First off, let’s get the financials out of the way. $275 may not seem like a lot in the USA or Europe, but it’s 100,000 naira in Nigeria and a sum not to be lightly dismissed.

But as Brittle Paper reports, the SpriNG Women Authors prize (SWAP) is intended not to directly reward the author with cold cash, but to offer a potentially far more beneficial reward.

SpriNG (Society for the Promotion, Revitalization, and Improvement of New Nigerian Generations) will,

select a Nigerian female author—someone who has published a full-length book in print—and invest N100,000 in purchasing, distributing, and marketing copies of their book nation-wide.

We are simply looking for female Nigerian authors who have published excellent books that deserve to be promoted and supported. Only one Nigerian female author will be selected annually for this prize. However, we will use the opportunity to promote other select authors through interviews, book reviews, newsletter promotions, and collaborations to increase their visibility in the Nigerian literary sphere.

Self-nomination is the way to be in with a chance, an the criteria is pretty straight-forward. Must be a Nigerian women of any age or religion. Can only submit one title per year. Said book must be available in Nigeria, but can self-published or mainstream published, old or new.

Submissions open in July and close in September, with the winner announced in January 2021.

The SpriNG website has more details.