ABNA Contest Results, Round One (Coming Soon!)

Ahh!  The results of the first round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award come out tomorrow (on or around tomorrow, according to their site).  They're narrowing the 10,000 pitches down to 400 for each category (so about 2,000 out of the original 10,000 will move on to round two).  Stay tuned to see if the pitch for my novel makes it!  I want it to, but I also don't.  If it doesn't move on, I'll be able to edit the book again and then start sending it to agents.  If it does make it, I'll get my hopes up about winning the whole contest, and the odds of that happening are extremely low, so it's probably best if I just get eliminated from the contest sooner than later.

Also, my husband and daughter are flying to PA for his family.  There were two completely unexpected and unrelated deaths in his family this past weekend.  I know they'll appreciate him being there, and I hope my daughter will help lift some spirits while she's there.  I'm staying behind to watch the dog.  Having this kind of free time is difficult to cope with!

Worst Week Ever

Obviously it couldn't have been that bad, right?  I interviewed for a job I really felt confident about, then they asked me to come back in for a second interview, and I still didn't get it.  I'm at an all time low as far as my hopes for finding a good job here.  If you follow me on Facebook (which I'm sure you do, since I think the only people in the world that read this blog are my Facebook friends), you already know this information.  It was an emotional week though, I won't lie, I had my hopes up real high for that job.  I'm basically over it now, but I don't look forward to the endless job searching, applying, waiting, then giving up on most of the jobs I thought would be a good fit for me.

There was some awful news last Saturday morning, then there was similarly awful news this morning, both aren't my place to write into the Blogspot void, so I'll just leave it at that.  I'm not looking forward to next Saturday morning though.

My aunt is reading my book.  Dan finished it last weekend and gave my some great feedback.  He has more, but I have to figure out how to get the notes he made on the Kindle document I sent him.  My sister also offered to read it but hasn't had a chance to start it yet.  I'm keeping an open mind and so far I'm still feeling confident about the book itself.  I'll find out soon if it made it through the first round in the ABNA contest.  I almost don't want it to move to the second round so I can make more edits and look for an agent.

Those are my only updates for now.  I'll be sure to write when the ABNA first round winners are announced (I think that'll be around February 15th).

Taking a Breather

I finished editing my book yesterday!!  YAY!!!  I actually did a little cheering in the car ride home from Barnes N Noble, I was so happy.  It's in the hands of my two volunteer readers.  Dan (friend in Louisiana) and my sister.  I think Dan started it already, I'm not sure about my sister.  I was having a lot of second thoughts on what I thought of it when I was getting towards the end of the edits but the last two chapters renewed my confidence.  There's obviously still a much greater chance that the whole book will be awful, but I feel good about it right now.

I feel good about everything right now.  I'm about to go to Barnes N Noble to read for fun.  It's such a weird feeling, having so little I want to get done each day...I mean, it hasn't even been a full 24 hours since I finished it, but it honestly does feel strange.  I still have jewelry to make...I have two items to fire tonight, one of which I would like to photograph and list in my shop tomorrow.  Otherwise, it's just potty training (we're trying out 'naked time' and today was the first attempt...it went well!  She pooped and peed on the floor, but I felt a bizarre sense of accomplishment that a diaper was spared), cleaning, playing with the kiddo, and praying I get a job.

That's all for now!

Oh, and the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards close today...so I got my book submitted in time, all edited and everything.  Yay!

Update--the ABNA contest got their 10,000 submissions...they closed about an hour ago...PHEW!!! So glad I made the extra effort to complete this yesterday...I was afraid that they might close earlier today.  All those last minute submissions going in at the end of the weekend...so the first round has begun and they pick the top 2,000 pitches out of the 10,000 they've received.  Here's my most up to date pitch, and the one I'll be judged on in the first round of this contest:

Melanie Foster was finishing up her junior year of high school, enjoying the last moments of class, savoring the warmth of the early summer afternoon, and replaying the moment that her long-time crush asked her on her first real date.  

Her life takes an unanticipated turn for the worse when she returns home from the date to discover her house left in disarray and her parents gone.  A strange voicemail left by her mother during the kidnapping forces Melanie to question everyone, even herself.  

Melanie is thrown into an extraordinary adventure of love, loss, deceit, and despair when she is introduced to a new world, one explained to her as the original planet inhabited by human beings. Her grip on reality is tested when she learns that her world is only the Third Earth discovered and populated by humans in a process known as the Earths Project.  

After learning that her parents are actually scientists working on the Earths Project, Melanie is sent on a mission to the place where they are being held, the dangerous and unstable Second Earth. Eager to help rescue her mother and father, Melanie finds herself tasked with the unexpected role of saving her entire planet. 

The Earths Project- Book One, First Earth is the just the beginning of a journey through worlds of possibility that will leave the reader gazing up at the stars wondering...what if?

Updates and Revised Pitch (Advice Encouraged, Again).

Still no news on how the interview went...I did find out the job is much further away from me than I originally anticipated, it's actually based in a city 20 minutes east of the one displayed in the job description.  I'm 25 minutes west of that middle city...so it'll be quite a haul if I do get offered the position.  They told me they'd let me know if they want to include me in the second round of interviews and the fact that I haven't heard from them yet makes me extremely nervous.  I'll update as soon as I hear word.

My other update is my newly revised pitch for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award...

