Amazon debut novel contest?
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I thought about doing it. I'm still thinking, but I think the answer for me will be no. The final judging is based solely on amazon.com customer ratings, and I think my subject matter is controversial enough to grab some right-wing hatred and destroy any chance of a decent rating for the contest. 
And since I'm about to send off queries to agents, this would be something to get in the way.
Good luck to everyone who enters!
And since I'm about to send off queries to agents, this would be something to get in the way.Good luck to everyone who enters!
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Shoot, me too. My novel has a late term abortion, one pretty graphic sex scene (necessary! don't lecture me!) casual drug use and takes swipes at Oprah Winfrey and The Grateful Dead.This is pretty broad, and I think disqualifies me.
Oh well, their loss.
Yep, I'm out too... Unless their definition of "obscene" is the same as Clinton's definition of "sex"...
That thing has more rules than Publishers Clearinghouse
That thing has more rules than Publishers Clearinghouse
Oh no. I'm a slow reviser. I don't have a novel even near ready for public consumption yet.
Shoot, me too. My novel has a late term abortion, one pretty graphic sex scene (necessary! don't lecture me!) casual drug use and takes swipes at Oprah Winfrey and The Grateful Dead.
Oh well, their loss.
I will not lecture you. I have a mandatory threesome in the first five pages of my novel.
All of that "invited to self publish" and "will be available for purchase at Amazon" make my eyelid twitch.
I'm out, but good luck to you and anyone else goin' for it! My nose will be available to have this rubbed in it if one of you wins this
I'm out, but good luck to you and anyone else goin' for it! My nose will be available to have this rubbed in it if one of you wins this
Just say no.
If your book is good enough to win (or place), it's probably good enough to land an agent and sell to a publisher. Run away...run away...
If your book is good enough to win (or place), it's probably good enough to land an agent and sell to a publisher. Run away...run away...
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I'd love to hear Miss Snark's take on this. Sigh...
I'm out, too, because the only MS I have 100% completed is the one under the bed. It doesn't totally suck but it's not publishable in its current state.
I'll keep writing and submitting (when I get there) the old fashioned way.
I'm out, too, because the only MS I have 100% completed is the one under the bed. It doesn't totally suck but it's not publishable in its current state.
I'll keep writing and submitting (when I get there) the old fashioned way.
My only problem is that I don't want to wait until April to possibly land a publisher, then when I lose go looking for an agent.
If you have a manuscript ready now, don't you want to get it out there as soon as possible? That's my real issue. What are the real chances of winning? Not great, and who wins is not up to the Penguin group. If you make semi-finals, then your manuscript is in limbo until April. No agent is going to want you now if you say, "Well, I just want to let you know that you can't negotiate with any publishers until after April because of a contest, but I'd love it if you represented me anyway."
*shrug* I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but make sure you think of everything before entering.
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Fair enough.
I wouldn't turn away from the Minotaur (St. Martin's Press) contest, though it would tie up my manuscript almost as long. And that was said to be legit by Miss Snark, though I don't know what she'd say about the Amazon.com contest. As a rule she doesn't seem to like contests, and I don't either.
As for how contests work in tandem with submitting to agents, I don't know.
Don't manuscripts get tied up with agents for months anyways? Submit, then don't see an answer for several months.
A question for the Ask the Agent forum!
I expect a turnaround from agents in less than several months, and remember, you're submitting to more than one, so it's not necessarily tied up while you're waiting. That is, unless you have a full out and have agreed to an exclusive, and if this is the case, you should never agree to an exclusive for the period of several months. At least that's what I've learned after researching (and since you quote Miss Snark, she specifically says exclusives are evil).
Again, these are just my opinions.
Then you're going to be disappointed. Response time from agents can be anywhere from several weeks to six or eight months (or longer). Even on requested material.
I realize there's a gap in turnaround time here. I'm not expecting to hear back from all of them in a short period of time, but I have a list of agents that have supplied a number of decent turnaround times to people on this site. I'm not stupid enough to think every agent I query will respond at all, let alone in a short span of time. But I expect to hear back on a query or partial from most of them before the end of April. I don't think that's a pipe dream; I think it's pretty reasonable.
Not really. There's an opt out clause: If you drop out of the contest after being named as a Semi-Finalist prior to being eliminated Penguin will have a right of first refusal to publish your manuscript until April 22, 2008.
It it quite reasonable. I suppose I misinterpreted your other post. To me "in less than several months" translates into "in less than two or three months." Which is quite standard turnaround time. It didn't translate into "in less than the seven months that lands us at the end of April."
I know, crazy huh? I guess what I'm saying is that if your book is good enough, it's likely an agent could get you a better deal, or at least a deal that contractually, is better for you.
This contest looks infinitely better than the one Gather.com had put together.
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