It's ABNA time again. Maybe.

Today's announcement of the fifth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards has got me wondering whether I'll enter the contest again in 2012. If I do, Sultana's Legacy will be my submission. Since it just debuted this past October, the entry qualifies under the rules that allow self-published novels into the contest. Submissions are open January 23 to February 5; sorry, English-language only.


What are the merits of this contest? It's one of few where you can participate without an entry fee. On a modest writer's budget, free becomes very appealing. There are TWO grand prizes in each of the categories, general fiction AND young adult fiction. In addition, you'll meet some great people in the forums and discussion pages, many of whom have done this contest several years running. All that camaraderie bolsters you as the judges start winnowing the entries from 10,000 manuscripts to 5,000 until the final two are chosen for the grand prize sometime in June. Writers are amazingly supportive of each other, even when we are effectively competing. Penguin co-sponsors the contest, and did I mention those grand prizes include a publishing contract with a $15,000 advance? Also, a self-published entry can elicit some new eyes on your available work and generate those reviews we need.


So why am I less than super excited about this contest in just a few days?    


I truly was eager for an announcement of it. Since Sultana's Legacy is so new, having it in the contest may boost its presence and spark some interest or sales. Or maybe not. If I make it as far as the quarterfinals like last year, Publishers Weekly will read and review the manuscript in full. Oh joy. If you want some of the great and gory details of my previous entry of Sultana, click here to understand why I'm not thrilled to bits at the prospect of PW dissecting my work again. Yet, there's one factor that looms above all other concerns - the contest's end game, that contract and advance - I don't know if I'm so interested in the hype surrounding that.

WTF? Is she being serious?

Yes, I'm actually serious. Don't get me wrong - the chance offered by the contest is great. I'm not making a killing at self-publishing, and the marketing aspect is making me nuts. Yet, I'm not wondering when or if I'll ever get good reviews, great fan mail or a nice royalty check. Honestly, I'm just not aiming for a publishing contract, nor do I hold out much hope I'll garner one. Something about not querying agents or thumbing up my nose at certain tactics in the industry may seal this as fact. Odd how the possibility no longer bothers me, when three years ago, it was all I wanted. Plus, I don't know if the masochistic control freak in me, who actually enjoys all the hard work that goes along with self-publishing, is ready for a publisher's timetable and their oversight of the financial aspects.

The only valid reason for my entry would be further exposure of my work. At no cost, that seems pretty good. I have two months until February 5 to decide.

Will you be entering ABNA 2012?

Can I Pick Em or What? - ABNA Announces Finalists

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award finalists have been announced. I was so thrilled to see that among the six finalists picked in the contest, they included Phyllis T. Smith's I am Livia. It was one of the entries in the historical fiction category. In my last ABNA-related post, I pegged it as one of the best entries overall, as the writing was strong and engaging from the first page. The story is set during the Roman period, a tale about the beginnings of Livia, the future wife of Augustus Caesar. Check it out if you have the chance. Congratulations to Phyllis Smith and all the other finalists.

Quarterfinal results of ABNA are in...

...and Sultana made it, based on a 5,000-word excerpt, which can now be found here. It amounted to the first chapter and half of chapter two. Yeah! The contest is down to 500 entrants; 250 each in General and Young Adult Fiction. ABNA started with 5,000 entries in each category. After I got over my initial surprise about the results, I read the feedback from reviewers. They were good and fair, except I'm writing about the 13th, not 11th century. Meh. Both reviewers also made me think of how I should categorize my work - as historical romance or historical with strong romance elements. Here's what they said:

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
I think the characters are the strongest aspects of this excerpt. Specifically the characters of Fatima and her mother. In Fatima you have an angry, young girl forced to marry for reasons she can not understand-but even at eight the author paints her with an intelligence, which I think is the author's way of giving us an idea of what is to come. Fatima's mother on the other hand, is a woman that is loved obsessively by her husband, and yet he has poisoned the mind's of the children-the product of that obsessive love. Prince Faraj is another interesting character. He knows that his forced marriage to an eight year old could very well bring about violence, and yet at the same time his youth is shown in his inability to have done the right thing. I think this is a very interesting set up.

What aspect needs the most work?
I think the direction was a tad unclear. If this is an historical romance, I can see this being very similar to something Johanna Lindsey or Jude Devereux might write. If that is the case, this book could have a very big following. The glitz, the glamour, the excessiveness are all in appealing in a romance novel. On the other hand, if this book has little to know romance in it, I am not sure who the book would be marketed for.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
My opinion on this goes two ways: If this is a work of historical romance I am hooked. I want to know what happens next-and I want to see if Fatima and the Prince fall in love. Does Fatima grow up hating her father? Will she ever love her mother?

On the other hand, if this book is more of a history novel, I believe it can become very dry as it is a fiction story, rather than a history book.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
I love how clearly the author tells his/her story. There's a lot going on: political intrigue, kidnappings, marriages, complicated family relationships. And yet it's all presented with such skill and verve, in concise, beautifully shaped prose that's simple yet poetic. Much to the author's credit, I believe every word. I'm having a great time reading this.

What aspect needs the most work?
There are times when the writing takes on a slightly melodramatic quality, but given the exoticism of the piece and its heightened reality, this isn't the drawback it could have been. And the author has the skill to not let things get too exaggerated or artificial.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
I loved this piece. The author writes with such authority about the 11th century, yet never in a dry or academic way. This is pure entertainment. like a great old Hollywood movie you'd see on TCM. It's authentic, engaging, beautifully written and a whole lot of fun.

