Retired dad, Dom Hays, from Leeds in Yorkshire has won a publishing contract and audiobook production from Spectrum Audiobooks in the Page Turner eBook Award, for his Historical Fiction novel, Room 40.
Dom entered the Page Turner Awards, where published and unpublished fiction and non-fiction writers of all genres can enter their writing to get discovered by high-profile judges from the literary world.
Room 40 is about Captain Hall, a sea captain forced to take desk duties at the Royal Navy HQ due to ill-health, at a time when the Admiralty has broken the WW1 naval codes. As the new British spymaster, Captain Hall must use all his cunning to prevent the secret reaching the ears of the Kaiser.
Twenty-five years before Bletchley Park, how did the Admiralty assemble, organise, intercept and decrypt Germany’s communications during one of the most tumultuous periods of British history?
The answer was fascinating. Dom stumbled upon it when researching information for another project. He discovered a little-known fact of MI5, the British Security Service.
In the First World War, and unknown to Germany, the Admiralty in London began a systematic interception of German telegrams. By 1917 the process of decryption was well understood, and in January of that year, the German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs sent a cable, (the Zimmermann Telegram) to Mexico.
The subject was an inducement to Mexico to make war with the United States: ‘Make war together. Make peace together.’ The calculation was that America would hesitate from opening up a war on a second front with Germany. When the Admiralty presented the deciphered note to the Wilson administration, the strategy failed. And so the concept of Room 40 was born.
Dom said, “To reach a reading audience, authors also need the help of people with other skills, so winning a Page Turner Award could open a path to new readers. It would also give a huge boost to my confidence as a writer and represent an indication of quality to potential readers. I’m thrilled with the results of a few minutes of entering this unique writing contest.”
The Page Turner Awards, sponsored by ProWritingAid, writers and authors the chance to enter unpublished or published fiction and non-fiction books, where a group of literary agents and publishers will read the work.
Kelly Rinne from Spectrum Audiobooks judged the eBook Award and was immediately captured by the narrative in Room 40 and offered Dom a publishing and audiobook production.
Read more about Dom and his eBook: https://pageturnerawards.com/ebook-award-finalists/dominic-hayes
Judges are carefully selected literary agents and publishers who are looking for writers to represent and publish, plus influencers in the publishing industry.
Founder of Page Turner Awards and award-winning novelist, Paula Wynne said: “There are writers from all walks of life, from manual laborers to academics. All with stories to tell, most of them heart-warming and moving. We’re proud that our Awards celebrates excellent writing and helps writers and authors to get their stories discovered.”
Success stories from this year’s awards include three writers winning literary representation, six writers winning a writing mentorship, five writers winning a publishing contract and thirteen independent authors winning an audiobook production.
Find out more about The Page Turner Awards: https://pageturnerawards.com. Submissions for 2021 will open on the 1st of January 2021.
