Written by Emily Harstone July 31st, 2014

The Book That Changed Your Life

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s writing contest! They are listed below.

But first, a bit about our contest series.

Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week, but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner and the runners up are chosen by a voting system, and then the editors of Authors Publish will select several additional entries from the rest to be the Editor’s Choice winners.

Below are all the winners of this week’s contest. They entered by writing about one book that changed their life.

The next contest starts at 9 am PST on Saturday. The focus of next week’s competition will be writing your own title for a mystery novel.

Winner:

Slide40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My life was altered after reading the novel “Fire in the Heart” by Deepak Chopra. Each page I turned taught me a new lesson, without me knowing, until the book was finished. Chopra allowed the reader to discover things about the world and themselves without being so forward as to tell them they are supposed to be learning. The story line captured my heart and let me explore spirituality without making me feel like I had to believe. As an atheist it opened my eyes and helped me understand the intense faith that those who believe have. This novel opened a part of my mind that I was sure did not exist and it surprises me more every time my eyes explore the pages again.” – Megan McLennan

Runner Up:

Slide42

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling would be my choice as it is the first novel I ever read as a child. It was given to me by my Nana, who bought a copy as well and every night she would call me and we’d read it together. I’ve been an adamant reader ever since.” – Melissa Natzke

Slide41

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible — I know it sounds cliche or socially unacceptable now.. but it changed my life. I remember trying to read it and for years it didn’t interest me or hold much meaning. THEN one day I read the book of John, and that changed everything. I feel very lucky that now each word holds meaning and purpose. It is the only book that I have read that touches me on a personal level every single day.”  – Erika Hayes

Editor’s Choice:

Slide43

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom changed my life because I read it right after my grandfather past away and I found myself highlighting parts of the book that were helping me get through the mourning process. With every page I read, it felt like pieces of my heart were being put back together. Every time it miss him, I go back and read one of my highlights.” – Ashley Camphausen

Slide44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I was twelve. On the library bookshelf at school was a dog-eared copy of A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle. I read it all night, and when I closed my eyes I was the awkward Meg Murray who saved worlds and traveled via science and magic through space and time. This novel opened my eyes to a world of science fiction and fantasy that to this day has never seemed so awesome or magnificent as that warm summer night in 1992.” – Amy Riddle-DeClerck

Slide45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury taught me the beauty of recreational reading, and that, any second, this right can be pulled from me. I, for one, refuse to surrender my books to the flames of societal stupidity.” – Holly Holt

 

We Send You Publishers Seeking Submissions.

Sign up for our free e-magazine and we will send you reviews of publishers seeking short stories, poetry, essays, and books.

Subscribe now and we'll send you a free copy of our book Submit, Publish, Repeat

Verso: Accepting Proposals

Verso is the largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world. They publish 100 books a year, and have editors based in Brooklyn, London, and Paris. They participate in all of the major book fairs. The majority what they publish is is nonfiction, and they are not open to unsolicited submissions of fiction of…

Quills & Quartos Publishing: Accepting Submissions

Quills & Quartos Publishing was founded in 2019. They started with a very specific vision, to focus on publishing the best Austenesque romance fiction. This is of course a niche market within a niche market, so if this is not the right fit for your work, please don’t submit or read further. However if you…

University Press of Mississippi: Accepting Submissions

The University Press of Mississippi was founded in 1970. They are currently the largest and only nonprofit publisher in the state. They are supported by Mississippi’s eight state-run universities. They publish work on a variety of subjects and are open to submissions in all nonfiction categories. They are interested in fiction or poetry submissions. You…

Elk Lake Publishing Inc: Accepting Proposals

This small press’s motto is “Publishing the Positive”. They were founded in 2016 by Deb Haggerty, whom you can learn more about here. Elk Lake focuses on publishing positive Christian books. Their website is a little out of date, and poorly organized. Although the main page clearly focuses on highlighting recent books, I didn’t find…