Melanie Foster was finishing up her junior year of high school, enjoying her last moments of class, savoring the warmth of the sunny summer afternoon, and replaying the moment that her long-time crush asked her on her first real date.

Her life takes an unanticipated turn for the worse when she returns home from the date to discover her house left in disarray and her parents gone. A strange voicemail left by her mother during the kidnapping leaves Melanie questioning everyone, even herself. 



Melanie is thrown into an extraordinary adventure of love, loss, deceit, and despair when she is introduced to a new world, one explained to her as the original planet inhabited by human beings. Her grip on reality is tested when she learns that her world is actually the Third Earth discovered and populated by humans in a process known as the Earths Project. 



After learning that her parents are actually scientists working on the Earths Project, Melanie is sent on a journey to the place where they're being held, the Second Earth. Eager to help rescue her mother and father, Melanie finds herself tasked with the unexpected role of saving her entire planet.



The Earths Project: First Earth is the just the beginning of a journey through worlds of possibility and leaves the reader gazing up at the stars and wondering, what if?

The contest closes Sunday and I'm down to only having FOUR chapters left to edit.  I did my rewrite scene (just finished it up today actually), so those four chapters might take a little while.  I'm glad the contest has stayed open this long, but it makes me feel like I'll go crazy if it closes early when I'm THIS close.  So keep your fingers crossed that they don't get their ten-thousandth entry before Sunday!

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (Contest)

So I'm thinking about entering my manuscript into a contest run through Amazon Publishing.  They started accepting submissions today and will stop accepting them on January 27th (a few days before I wanted to finish my first edits of my manuscript, so I'll obviously have to pick up the pace a little if I want to get my submission up to my own standards in time).  From the looks of it, I can submit my entry as soon as I want and then continue to make edits until January 27th...which would ensure I at least have a spot in the contest...it closes after 10,000 submissions are made (so it could close next week*).

So I guess I'll weigh pros and cons here...since they've just been floating around in my head since I read about this contest 45 minutes ago...

PROS:

There's a $50,000 advance awarded to the grand-prize winner with a publishing contract through Amazon Publishing...this all happens this summer, which brings me to my next pro...

The speed with which they run this contest is impressive.  The announcement of all submissions that will make it to the second round is in the middle of February.  If I lose, I have my book back and can just go about my business as usual.  If I make it to the next round, hell yea!

For all the First Place finalists, you get a $15,000 advance and a trip to the awards ceremony, which is in June.  Plus the book gets published.

Even if you don't win, Amazon Publishing might want to buy your book, so it's exciting to have that potential.

CONS:

I feel like people should do cons first, because I'm now in the mindset of 'really, what could be bad about this' after listing the pros....

I have to refrain from shopping the manuscript around while it's in the contest.  That doesn't stop me from searching for an agent, in which case I could probably pull my submission.

If I only get the $15,000 advance it's really not the kind of success I was hoping for (duh, I'm sure I'd be just thrilled if I really did become a published author, so this is a pro too, since it's a foot in the door).

I wouldn't be able to negotiate at all (which really is a con, considering one of the major reasons I've found for getting an agent is to have someone's help in negotiating a book contract).

Some other things I took into consideration:

5. GRANT OF RIGHTS. By submitting an Entry and if you are selected as a Quarter-Finalist or Semi-Finalist, you grant Amazon Publishing the exclusive first publication rights to your Entry in all formats. If you are selected as a Quarter Finalist, Amazon Publishing’s exclusive first publication rights to your Entry terminate when you are eliminated from the Contest (unless you are selected as a Semi-Finalist); and if you are selected as a Semi-Finalist, Amazon Publishing’s exclusive first publishing Rights to your Entry terminate after June 30, 2013. If you are not a Winner and Amazon Publishing notifies you that it wishes to publish your Entry, you agree to negotiate the terms and conditions of a publishing agreement exclusively with Amazon Publishing for a period of 30 days after you receive notification from Amazon Publishing. If you and Amazon Publishing have not reached agreement after 30 days, you may offer the work to other publishers on the condition that before you enter into an agreement with another publisher, you will afford Amazon Publishing the last right to publish your Entry on the same terms and conditions offered by any other publisher, plus an advance against royalties 10% greater than the other offer. Amazon Publishing must communicate its decision to you within 5 business days after you have provided written notice of the other publisher’s terms and conditions. If Amazon Publishing declines or fails to act within that period, you will not have any further obligation to Amazon Publishing, and you may publish the Entry with another publisher. By submitting an Entry, you grant us and our respective affiliates and agents permission to use, without charge, portions of your Manuscript, Pitch, or Excerpt, along with your name and stated reason for writing the submitted Entry (if provided) for any purpose in connection with this Contest until June 30, 2013.

After writing out my pros and cons here, and continuing to look over the contest rules and regulations, I've decided to enter.  So my submission, entitled 'The Earths Project: First Earth', will now officially be considered for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

First writing contest I've ever entered!  Holy crap!

If you've somehow stumbled upon my blog and are thinking 'Yes, sign me up, I'd like to enter the contest too' go to this link:

www.createspace.com/abna 

*upon further research, I've discovered that if my genre reaches 10,000 submissions, the contest closes new submissions AND edits on current submissions...and since writing this, I've already submitted my partially edited first draft...hopefully this genre doesn't fill up too soon or I'll have no hope of winning this!!