A writing contest where the winner takes it all

CHENNAI: Bynge, an app by Notion Press where writers can publish serialised fiction and non-fiction in an ongoing series format in English, Hindi, and Tamil for readers to read, is organising a national writing contest, called ‘The Hunt for India’s Next Big Writer’.

Talking to DT Next about the contest, Naveen Valsakumar, CEO and co-founder of Notion Press says, “We want aspiring writers to reach their readers better. This contest is an initiative to identify and nurture up-and-coming writers and support them in every way we can.”

The contest is open to writers over the age of 13 with no bar in regards to theme and genre and is left to the participants.

The contest which began its registration is closing its date for submission on July 10. Winners will be chosen through a panel of publishing experts and editors and through reader’s ratings on the Bynge app.

Winners will be given a cash prize and a chance to feature in an anthology.

Talking about why the theme was open to the writers and why voting through reader’s ratings, he says, “We want to be more inclusive for the young writers who might want to write on a particular topic or might have a theme that is more relevant. However, we will be judging the work through means of sentence structure, tone, grammar, and story-telling techniques and marking them accordingly. Other than that, we will also have readers on the Bynge app rate the works sent by the writers.

“This voting system is to make the writer aware of the market taste, on what sells and what doesn’t. This insight helps them understand what the readers are looking for and curate content for them accordingly.”

With several contemporary reading apps coming up with innovative ways to keep their users and contributors engaged, Naveen says that Bynge as of now is only working on giving quality content to its readers.“India is a large country with a huge chunk of unnurtured talent. We are looking at fine-tuning such writers and providing them with a platform to showcase their talent. However, we have partnered with quite a few studios for projects.”

“The contest is not going to be a yearly or monthly affair. We are looking at having it as frequent and recurrent as possible in order to provide more opportunities to people who rely on such contests,” he concludes.