The Thalia Storyteller Award is a joint competition organised by Thalia and story.one. We share a love of stories and a passion for discovering the best ones and enriching the book market with fresh ideas. We are therefore looking for new, innovative books with stories that inspire readers. “Through our partnership with story.one, we have found the ideal format to celebrate and promote this spirit of discovery,” says Thalia CEO Ingo Kretzschmar. There are 3 award categories that reflect the diversity and dynamism of the stories that surround us every day. With the Thalia Storyteller Award, Thalia and story.one want to discover new stories that have the potential to stimulate the reading market and create new favourite books.

We are delighted that you want to be part of our storytelling journey! The first step is to register on story.one, where you will not only become part of our creative community, but also gain access to our innovative book format. Then grab your personal Thalia Storyteller code at one of the many Thalia bookstores throughout Germany and Austria. There you can be inspired by a world full of books – perhaps you will discover the gap that your book will fill.

Imagine how your book will one day stand on the shelves and catch the eyes of readers, fascinated by your title, your cover and a blurb that entices them to read it.

Before you get to that point, however, you should take time to form an idea that will excite you, the jury and your future readers. Talking to friends, family and first readers can be worth its weight in gold, because feedback is what makes good stories great.

As soon as your book is ready on story.one, you can finalise it via the checkout process by 10 March 2024 at the latest. It is important that you enter your Thalia Storyteller voucher code to secure your place in the competition. We look forward to seeing your finished book and are excited to see what fascinating stories you will share with us!

Your story, your rules – within an innovative framework. Our story.one books consist of 12 to 17 chapters and have a total of 60 to 80 pages. This compact format is ideal for captivating today’s readers.

There are three pages per chapter for you to fill with your words and an additional page for visual elements such as images, illustrations or QR codes – make the most of this creative space! Whether you create a collection of short stories or a continuous narrative, whether you write monolingually or multilingually, whether you use traditional genres or create completely new ones: your vision sets the course. Show us how you bring the pages to life – we can’t wait to dive into your story worlds!

Absolutely not – your participation in the award is completely free of charge. As a sign of our appreciation, you will also receive a free copy of your book. The voucher code we provide to you also covers all other design options and shipping costs. We invest in your creativity at no cost to you.

Firstly, think carefully about the basic idea. What do you want to tell and why exactly is this story worth putting down on paper? This creative core of your book is crucial.

Invest time in designing your cover. Play around with the different design options, upload your own cover image, choose from different design elements for the front cover and design the back cover.

Create a captivating book title. Try out different variations and take your time until the title fits your story perfectly.

Don’t forget that the cover and title are the first points of contact with your potential readers. They make the first impression and can determine the success of your book.

Work carefully on your book description. It will not only be printed on the back of your book, but will also be displayed in online shops and should arouse curiosity and encourage people to buy.

Present yourself in an authentic author biography and add a personal picture. Your readers will be curious to find out more about the person behind the words.

The voucher you receive for participating in the Thalia Storyteller Award is your ticket to the world of authors. It covers the entire cost of creating your book – and that includes all the design options that would normally cost extra. In addition, you will receive a free author’s copy sent directly to your home. Depending on which design options you choose, the value of the voucher can be up to 100 euros. And the best thing is: you can redeem the voucher for every new book you submit to the award. So, whether you want to publish one book or several, with this voucher you are well equipped.

You are the creative mind behind your work and your exploitation rights remain untouched. You can use your stories wherever you want.

At story.one, we only claim the right to distribute your book for at least six months so that we can make it available in stores everywhere and promote it effectively. Sales in bookshops earn you a 10% royalty.

If you would like to withdraw your book from our distribution, you can do so for a fee of 25 euros to cover the costs incurred.

Our logos, designs and the special layout are protected by trademark law and may only be used as part of our service.

A really good story is more than just a collection of words – it’s a window into new worlds, experiences and emotions. It can be based on true events or inspired by your fantasy, but the most important thing is that it connects with the reader. A story that creates personal connections or simply blows the reader away has a special power. Think of those moments when someone tells a story and everyone says: “That should be made into a film!” or “Someone should write a book about that”. Such stories arouse emotions, create images in our minds and never let go.

Whether it’s a gripping slice of life anecdote, a special interest story or a local legend – each one can be great. We look for stories that hook readers and offer them something meaningful or entertaining. It doesn’t matter if you have a large community or not; what matters is the ability to reach and touch your readers. At Thalia and story.one, we look forward to discovering and promoting great stories that open up new perspectives for our readers and touch them deep inside.

