Women in Football and publishers Floodlit Dreams are delighted to be joining forces to offer the chance for a female football writer to see her book published.

As part of WIF’s innovative #WhatIf campaign, Floodlit Dreams are inviting submissions from women writers to enter a competition with the ultimate prize – guaranteed publication of a non-fiction football book.

Despite football’s significant female following, women are hugely underrepresented in football writing – particularly in publishing. This unique pledge seeks to redress that balance.

#WhatIf is an initiative launched in May 2018 that has struck a chord world-wide, reaching a Twitter audience of over 55million. Driven largely through social channels, organisations, celebrities and members of the public have identified one way they could take action to contribute to an improvement for women and girls within the football industry, however large or small.

Floodlit Dreams join a list of pledgers including UEFA, Kick It Out, BT Sport, Twitter and Sky Sports in offering an exceptional opportunity to help make a real difference.

Jane Purdon, WiF Chief Executive, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for a female football writer to have a book published, working with the support of the expert team at Floodlit Dreams.

“We know that there are many women out there who will have wonderful, engaging stories to tell, whether it is about their own direct involvement with football or an associated theme relating to the game. This is an outstanding chance for one of them to make it into print, adding a female voice to the football literature.

“Huge thanks are due to Floodlit Dreams for this very generous offer; we are both very much looking forward to reading some exciting entries.”

Ian Ridley, Floodlit Dreams publisher, added: “We are proud to be working with WiF on this. My wife Vikki Orvice is a board member and I have seen the great work the organisation does and wanted to help out. This seemed to be a good way to do it.

“There aren’t many books out there on football by women and I don’t know why that is, given the number of women who love the game. I just thought ‘What if we did something to start to change that?’

“This offer is open to any woman who thinks they have a book in them. It could be a biography or autobiography, a memoir, anything. There seem to be plenty of books, for example, about fathers, sons and football but none about mothers, daughters and the game.

“We’re open to anything, mainstream or quirky, and from any age group or background. The only criteria really for the judging panel are that the work should be fresh, original and well-written.

Entrants are required in the first instance to submit a one-page synopsis of their book, along with a sample chapter. They can also submit a full manuscript if it is completed and they wish to do so. Entries need to be submitted by March 31st 2019.

The judging panel, comprising representatives of Women in Football and Floodlit Dreams, will then decide on a winning submission next May, to be announced at a WiF event.

After that, Floodlit Dreams will work with the winning writer to develop their book ready for publication, as an ebook and paperback, at a date to be agreed with the author.

Floodlit Dreams will bear all costs of producing the book and share profits on a 50-50 basis with the author, once those costs have been recouped through sales.

There is no age restriction and you do not have to be a professional writer to enter. Entries must be non-fiction.

Entrants are requested to send their submissions to info@womeninfootball.co.uk