Song Unheard Contest!

Roseanna White here with a fun contest I'm launching! Read on to learn about your chance to have your work appear in one of my novels published with Bethany House! (But not like you might think...)

 

WHAT I NEED: an original melody to feature in book 2 of the Shadows Over England series, A Song Unheard (just the tune, no lyrics needed). It can be as short as 15 seconds or as long as 2 minutes.

HOW YOU ENTER: grab a recording device (cell phones work great!) and hum/sing/whistle/play me a snippet of melody that YOU have come up with! Upload to YouTube and then send me the link: on Facebook @RoseannaMWhite OR on Twitter @RoseannaMWhite OR via email at roseannamwhite@gmail.com. You can also upload to Dropbox or Google Docs and share with that email address if you don’t want to use YouTube. On social media entries, be sure to use the hashtag #SongUnheard and tag me!

HOW IT WORKS: I have 25 years of musical experience, so I’ll take your original tune and transcribe it into a melody for a violinist to play. That means you don’t have to know the first thing about how to write music—you just have to be able to hum . . . or whistle . . . or go “La la dee da” . . . or play a different instrument, if you prefer.

Submit your tunes to me (all entries MUST be original or you will be immediately disqualified) by Sunday 14 August 2016. I will listen to all submissions and choose a shortlist of fabulous melodies. I will then set up a page where readers (and listeners) will vote for the winner! (In order for the contest to be guaranteed, I must receive at least 25 tunes to choose from.)

As I’m writing A Song Unheard, I’ll also be turning the winning melody into written music. It will be included in the book, as will a link to a violinist performing your song!

WHAT YOU WIN: The creator of the winning melody will receive:

o   Infinite glory. I mean, come on, how many people can say they wrote a song featured in a novel?

o   Coolness. See above.

o   Credit in the book for composing/helping to compose the song

o   A signed copy of A Song Unheard when it releases

o   Exclusive A Song Unheard swag

o   A $50 Amazon gift card

GUIDELINES: This is to create a song that my heroine will have written in the course of my novel. The setting is Great Britain in 1914, in the opening days of World War I. I’m looking for something poignant and soul-soothing. This means that you should avoid rock and roll, jazz, and anything else that was not invented yet. ;-) If you’d like to know more about the story, scroll down to the “About the Book” section at the end of this post. Again, no words required, just the melody!

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to tweak any melody that wins to make it the correct length/style for my purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I really don’t have to know anything about music to enter?

A: Absolutely not! I know plenty, so all you have to do is send me a recording. I can do the rest.

Q: What if I do know how to write music? Can I send you the written melody?

A: Sure, though you must also submit a video or sound recording for people to vote on. And if you send it already written, and you win, I’ll ask you to sign a simple contract giving me permission to publish it, since copyright of music belongs to the person to put it to paper.

Q: What formats can I submit my video or audio recording in?

A: The simplest method is probably to upload it to www.YouTube.com and just send me the link, either via email, Twitter, or on Facebook. This is fast and free! But you can also send an MP3 or WAV file to me at roseannamwhite@gmail.com, or upload to a file system like Dropbox or Google Docs and share it with that email address.

Q: Can I send you something played on a different instrument?

A: Absolutely! Just keep in mind that this is for a MELODY ONLY. So if you sent in a cool piano piece with chords all over the place and intricate harmony, I might appreciate it, but I won’t be able to make it work perfectly for a violin soloist. I want this to be a song that people can go around humming when it gets stuck in their head. ;-)

Q: How long should it be? That’s a wide range you gave.

A: Very true. I give a wide range because a single snippet of melody is fine—I can build on that. Or if you’re a budding composer and want to send me a full song, you get Super Awesome Points. ;-) I just need it to be short enough to include the whole thing on a single page in my book.

Q: Can I enter more than one song?
A: Absolutely! Enter as many unique melodies as you want! 

About A Song Unheard

She’s a prodigy—but no one knows it. Willa Forsythe has scraped herself up from the mean streets of London, but only through guile…and fingers as quick to steal as they are on a violin’s strings. But now, with the Great War gripping Europe, she has a new job. She has to steal from a master violinist to force him to accept an offer her boss has made him.

He’s a celebrity—but it doesn’t matter. Lukas De Wilde worked all his life for fame and glory on the violin, but when war traps him outside of his native Belgium, he would trade it all to save his family. He must, at all costs, get his brilliant little sister out of Belgium before the occupying Germans realize that she’s more than just another twelve-year-old girl. He will do what it takes to earn the money to save them…but he dares not trust anyone, even if they seem to be a friend.

She could destroy his family. He could destroy her dreams. Or perhaps, if they can figure how to work together and accept the grace of God, they can create something more beautiful than either could ever fathom.

Contest runs from July 1 - August 14, 2016. Early entrees will be accepted but late ones will not. All entries must be ORIGINAL. Chances of winning are dependent on the number of entries. This will not be a random drawing, but rather a winner voted by choice. No purchase necessary. Entries from around the globe are welcome.