CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

Initiated in 1990, The Barbara Savage Miles from Nowhere Memorial Award is given for unpublished books by first-time authors that meet The Mountaineers’ general criteria for non-fiction adventure narratives. Proposals submitted from authors meeting this criteria are automatically considered for this additional $2500 grant. The award program commemorates the late Barbara Savage, author of the book Miles from Nowhere, published by The Mountaineers Books in 1983.

Barbara was killed in a cycling accident shortly before the book’s publication; the story of Barbara and Larry Savage’s two-year, 25,000-mile, round-the-world bicycle adventure continues, however, to embrace a wide readership and to generate letters from readers who have come to know Barbara through her book. The author’s husband, Larry Savage, created this award in cooperation with The Mountaineers Books by donating royalties to encourage adventure writing in the genre of Miles from Nowhere.

The Award:

Authors of winning manuscripts will receive a cash award, a guaranteed advance against royalties, and publication by The Mountaineers Books.

Eligibility Criteria

The winning manuscript will be a compelling nonfiction account of a personal, muscle-powered outdoor adventure. It will vividly convey a sense of the risks, joys, hardships, disappointments, triumphs, moments of humor, and accidents of fate that are inevitably part of such a journey. It will recognize the fact that we are all, like it or not, unwitting adventurers in a strange landscape.

There is no longer an established deadline for submitting manuscripts for consideration for the award. Grant money will be awarded at the sole discretion of the acquisitions editors and management team of The Mountaineers Books.

Requirements:

Manuscripts for consideration must be book-length (minimum 30,000 words, maximum 70,000 words) original works, previously unpublished in the English language. The author must hold all rights to the work submitted. Submissions may be made by authors' literary agents. A complete manuscript is not required as a submission, but entries must include a minimum of four completed chapters in final style, plus a fully detailed chapter outline of the entire book. Send submissions typed double spaced on 8-1/2" x 11" paper, printed on one side only (clean photocopies are acceptable). Do not send computer disks. Accompany entries with a cover letter that includes:

1. The author's full legal name, address, and phone numbers (home and business)
2. A brief autobiography that covers the author's credentials to write this book
3. A statement of previous writing credits, if any, and membership in any writers' groups or other affiliations having any bearing on the manuscript.

The entry may have more than one author, but anthologies or collections are not acceptable. More than one entry may be submitted.

Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged only if entrant encloses a stamped, self-addressed postcard. Submissions will be returned only if appropriate return postage and instructions are supplied.

Past Award Winners:

• Miles From Nowhere
• American Discoveries
• Himalayan Passage
• Where The Pavement Ends
• Spirited Waters
• A Blistered Kind of Love

Send query letters, manuscripts, and/or proposals to:

Acquisitions
The Barbara Savage Miles from Nowhere Memorial Award
The Mountaineers Books
1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201
Seattle WA 98134 USA