Every book that is published by story.one and sells more than 300 copies in bookshops, regardless of the Thalia Storyteller Award, automatically receives a special promotion from us and Thalia. This is your wild card for an outstanding presence: your book will be placed in selected Thalia bookshops. You don’t need to do anything else – we’ll contact you as soon as you’ve crossed this important threshold. We are also working on developing a feature that will allow you to view your sales figures directly in your story.one profile. We aim to have this feature available by the end of the Thalia Storyteller Awards to give you even more transparency and control over the success of your book.

In the meantime, the sales rank on thalia.de and the story.one x Thalia bestseller list provide an excellent guide to how well your book is selling. Visit www.thalia.de/vorteile/story-one/bestseller to see current sales successes.

As soon as you publish your book on story.one, it will not only be available on thalia.de and thalia.at, but will also be listed in many leading online bookshops worldwide. This gives your book the chance to reach a wide readership. Not every book makes it directly onto the physical shelves of Thalia bookshops, but we do look at books that are attracting attention. If you would also like to secure global distribution for your book, we offer an extended service for a fee of 100 euros that makes your book available worldwide for three years. For more information on international distribution, simply email us at [email protected].

Making a book successful is like a puzzle – it depends on many pieces:

Know your readers: think about who would enjoy reading your book. If you know what they like and your book offers exactly that, more of them will be willing to find out more about it.

Promote your book: Even the best book needs to be discovered. Tell people everywhere about your book – on the internet, with friends or through advertising so that it doesn’t remain unnoticed.

A beautiful cover and an exciting title: The first thing someone sees is the cover and title of your book. If these stand out and create curiosity, people are more likely to pick up your book.

Exciting content: Your story should be so exciting and well told that nobody wants to put it down. A well-written text is important so that your readers love the book and recommend it to others.

Positive reviews: If people like your book and say so, others will want to read it too. Good reviews are like a recommendation.

Stay open to change: Sometimes a small improvement, like a few new sentences in your story or a better description of the book, can have a big impact. But make sure you don’t keep changing everything, because that’s a lot of work and not always necessary.

So, the secret is not only to write an exciting book, but also to show it to the right people and make sure it gets noticed.

Hannes Steiner, the bestselling publisher and founder of story.one, and Thalia, the market leader in the German-language book trade, are the creative minds behind story.one. Since 2023, with Thalia as an investor, we have been connected by more than just business – it is our shared passion for stories and books that drives us. Ingo Kretzschmar, CEO of Thalia, describes this relationship aptly: “We at Thalia are true story explorers and are constantly on the lookout for new, captivating content for our readership. The Thalia Storyteller Award is our way of enriching the book market with fresh, dynamic content. The partnership with story.one offers us the perfect format to promote innovative and diverse literature. The categories selected for the award reflect the vibrancy and diversity of the literature that surrounds us every day. We are excited about the discoveries we will make and the new favourite books that will emerge from this competition.”

Your masterpiece is finished, the pages of your book are filled with creativity – now what? Simple: In the publishing process on story.one you will find a field for your voucher code. If you forget to enter it in the euphoria of finishing your book – don’t worry! We can also add your submission to the competition at a later date. Just send us an e-mail to [email protected]. And if you feel the Thalia Storyteller spirit but don’t want to take part in the competition, tell us that too. Remember: The voucher code is as universal as the talent of our authors – it’s patiently waiting to be used until you’re ready.

When our jury makes its selection, first impressions count – just like with readers in a bookshop. That’s why it’s so important that the title, cover and book description go hand in hand and together create a convincing picture. The jury examines each book to see whether it arouses curiosity and makes readers want to read on. They do not always read the entire book; similar to readers who sometimes start at the end, our jury focusses on the essentials. A captivating book description, an appealing table of contents and a successful beginning – or a surprising ending – are your tickets to successful participation.

Of course, all books that fulfil the basic requirements with excellence will be read in full by our jury. A perfect combination of title, cover and book description is your ticket to the world of complete reading by our experts. And don’t forget: our jury and readers want to know who is behind the stories. A meaningful author portrait and background information, such as a strong community, can also be convincing and are an additional plus point for the sales chances of your book. So reveal something about yourself and let us know who you are – this will increase your chances of scoring points with both the jury and your future readers.

AI can be a helpful tool to support your creativity. You can use AI to come up with innovative book ideas, find a compelling title, improve your book description and biography, or even design a captivating cover. AI is particularly effective at translating text into engaging design elements, especially if you provide creative input. Keep in mind, however, that the text of your book should be written by you personally. The winning books at each story.one award are checked to see whether they were created independently by the authors. So feel free to use AI as a tool for inspiration and support, but your own creative output and personal touch are crucial. Always respect third-party copyrights, there is already a wide range of LLMs for which the rights have been clarified.

By the way: AI tools are great for developing creative ideas for book promotion and entire marketing campaigns.

In the “Local Stories” category of the Thalia Storyteller Awards, we are looking for books that capture the heart and soul of the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and Vienna. You have the unique opportunity to present these cities from your personal perspective – may it be with real life stories, fictional narratives, young and fresh advice books or other genres.

