Media Predict Project Publish Contest 2007
Magazine
Media Predict Project Publish Contest
Closing date 17 September 2007
We've debated a bit about including this competition but decided eventually that it's something writers would want to know about so they can make up their own minds whether to get involved. We do suggest some caution, though, as it's not clear what the outcome for writers will be.
For some it will be an opportunity to get publicity and the chance of literary representation.
Media Predict, a new website that uses a market-based method to evaluate and discover media content, has teamed up with Touchstone Books, an imprint of US publisher Simon & Schuster.
Through the Project Publish literary contest, Touchstone will select an unsigned book proposal from the Media Predict site for future publication, which is the prize for the competition.
Media Predict will evaluate books, music, or television shows using a prediction market. Users evaluate works in early development, such as book proposals, recordings by unsigned bands, or unaired television pilots. Players are given fantasy money, which they then use to buy futures contracts in various media projects.
Similar markets have been used to accurately forecast election results, sporting events, and motion picture box office sales. The most well-known example of prediction markets -- real money political election markets conducted at the University of Iowa -- have outperformed both the AP and the Gallup polls for over a decade.
So, if you've not much to lose and find the idea intriguing, there's more information on their website.
