Into the Sunset

Last night was the end of the road for my novel Into the Sunset in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest (ABNA). The quarterfinalists were announced, which pared the entries down to 250 in each category, and Into the Sunset wasn't on it the list. Not all depressing news, however, because I also coincidentally received--on the same day the novel was eliminated from the contest--a glowing review from a happy reader on Amazon. You can purchase Into the Sunset on Amazon, Smashwords, BN.com, and many other outlets.

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We all know how frustrating and demoralizing writing can be. Or, not the writing, but the submission/acceptance part. Do I think my novel is as good as at least some of the 250 that made it to the next round? Of course. Do I know that for sure? Of course not. I didn't read those other novels. But, still. It all seems so pointless and random sometimes. If two different reviewers had read my excerpt instead, I might have made it to the next round. Oh well.

I made it!

Or, I should really say my novel INTO THE SUNSET made it through to the next round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest.


Amazon narrowed the field of 5,000 entries down to 1,000 based on a (up to) 300-word pitch. So now I move on to the second round, where two reviews of my 5,000 word excerpt (the prologue and first two chapters) will determine if I made it to the quarterfinals. Only 250 move forward. The next date to worry about is March 23, when the quarterfinal list is released. Amazon readers will then get to read and review these excerpts.

So for now...I resume waiting.

Waiting is the hardest part...

Two days to go until Amazon announces the 1,000 novels that make it to the next round in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest.

On Feb. 25, I will find out if my pitch was good enough to make the cut and send me to the second round. If so, then my 5,000 word excerpt will be judged as follows:

Between February 25, 2010 and March 14, 2010, our expert reviewers, including Amazon editors and at least one Amazon Top Reviewer, will review and judge the Excerpts of each second round Entry. The expert reviewers rate each Excerpt on a scale of 1 to 5 on each of the following criteria:

a) Overall Strength of Excerpt
b) Prose/Style
c) Plot/Hook
d) Originality of Idea

So for now, I wait. Meanwhile, here's some Tom Petty and Eddie Vedder.

My Pitch

The first round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest is "the pitch." This is the short, quick description, or "hook," that you need to describe your book. Similar to the sell copy on the back cover of a book, it is also known as the "elevator pitch"—what you would tell an agent or editor if you had him or her alone in an elevator for a minute.

Here is my pitch for Into the Sunset, my comic novel that is entered in the ABNA:

Meet Wayne Benson. He's not a senior citizen. He doesn't require nursing care. He isn't even retired. But this healthy 30-year-old bachelor believes the comfortable life of The Sunset, an assisted-living retirement community, would be a soothing alternative to his young, hectic lifestyle.

Everything he desires—gourmet meals, laundry service, camaraderie, tranquility—is available for one all-inclusive monthly fee. The only problem? He isn't the required minimum age of sixty-two. So, he dons theatrical make-up and a grey wig to age himself forty years, and is immediately accepted into The Sunset. Now all he has to do is live a peaceful life.

Will everything go as smoothly as planned? Of course not! His elderly love interest becomes suspicious of his under-cover-of-darkness-only lovemaking, his neighbor wants to go to strip clubs and experiment with Viagra®, the head of security is more interested in extortion than security, and the woman who manages The Sunset may be onto his scheme. Can Wayne survive old age?

Amazon editors will read the pitches of the 5,000 entries. They will choose 1,000, and move them to the second round. These results will be announced Feb. 25.

Into the Sunset entered in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest

Amazon is holding their third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, and this year they are opening submissions to previously self-published books. Winner of the contest gets published by Penguin USA and a $15,000 contract. There are two categories this year, general fiction and young adult. The contest begins on Mon., Jan. 25 at midnight, EST.

And you, the Amazon reviewer, get to vote! There is the First Round, where the Amazon editors will read a 300 word pitch for each entry. The top 1,000 entries in each category will move to the second round.

The Second Round will be narrowed to 250 entries (in each category) by you, the Amazon reviewer, based on a 5,000 word novel excerpt.

The Quarterfinals are next, where Publishers Weekly reviewers will read the full manuscript. The top 50 move on from here.

The Semifinals follow, where Penguin USA editors will read the full manuscript and select three finalists in each category.

Then the ball is thrown back to you, dear Amazon reviewer, in the Finals, to vote on the three finalists to see who wins the grand prize!

I've decided to enter my comic novel, Into the Sunset, in this contest. I published it in the summer of 2007, and I am totally, 100% happy with the final product. But, you know, self-published books don't get any respect, and no one wants to review them. Though I did get a good review from Romantic Times Book Review, where they said, "Capone has a vivid imagination and a unique voice." My novel doesn't have to win this contest. What I'm looking for is more exposure for the book, a wider audience, and maybe the book will even catch the eye of an agent or editor.

I will update this blog throughout the contest. Hopefully my novel will move through some of the rounds, and you can then vote for me!

UPDATE 1:13 AM, Mon. Jan. 25
Boy, that was insane. The online equivalent of people getting trampled at Walmart on Black Friday. I was all logged in and ready to go with my Word files at 12 midnight. The entry page wouldn't even load for me until 12:27. Then the four steps took forever, just watching a spinning wheel after I hit Save. Finally my submission was complete at 12:52. Whew! I'm in! Wish me luck.