Salt Lake teacher makes it to finals in international author competition

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 to be one of only six, it's finally giving my writing a chance to speak for itself," he said.

Robinson was so excited to share the news with his students as he wanted them to know that they could pursue their dreams. Some of his students have even begun writing their own novels, which are "really good."

"I hope that I win, of course, but I hope they get to see me win and they get to see that writing can get you places," he said. "Even if I don't win, they will see someone else win that did the same thing or something very similar to me and that's important too."

Robinson said he is grateful he found Libraro and took a chance on getting his book out there. As the platform grows, he thinks it will become a great place for publishers and agents to find new stories that people want to read and a perfect avenue to help writers get their work in front of audiences.

For any other aspiring writers, Robinson advises to just "write as often as you can."

"Get a story written, the whole thing, that's the first step. Many people don't take that step of just finishing a story," he said. Getting people to read your work and give feedback can also make a huge difference, which is where Libraro could be helpful, he added.

Finally, he suggests working on the query letter sent to publishers to better communicate why people need to read the book.

"I think that's where mine dropped off, I didn't communicate the themes quite as well as I could have. I think some agents thought, 'Oh, it's just another horror novel,' when there's deep human themes within this psychological thriller of a novel. There's more at play than just scary guy and protagonist," he said.

Since "An Oath of Malice" is a thriller, he hopes readers will feel a little fear as they read it. But he also aims to convey deeper themes.

"I hope that they can come away from it feeling the importance of self-forgiveness. That's the best way I can phrase it without spoiling the ending," Robinson said.

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