September 2, 2022
To: Selected friends, interested Deaf authors, old, new and important comrades in Deaf literary power
From: Steve Baldwin, Ph.D., Deaf TV Foundation
RE: Pilot Reality Show Seeking Deaf Authors!
Hi friends! This time I feel I need to email you directly with an important announcement. This is going to be a lot of information to read, so give yourself quality time to digest all the details, and have a fresh cup of coffee, water or tea ready. It will be worth your time!
Recently I was contacted by Mr. David Henry Sterry and here is his message:
“Hello Steve, I am David Henry Sterry, co-creator of the reality TV show, “America’s Next Great Author.” Our mission is to give people who don’t normally get a seat at the publishing table a chance to tell her stories. To that end, we are reaching out to people associated with the deaf community to find great writers who might want to participate.”
“Doing my research, I found the Deaf Authors Book Festival. We’ve been doing book festivals all over America for 20 years, and it made me so happy when this popped up on my screen.”
After exchanging at least ten emails between us within a span of 24 hours, I find Mr. Sterry sincerely excited about having Deaf authors consider trying out for their pioneering pilot reality show. Yes, I’m comfortable with him, especially his admitting his ignorance with sincerity, his kind of humor and professionalism. Believe me, his producers are very excited and hope to get your submission before the deadline of September 15, 2022 and postmarked before midnight, Pacific Time.
I think the short documentary that DTF and Davideo Productions (David Pierce and Robin Pierce) impacted him, his producers and they want to measure up to the quality of shooting, captioning and whatever is needed to ensure that our accessible needs are met as an applicant for the pilot show. (In case you haven’t watch, check it out here)
In a nutshell, here is the essential information before you read you check their website below:
1) A 250-word written pitch for their book
2) A short-written bio of themselves
3) A 75-second-video pitch where they say something interesting about themselves, then deliver the book pitch in 60 seconds.
Now, give yourself at least an hour to read and study the following parts:
Eligibility requirements, online audition terms, conditions, and participant requirements. Genre? Novels and memoirs for now.
If seriously interested, go to their website: https://americasnextgreatauthor.com/
Lastly, here is a special note to you from Mr. Sterry:
“And we are super excited to have a Deaf writer preparing a submission.”
