Cassidy Wixom is an award-winning reporter for KSL. She covers Utah County communities, arts and entertainment, and breaking news. Cassidy graduated from BYU before joining KSL in 2022.
SALT LAKE CITY — An English teacher from the Salt Lake Valley is hoping to get his first book published by winning an international author competition.
B. Robinson discovered his love for writing early in adulthood, but he wasn't sure how to make a career out of it, so he decided to become an English teacher so he could talk about reading and writing every day. While Robinson has written many a short story that are still hanging out in his personal Google Drive, he is hoping to publish his first major novel: "An Oath of Malice.
"One day, he thought of the idea of a best-selling author who wakes up chained to the basement floor, having been kidnapped by a serial killer. When he researched the idea, however, he realized Stephen King had already written "Misery," which has a similar premise.
As he kept thinking about the characters he wanted to write about, the themes he wanted to emphasize and the narration style it would have, his story became "very, very different" from the Stephen King novel. So for months, he blocked out time every Saturday and Sunday to plan out the plot, dive into the character conflicts and write the story.
He sent the manuscript to more than 70 publishers and literary agents, but kept receiving rejections or no answer at all. But then his wife learned about Libraro, a community-driven digital platform that aims to remove barriers for aspiring authors.
"Their whole mission is to sidestep all of the hurdles and specificities that come with traditional publishing and they've done that for me," he said. The platform was hosting its inaugural Libraro Prize competition, which included an engagement period where people could read the first two chapters, leave feedback and help decide on the winner. Robinson was intrigued by the reader-led focus and decided to submit his novel to the competition.
Just a few weeks ago, Robinson received an email saying he made it to the short list.
"I had been thinking about it every single day since I had submitted my manuscript. I looked to see who commented or if people were reading, and I spent a lot of time in the top 10 trending ... and so I was feeling really good. But to get that email, it was just an honor and so exciting," he said. On May 13, the final six authors will attend an awards ceremony in London.
The winner will receive 50,000 euros and a publishing deal with Hachette UK.
"Just to be on the short list, there were like 2,000 people that entered, and
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