[This is part 1 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries.]
So! As I’ve said before, I’m a pretty awful blogger. I’m a quiet person; I don’t like searching for things to say just for the sake of saying something. However, with the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest underway, now’s as good as time as any to talk about my experience with the 2011 contest and what's happened since.
Best of luck to those participating this year! And thank you to Cara Bertrand for nudging me to get going with this. ;)
So anyway, that contest-thingie last year . . . I admit it – I entered on a whim. I had a little experience with the contest; in 2009 I entered another manuscript and made it through the pitch round. I don’t even remember how I found out the 2011 contest was accepting entries; I just know I had a surgery scheduled a few days before the end of the entry period, so I tossed together my entry quickly and didn’t think too much of it. Spookygirl itself was ready to go; I wrote it in 2007, revised it in 2008, and shopped it around (unsuccessfully, obviously) to literary agents after that. My pitch was a revised version of my query letter; my excerpt was my first chapter. I tossed up my entry, fussed with it a little, and didn’t think too much of it for a while.
When I made it past the pitch round, I didn’t even bother telling anyone. I'd gotten that far before, after all. I decided to wait and see what happened.
Making it through to the quarter-finals was a little more exciting. I was playing hooky from work the day the announcement was made; I had lunch with a friend, and then she and I browsed the closing sale at our local Borders. (I picked up the first four Dexter novels.) Before I left the parking lot, I checked my email on my phone and started squealing when I found out I’d made the cut. My reaction when I made it through to the semi-finals was more of the same – crazypants squealing. Reading the positive reviews along the way from Amazon Vine reviewers and Publishers Weekly prompted even more squeals.
(Yeah, I squeal a lot. And squeak. And squee.)
Then came the day the finalists would be announced. I didn’t think for a second I’d actually make it that far . . . but I kept my phone by my side all morning, just in case.
I don’t like phones. I rarely talk on them. I never answer them. But that day I answered. I was a finalist, and I’d be traveling to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters for the announcement of the winners.
There was more squealing. It was loud enough to send my cat racing to the closet, where she hid for the rest of the day.
Up next: The final round
Thanks for the posting, Jill. I look forward to reading more. Best of luck with SpookyGirl. I have always loved the title.
ReplyDeleteThank you! One of my upcoming posts will deal specifically with the title, so keep an eye out for that.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty awesome to read! I'm going to repost this on my blog, if you don't mind. (With a link to your blog and a nice big link to where they can purchase the book, of course!)
ReplyDeleteSure thing -- feel free to repost! Thanks for reading. :)
ReplyDeleteJill, I'm glad you're sharing your journey. ABNAers will appreciate it. I remember your excerpt in the contest and loved it. -- Dwight Okita
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Dwight! I'll be getting to the real meat of my post-contest experience soon, so I hope you'll check back for that.
DeleteThanks so much for this post. I'm in the second round with my novel 'Stray' but don't expect to get much farther, partly due to psychologically preparing myself and staying in the 'rarely disappointed pessimist' camp. It's neat to see how a winner was not strutting with obscene and overflowing confidence yet got some sweet glory. You seem to have a bit of hobbit in you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark -- glad you enjoyed the post. Best of luck to you in the contest!
DeleteBefore I won, I'd been trying to get my foot in the door for about a decade (and I'd spent more than two years just trying to sell Spookygirl). My optimism wore off long ago, and in this industry, maybe that's for the best. Rejection happens. A lot. Some of it is merited, and some of it isn't. I found it was easier to be honest and realistic about my chances than to attach a bunch of false hope to each query letter. I had confidence in my work; I knew Spookygirl in particular was as strong as a lot of what's on the shelves. Getting published requires more than that, though. There's so much luck (or fate, or coincidence, or whatever) involved. It's getting your work into the hands of the right person on the right day. For me, it took this contest to get me to that point, and I'm ridiculously grateful I'm here.
Finalists have to travel?! Eep. I'm going to try not to think too hard about standing on a stage in front of people. Heh.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog through the discussions on this year's ABNA boards. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to reading more about your experiences.
No stage, thankfully. The ceremony was pretty informal, held in a large, comfy common room. There were seats arranged around a podium, and that's where we gave our talks. I had no idea what to expect, but I was really glad there wasn't a stage!
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