We want you to let readers dive into the world of your city. Tell us about the colourful streets, the hidden treasures, the everyday encounters or the small, extraordinary moments. Your book should be a reflective portrait of life in the city that appeals to both locals and visitors and gives them a new, exciting look at well-known places.

Whether it’s true-life narratives, adventurous fiction, young people’s tips, innovative guides or any other genre, the aim is to show the diversity and dynamism of urban life. Your creativity knows no bounds – we encourage you to break traditional formats and show the city in a light that is fresh, original and engaging.

With “Local Stories”, we offer you a platform to share your own vision of the city and create books that not only entertain and inspire, but also open readers’ eyes to the uniqueness of their own urban neighbourhood. We look forward to seeing how you bring cities to life with your words.

In this category, it is not necessary for you to live in one of the cities mentioned. We invite you, regardless of where you currently live, to share your unique stories and perspectives about Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin or Vienna and explore and portray these cities seen through your eyes.

The special prize “Book Design” focuses on the book as a complete work of art. It is important to us that the cover design and book content form a well-balanced unit and mutually enrich each other. A coherent design that visually captures the essence of your story and inspires readers even before they open the book is crucial. We look for designs that express originality, creativity and attention to detail and thus enrich the reader experience at first glance. For us, a convincing book design is an indicator that authors have created their work with passion and care.

When submitting books for the Thalia Storyteller Award, we offer a variety of language options. For all categories, books can be submitted in any language that uses a left-to-right (LTR) writing format. This covers a wide range of languages and allows authors to share their stories in their native language or a language of their choice.

Of particular note is our special “Bilingual” category. In this category, we celebrate cultural diversity and dialogue between languages. Books submitted in this category should be written in both German and another language. This approach reflects our deep desire to use literature to build bridges between different cultures and promote a broader understanding of the diversity of our world.

In bilingual books, you can switch languages from text to text or even within a story. This offers a unique opportunity to dive into the depth and beauty of two languages and provide readers with an immersive reading experience.

We are proud to be a platform that uses the power of language to connect people and foster mutual understanding in today’s globalised world.

You can sit back and relax, because our Thalia Category Management experts will take care of categorising your book for you. They have the know-how to assign your book to the right category based on the cover design, title and book description. Just like in a real bookshop, an appealing cover and a captivating book description attract attention. If these elements are convincing, people will dive deeper into the content. Remember to polish your book until it’s as shiny on the outside as it is on the inside – our judges will appreciate it. There is only one chance for your book to win in a main category, but if it stands out, you could also shine in the special award categories.

As soon as you have published your book on story.one, our team starts the review process. We take a close look at each book and often discover works in advance that have potential for a presentation in Thalia bookstores – whether in a single branch or even nationwide. But don’t worry, this process happens in the background.

As a rule, your book will be visible in all online shops within 2-3 days. After around 10-14 days, all relevant data is updated and your book can be ordered everywhere. Meanwhile, your author’s copies are produced and arrive at around the same time. This is also the perfect time to launch your own book campaign.

Use this moment to let the world know about your book and increase the chance that it will not only find a prominent place online, but perhaps also on a Thalia shelf soon.

Absolutely, poetry has a home with us. You can fill your book with poems or include them as part of a larger narrative. Your work can be as diverse as your creativity allows. We have already seen that poetry wins the hearts of our readers and the jury – as the impressive example of the poetry slammer who made it to second place in our Young Storyteller Awards shows. So, whether it’s pure poetry or a mix of different literary forms, we’re excited to see the magical worlds you create through your words.

In general, it is possible to submit several books for the Thalia Storyteller Award. However, for reasons of fairness, we have introduced a limit so that each author can submit a maximum of three books. This rule is intended to ensure that all participants have an equal chance and that the diversity of the books submitted is maintained. We would also like to point out that submissions of serialised books may be rejected under certain circumstances. The competition aims to recognise books that can stand on their own and do not continue previous publications. We look forward to receiving your creative and unique submissions!

For the Thalia Storyteller Award, we are looking for new and unpublished books that reflect the diversity and creativity of our authors. Therefore, your book should be texts that have not yet been published in a story.one book.

However, we understand that a very specific text may have the potential to shine in your new book. Therefore, you can submit a book for the award that includes such a story, as long as the other texts are published in a book for the first time. We want to offer readers originality and freshness that will inspire them.

Yes, at story.one you have the option of correcting typos or small errors in your book as part of a reorder. We offer a special feature that allows you to update your book. We charge a fee of 25 euros for this service. Please note that after the editing, all newly printed books will contain the changes, while copies already being distributed will remain unchanged until they are sold. This ensures that your story reaches your readers as quickly as possible in the best possible quality.