We were invited this Saturday, January 5, in Deauville, to the presentation of the Unpublished Novel and Thriller Prize awarded respectively to Claire Sibille and Céline Picard . This competition, imagined by Editions Novice , in partnership with Espaces Culturels Leclerc, Franciscaines de Deauville and Édith & Nous, offers a second chance to all authors who have not yet found a publisher. At the end of passionate deliberations, two manuscripts rejected by publishing houses were selected
We were invited this Saturday, January 5, in Deauville, to the presentation of the Unpublished Novel and Thriller Prize awarded respectively to Claire Sibille and Céline Picard . This competition, imagined by Editions Novice , in partnership with Espaces Culturels Leclerc, Franciscaines de Deauville and Édith & Nous, offers a second chance to all authors who have not yet found a publisher. At the end of passionate deliberations, two manuscripts rejected by publishing houses were selected by a jury composed of booksellers and chaired by the sponsors of this edition, Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Thomas Cantaloube. These manuscripts became published books, Inventories and The Punishment of Blood , which will be published on February 11.
We took advantage of a downpour of rain in Normandy to take shelter and interview the two winners and their publisher...
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE JOURNEY OF YOUR BOOK
Céline Picard: I wrote this novel in 2023. After reading a lot of advice on “how to publish your manuscript”, I selected ten thriller publishers whose catalog I appreciate and I submitted my manuscript to them. Of these submissions, only four responses, all negative, came back to me: XO, Plon, Cosmopolis and La Manufacture des livres. Two of them offered to self-publish via Librinova and even gave me a promo code to “benefit from additional services” on this platform.
Claire Sibille: I completed this novel around the time the story ends, at the end of 2023, and I had a circle of first readers reread it. They allowed me to gain confidence in the book while making essential corrections. In the fall of 2023, I met a literary agent, Georgia Terzakou, who immediately agreed to take on the novel and offered it to nine publishing houses in early 2023. La Manufacture des livres and Dalva n did not respond, Mercure de France said that it was not the right time and Grasset indicated that he was no longer taking first-time novelists. The Dilettante and the Restless Books refused without really giving a reason. Finally for The Tripode, The Observatory and The Iconoclast , the text was not suitable.
HOW DID YOU DISCOVER THE PRICES FOR UNPUBLISHED NOVELS AND UNPUBLISHED THRILLERS
Céline Picard: Following these refusals, a friend advised me to submit my manuscripts to Édith & Nous, which she had recently heard about, which I did. Then in June 2023, I received an email from Edith & Nous informing me of the Call for Manuscripts for the Unpublished Thriller Prize organized by the Novice publishing house. I did not hesitate to participate.
Claire Sibille: I came across the call for manuscripts for the competition on Facebook, on the Édith & Nous page. I signed up for three months when the site launched and so I still receive their information. I sent my manuscript straight away.
HOW DID THE EDITORIAL WORK ON THE TEXT TAKE PLACE
Céline Picard: With Timothé Guillotin, founder of the Novice publishing house which launched this Unpublished Crime Prize, we got to the heart of the matter quickly. We discussed what needed to be done to improve the text and he guided and helped me in this work. I was able to reorganize my novel without distorting the substance of the story and Timothé always took my opinion into account. Thanks to him, I learned a lot from this rewrite and I thank him again for his professionalism.
Claire Sibille: The editorial work was a real treat, the impression of honing each chapter and each word, and of taking a step back from the book, while making it my own in depth and completely validating it. It was also a work of affirmation, because while most of the corrections were relevant, others were not, or even contrary to what I wanted to write, and I had to be able to get it across. But that was more about the correction and the model. In any case, the final compromise was more in the direction of improving my own proposals and I felt really respected. I had a positive shock when I saw the cover, which corresponds completely to the book, while I was dreading this stage and I expected to have to “fight”!
Timothé Guillotin: After the deliberations, I spoke at length with the booksellers who make up the two juries as well as with the novelists who chair them. We were pretty much in agreement on the observation: we had two super gifted authors, two very strong novels, but we had to bring a little control to all of that. So from the outset, I asked Céline and Claire to write an outline for their book. They never really did it. By undertaking this exercise, they themselves noticed certain imbalances that needed to be corrected in their story. We then worked on the fluidity of the chapters, the points of view of the characters and the reader's level of information, particularly in the thriller to cultivate tension and suspense. Then, of course, we looked at the whole text. Claire Sibille says it well in her thanks: it's lace work but it's great.
HAT DO YOU HAVE PLANNED FOR THE LAUNCH AND MARKETING OF THESE TWO AWARDS
Timothé Guillotin: Publishing a novel is only the beginning of the game! The hardest part remains to be done. So, relying on our partners, the E.Leclerc cultural spaces of Normandy, Les Franciscaines and Édith & Nous, we are planning meetings and signings. We also work with a press officer and a social media manager to give visibility to the books. Our two presidents, Thomas and Jean-Baptiste, have an essential role in the system. They are experienced writers who know the workings of publishing by heart, so it is important that they support our first-time novelists. At the bookstore level, we ensure that books are available all the time, everywhere, paying particular attention to E.Leclerc Cultural Spaces and points of sale close to our authors. In conclusion, we are doing everything we can to highlight these novels, give them credibility and prove that a rejected manuscript is not necessarily a bad book!