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Singapore, September 28, 2009 – GuideGecko.com, the innovative publishing platform and bookstore for travel, lifestyle and entertainment guides is pleased to announce the winners of the first GuideGecko International Writing Contest. Budding authors from all over the world have submitted 67 independent travel, lifestyle or entertainment guides within the 5 week contest.

The 1^st Prize is awarded to Mr. Karl I. Muller of Rancho Palos Verdes near Los Angeles, California, for his guide titled “Budget Travel in Japan”, garnering a total of 295 votes. Mr. Muller, now living in Seoul, Korea, is awarded a personal trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2009 to promote his title.

The 2^nd prize goes to Mr. Oliver Hickfang from Bochum, Germany for “PocketTravel Chengdu”, his personal contribution to promote Chengdu to travelers worldwide in an effort to help overcome the tragedies of the recent disastrous earthquake. “PocketTravel Chengdu” received 198 votes. Ms. Anisah Ahmad from Singapore wins 3^rd prize for “Hong Kong: A Diamond in the Rough”, garnering 128 votes. GuideGecko will feature the top three titles at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The 4^th and 5^th prizes go to Naleeza for “Malta” and Ms. Lorraine Koh for “Stargazing in Seoul”, respectively, who win Lonely Planet travel guides of their choice. Winners have been selected by online voting on www.GuideGecko.com.

“I am extremely excited and happy to have won this contest, competing with entries from all over the world.  I look forward to attending the book fair, giving me international exposure in the process.  This is a wonderful opportunity to advance my writing career,” says Karl I. Muller, the 1^st Prize winner and author of “Budget Travel in Japan”.

Mr. Muller will be promoting his winning title at the Frankfurt Book Fair from 14 to 18 October 2009. Frankfurt is the largest and most important book fair in the world, attracting over 10,000 journalists and 299,000 visitors. The winning guides will be showcased on GuideGecko’s booth B100 in Hall 3.0, starting point of the official book fair press tour. All winning and participating guides are available at www.guidegecko.com. Detailed contest results can be found at www.guidegecko.com/writing-contest-submissions.

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About GuideGecko

GuideGecko is an innovative publishing platform and travel bookstore for travel, lifestyle and entertainment guides. GuideGecko currently offers more than 2200 guides on 169 countries and 270 cities and regions around the world. All well-known series are available, including Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Insight Guides, along with a large variety of less conventional titles such as Hedonist’s Guides and Trailblazer, amongst many others.

GuideGecko invites casual writers, bloggers and established authors to publish and sell their own guides on www.GuideGecko.com. GuideGecko makes such guides available as PDF downloads and as printed books/booklets. Publishing is free and authors earn 50-75% on every copy sold. Become a writer and get published on GuideGecko!