
Bio
Rashmi Menon is Executive Editor at HarperCollins India. She has been a part of the publishing industry for more than fifteen years, commissioning and editing many bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction. Rashmi loves acquiring books that are both timely and timeless. When reading too many manuscripts makes her go cross-eyed, she switches to audiobooks in her non-stop quest to decode bestsellers.
Shinie Antony
Bio
Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bengaluru. Her books include Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith and Barefoot and Pregnant. She has compiled the anthologies Hell Hath No Fury, Boo, Why We Don’t Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, and co-edited exObjects: The Art of Holding On, Letting Go. Her story A Dog’s Death won the Commonwealth Short Story Asia prize in 2002. Her novella The Girl Who Couldn’t Love was shortlisted for MAMI Word to Screen 2018 and her novella Can’t was longlisted for the Crossword Book Awards 2024. Shinie is founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and festival director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival.
Vani Mahesh
Bio
Vani Mahesh is an author and researcher who explores the intersection of Indian heritage, culture, and technology. Books she has authored include Saptarshi – The Seven Supreme Sages, The Glory of Shiva Purana, Journey to the Throne, and the contemporary novel Meet Me in the Middle. She currently works as an AI professional at Infosys.
LitMart Grand Finale
3 PM – 5 PM
Saturday, Sep 27th 2014
Bookstore area