Blog, Books

1,000 authors – award-winning book

It’s not often you weigh a book to compare it with others you have on your shelves.  But the 81 Words Flash Fiction Anthology, published by Victorina, beats all my paperbacks by its size and weight. It weighs 1.10kg against the 250g of a Penguin. It has 524 pages and my story is no 124 out of 1,000 others who contributed.

I received an email this week from Chris Fielden, award-winning and Amazon best-selling author, and an award-winning editor because I have one of my stories published in the 81 Word Challenge Flash Fiction Anthology. I entered this story way back in 2017 when Chris launched this challenge: 1,000 authors, 1,000 stories published in one book.

‘This book is the result of almost seven years of hard work and the generosity of writers living all over the world – a truly global collaboration.’

‘I’m very pleased to tell you that the 81 Words Anthology won the “Best Anthology” category in the 2022 Saboteur Awards. Victorina Press also won the “Most Innovative Publisher” category, and Mandy won the “Best Novella” category. What a fantastic result. You can learn more on the Sabotage Reviews website: winners. Thank you to everyone who voted and helped us win – you’re all awesome. And now, you have all had your work featured in an unofficial-world-record-breaking AND award-winning anthology. That will look good on all of our writing CVs. I’m SO pleased :)’

You can hear some of the stories from the anthology here

The diversity of stories is amazing, and wherever you dip in, there is something to make you smile, laugh or cry.  In addition, the short biographies of each author are  just as interesting.

Proceeds from book sales support The Arkbound Foundation.Arkbound Foundation

It’s a long, long story about why our anthology of a 1,000 stories by 1,000 authors did not make a Guinness World Record which had been the intention. You can read Chris’s journey to final rejection, in the introduction to the anthology.