We will be contacting all the finalist with feedback on your manuscripts and, of course, we'll be in touch with our finalists about their work and their prizes.

I also wanted to let you all know that there was at least one finalist that we lost because, before we'd had time to complete the judging process, she notified us to let us know that she had accepted a contract from another publisher. Please join us in congratulating Andrea Dowling on the launch of her literary career, and keep a watch for Loveland from Wild Rose Press in the not too distant future.

And now, the bad news.

We're sorry to have to announce that last year's contest will be our final manuscript contest. This has been a very tough year for both of us: the odds are stacked against any small business that survives a major disaster and we don't think anybody has bothered to calculated how those odds are compounded when a small business is hit by two major disasters within the space of five years.

We are both going to do our best to keep our respective doors open but the situation is pretty dicey and we simply can't afford to keep the contest going because it is not paying for itself. We have never had an advertising budget for it and word of mouth is simply not getting the job done. We've both enjoyed doing it but we're going to have to ring down the curtain this year. Frankly, our focus at this point is simply staying in business.

So, I will be shutting down the email list after this message. You will not be receiving any more notifications from Brighid's Fire Books unless you send me an email inquiry about something. We want to thank all of you who have submitted entries over the years; we have really loved reading all the talented work out there. Keep writing and keep believing in your work. The world never could have too many good stories and what you do is important. Never doubt that.

"So long and thanks for all the fish."

Dawn Rivers
Brighid's Fire Books

Derek Stafford
LughnassadhBooks.com

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