IMPORTANT UPDATE: CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 30, 2017

Here’s your chance to illustrate a book for Pratham Books' StoryWeaver and get paid for it! 

Some of us look at the word “tree” and doodle this:

And others conjure up something like this:

 

(Illustration by Archana Sreenivasan from 'Let's Go Seed Collecting')

or this:

(Illustration by Vinayak Varma from 'Jadav and the Tree Place')

If you belong to the second category, then this contest is right up your alley!

Who is Ameena?

We have got a fabulous story coming up - 'What is Ameena Upto?', written by Roopa Banerjee. It is a charming story about a girl called Ameena and the antics she gets up to when her family isn't looking. We know Ameena is a mischievous little girl with a big imagination. But what does she look like? What does her family and her home look like? All of that is up to you! This is your chance to illustrate a children’s book for Pratham Books StoryWeaver!

Here is an extract from the story ‘What is Ameena Upto?’

Everyone’s wondering what Ameena is up to on a sleepy Sunday afternoon. After all, where did the coconut shell, the paint, the buttons, and newspaper go?

The contest will be judged by award-winning illustrator, art director, writer, editor and overall publishing rockstar, Vinayak Varma. If we like your Ameena and vision the most, you will be chosen to sign a contract with us. You will get two months to illustrate the whole book, which will be published by Pratham Books on StoryWeaver. And yes, it’s a paid contract.

This is a Level 1 story, which is for children who are eager to begin reading. This is how pages of level 1 books look:

(From 'What If?', written and illustrated by Hari Kumar Nair)

Contest Guidelines

• The contest will run from August 9-30, 2017.

• Please send your illustration notes to [email protected].

• Participants must be over the age of 17 to participate.

• By submitting your original art work to 'Who is Ameena?' you are agreeing to a CC-BY license being applied to it (This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation). To know more about CC-BY, click here.

Format

• Size of illustration: 11.17 inches (width) x 5.35 inches (height). This is the recommended size as it fits neatly into one of the templates on StoryWeaver. 

• The illustrations should be high-res (150-300 dpi).

• Format: JPEG

• File size for each illustration: Between 2 to 4 MB; above 4 MB will slow down the upload process

For any queries, write to us at [email protected]!

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Our annual Retell, Remix and Rejoice contest is back… with a small twist! This year :

• You can choose from the whole universe of illustrations on the StoryWeaver platform and

• You have to create an engaging story for young reader (A  level 1 or 2 book. More details below)

A recent report ‘Mapping Children’s Literature in India’ by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Parag revealed a huge shortage of quality stories for our youngest readers (0-6 years), especially in Indian languages. We want your help in creating joyful stories for the next generation of bookworms to read, giggle and wonder at in English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi or Tamil. We asked Pratham Books’ editors to share the themes they felt engaging stories were most needed in. This is what they would like you to weave stories about:

• My body: Parts of the body, sensations, growing up.. Take a look at Rohini Nilekani’s ‘Listen to my Body’.

• My friends: Games we play, sharing, fighting, making up, being fair. Have you read ‘मेरा घर’ by Rukmini Banerjee.

• Animals around us: My pets, domestic and wild animals, birds and insects. ‘Ammu's Puppy’ by Sowmya Rajendran was one of the big hits of 2016 on StoryWeaver

• Travel: Using modes of transport in stories, visiting new places and culture, etc. Check out 'My Car' by Phidi Pulu.

• People around us: My teachers, shopkeepers, drivers, fruit-sellers, ice-cream wala, the gardener, mechanic, etc. Here's 'Phani's Slippers' by Sridala Swamy. 

• The world around me: Weather, nature, seasons, trees and flowers, every day science Have you read 'The Red Raincoat' by Kiran Kasturia.

About our Reading Levels

At Pratham Books we link levels to the child’s reading development, since we know 10-year-olds who are most comfortable with a Level 1 story, as well as 6-year-olds who can read Level 3 stories effortlessly. This happens across languages, too, as kids have different fluencies in different languages.

This year we’re asking you to be as creative as you can and convey as much as you can - using as few words as possible. Use our reading level guidelines as you create them.

Level 1 Books

• Easy words, word repetition

• Short sentences, less than 5 on a page

• Text and pictures should support each other

• Big fonts

• Rhyme and rhythm

• Word range: 0 to 250

Level 2 Books

• Simple concepts (especially in non-fiction)

• Stories with linear, engaging plots

• Word range: 250 to 600

Guidelines for Submission

Timelines:

Contest ends on April 30, 2017.

Copyright and other guidelines

• All stories submitted must be your original work.

• Stories must be in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil or Marathi.

• Participants must be over the age of 17 to participate (we’re organising an exciting contest for children later in the year)

• By submitting your work to Retell, Remix and Rejoice 2017, you are agreeing to a CC-BY license being applied to it (This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation). To know more about CC-BY, click here.

• For queries, write to us at [email protected]

• While we encourage participation from all countries, prizes shall be couriered only within India.

How to enter

You can submit your story for Retell, Remix and Rejoice 2017

1. using illustrations from our image bank

2. by uploading your own illustrations

3. or as text only

Here’s a quick video tutorial on how to create stories on StoryWeaver.

However you choose to create your entry it MUST be via the Retell, Remix and Rejoice contest page, by clicking on the button below:

Oh and before you go… here’s a quick reminder of the prize this year

The three best manuscripts will receive  detailed feedback from our Senior Editors at Pratham Books. One of the finalist entries will be chosen for re-illustration by a children’s book illustrator.

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At Pratham Books, we believe in the power of stories – good stories. For well over a decade we have strived hard to reach children across India with a variety of award-winning stories across 18 Indian languages. With our digital crowd-sourcing platform – StoryWeaver we now share the power of stories with a global community of educators, parents, authors, illustrators and translators.

StoryWeaver is a digital repository of openly-licensed, multilingual children's stories. It allows its users to read, create and translate stories into Indian and international languages in the hope that children across the world can read quality stories in a language of their choice.

Currently, we're looking for a full-time, Junior Editorial Assistant to join our Digital Team in Bangalore.

As a Junior Editorial Assistant at StoryWeaver, this is what will keep you busy:

• Working with graphic designer to help design and adapt books and other content  for StoryWeaver

• Uploading books on StoryWeaver which involves tagging stories and images in a way that makes it accessible to users

• Co-ordinating with the administrative team for documentation, records and payments (contracts, work orders, etc)

• Identifying open repositories/opportunities to bring more stories onto StoryWeaver

Preferred Requirements

• Degree in Literature/Journalism/Mass Communication/Media /Language

• Good communication skills in English

• 1-2 years of work experience; freshers may also apply

• Ability to multi-task and coordinate between different stakeholders

• Capable of working within a team and tight deadlines

• Tech-savvy

• Sharp eye for copy

• Love for languages

• Be a good team player

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Please send your resume to [email protected] with 'Junior Editorial Assistant for StoryWeaver' in the subject line of the email.

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

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