I was surprised not to see some others advancing, including one in particular who I was rooting for, but as I told her today it's ever onward and upward from here. I don't know anyone else among the other competitors. It doesn't sound like there's too much historical fiction that made it through. Correction: 44 historical fiction excerpts made it including mine. Damn. I mean, great, wonderful. LOL. I still think that historicals aren't as "sexy" as paranormal or thrillers for others. For me, there's nothing sexier than people behaving badly in the past, doing what they wanted without the constraints of our 21st century morality. IMO, whoever says history is boring is reading the wrong kind of history.

So, what's next in the semifinal round of ABNA? Thanks to the help of two others who submitted to ABNA in the past, if I understood them correctly, Publishers Weekly will now read and score the excerpts manuscripts - apparently I was wrong yesterday in thinking they would review the excerpts. Based on the highest scores, 50 entrants from each category will be chosen in the semifinal round on April 26. Each quarterfinalist will get a PW review (I think), which I've heard can be harsh. Yippee. Excerpts will also be posted on Amazon, where customers can read them. At this point, I'll be grateful if the excerpt leads to more sales and reviews of Sultana. Like any writer, I've invested years in my work and a little recognition would be nice. Ok, money would probably be better, but I'll settle for recognition.

Second round of ABNA

Today, entrants in the second round of the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel were announced. From a total of 5,000 entries in each category (General and YA Fiction), 1,000 have each been selected based on the best pitches. Congrats to all my fellow writers who've advanced in this round. Saw a few names I recognized. It was thrilling and surprising to find my own. Those 300-word pitches were hard as hell to write, but I'm glad to know mine worked, as it is also the back blurb of Sultana.

So what's next? On March 22, the quarterfinals lists will indicate the next 250 people to move on, in each category. The editors, including author Lev Grossman, Marysue Rucci, and literary agent Jennifer Joel and one lucky (?) Amazon Top Reviewer will judge the 3,000 - 5,000 word excerpts that accompanied each pitch. The excerpts are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 for their overall strength, prose and style, plot, and originality of the manuscript.

How do I think Sultana will fare? I haven't the slightest clue - I'm just delighted the pitch worked! Until March, I'll just be:

Waiting.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award - Key Dates, Requirements & Pitching

Are you entering the ABNA? I am; it's the only contest I've considered this year that is free. Not to rush you or anything, but you have ONE MORE DAY to write that 300-word pitch, ensure your novel is completed at 50,000 to 150,000 words, and select an excerpt of your novel, at least the first 3,000 to 5,000 words. No pressure!

Full details of the contest are here, but this is the first key date to keep in mind.

January 24 - February 6, 2011: The submission period is open, in which you complete your entry form and upload your pitch, completed novel and excerpt. Only the first 5,000 entries in each of the categories, Young Adult Fiction and General Fiction will be accepted.

Requirements include:

A manuscript submitted in Microsoft Word .doc, .docx or .rft format, in Times New Roman and 12-point font; double spaced with 1-inch margins (no "hard" returns to achieve double spacing).

Each manuscript, excerpt, and pitch must be in the English language; not currently or previously published with any publishing house (a self-published novel is okay if you own the worldwide rights); and, can't include the entrant's name anywhere. The manuscript, excerpt and pitch count as part of one entry; you are not allowed other entries.

The hardest part of deciding whether to enter was my concerns about the pitch. Did I mention that the pitch is your only qualifying entry that editors will initially judge? From the 5,000 pitches in each category, the judges will narrow it down to 1,000 of the best selections. So, if the pitch doesn't interest them, the manuscript will not be read. Crap. How in the hellhole do I talk about the characters, conflict, plot development, concept, and audience of a 91K novel in 300 words? Here's my stab at it in 292 words:

SULTANA, a completed historical novel at 91,253 words, is the story of revenge and intrigue, the bonds of family and the redemptive power of love. In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the realm of Granada is in crisis. The marriage of a child-bride Fatima, granddaughter of the Sultan of Granada, and the Sultan’s nephew Faraj, has fractured the nation. A bitter civil war escalates and endangers both Fatima and Faraj’s lives. Their interchanging perspectives offer readers and adventurous escape into the past, with rapidly changing events and fascinating historical figures that shaped medieval Spain.

All her life, Fatima has sheltered in lavish palaces where danger has never intruded, until now. A precocious child and the unwitting pawn of her family, she soon learns how the union may determine her future and the fate of Granada. Her husband Faraj has his own qualms about their marriage. At a young age, he witnessed the deaths of parents and discovered how affluence and power offers little protection against indomitable enemies. Guilt and fears plague him. Determined to carve his own destiny, Faraj struggles to regain his lost inheritance and avenge his murdered family.

Throughout the rugged frontiers of southern Spain, the burgeoning Christian kingdoms in the north and the desert states of North Africa, Fatima and Faraj survive ruthless murderers and swift intrigues. They change and grow, establishing a powerful bond, often tested by opportunities for mistrust in an atmosphere of deceit and intrigue. Can they unite against common enemies bent on destroying the last Moorish dynasty in Spain?

Audiences that enjoy historical fiction with universal themes of passionate first love and hope against odds will find the romance in SULTANA appealing, but there are dark elements of danger and grittiness that enhance the sense of danger.


Wish me luck, as I wish you the same if you're entering ABNA.