Forget the X Factor, the winner of The Book Factor has just been announced as Geraldine Brennan reports:

Alan Gibbons has been spending the Christmas holidays mulling over the brief for his latest novel, The Dying Photo, which has been devised by a Year 6 boy in Liverpool and will be published next June by Barrington Stoke.

James Pybis of Our Lady’s and St Philomena’s Primary School is one of 500 children in north Liverpool who wrote 50-word blurbs for stories that they wanted Alan to write. The Book Factor project, set up by Barrington Stoke in partnership with Booktrust and the Alt Valley Learning Network in Liverpool, encouraged primary pupils to read widely and write adventurously through the blurb-writing competition which was supported with teaching materials and school workshops by Alan on the elements of a good story. The stories behind the blurbs had to be set in Liverpool and have at least two child characters. Entrants were encouraged to explore all genres including horror, comedy and fantasy. James, who learned that he had won at the end of last term, said: “My idea for the blurb about a photographer capturing people through taking their photograph partly came to me because my dad takes photographs. This is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I can't wait to read the finished book!”

Alan said after a series of school visits to launch The Book Factor last October: “I’ve been impressed by how quickly children can express the central ideas of the stories in their heads. Writing blurbs is a skill: you need to be able to capture the key idea and refine it. The blurb is there to hook you into the story, give you enough information about it to draw you in but not too much – a blurb mustn’t give the plot away – and leave you with a good punchline that makes you want more.”

Another Liverpool author, Frank Cottrell Boyce, joined Alan on the judging panel with Nikki Marsh, Head of Education Projects at Booktrust, and Kate Paice, Editorial Manager at Barrington Stoke. The judges picked the blurbs that they felt would make the best, most readable stories and compiled a shortlist of 14. Second place was awarded to a group entry from Bankview Special School by John Robinson, Christopher Jackson, Thomas Wilson, Jenny Logan and James Fryer. Third place went to Christian Hawkins of Florence Melly Primary.

The first draft of The Dying Photo is due to be completed by the end of January. There will then be another Book Factor competition to design a jacket, open to Year 7 students in the Alt Valley Learning Network.

Write Away congratulates all of the winners of this excellent project.