I entered to see if I was good enough, and to conquer that forever niggling voice encouraging me to quit writing.
I'd entered my book into the 15th Annual Writer's Digest International Self-Publishing Book Awards earlier this year.
What really sold me on this contest was that the applicant would receive a critique on their book by the judges--judges that were editors, agents, publishers...people truly embedded in this crazy business.
Didn't hear anything...figured, well, that's it, I suck.
Today's mail brought this:
(omitting the usual salutations)
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "poor" and 5 meaning "excellent," please evaluate the following:
Plot: 4
Grammar: 5 (ha!)
Character development: 4
Cover design: 4
Judge's Commentary:
What did you like best about this book?
Shadows of The Keeper has a hook that will make it accessible to a wide audience, including those who do not normally read in the fantasy genre. Namely, it features a heroine from our own time and world, which allows readers to be introduced to a fanstasy world along with the character while still being able to have an element of the novel that is rooted in the famiiar, an element to fall back on. The pacing of the novel is very strong, and Emily is a well developed character with a realistic and sometimes amusing internal elements.
How can the author improve this book?
Shadows of the Keeper is already a strong fantasy novel thanks to its fast pace and genuinely likeable lead character. At the same time, it might be helpful either in future editions of this novel or perhaps in the next one to introduce the element of the story that is most familiar to readers first. If a reader is deciding in the first few pages whether or not to commit to a book, offering them that part of the novel to which many can most easily latch onto could be helpful for bringing in more readers. Still, Shadows of The Keeper is a very inventive and likeable work, and I hope the author continues to work in the fantasy, (or perhaps historical fiction) genre.
This letter made me squeal like a stuck pig, right there in the post office lobby! I was a grinning loon!
No, I didn't place in the top nine. They won to-die-for prizes, but this letter....THIS letter is like getting a nod with a: you're on the right track, keep going.
So, I just HAD to share it with all of you! And to those that believed in me, no matter that I'm self published...LOOK...LOOK...ISN'T THIS GRAND?????
I'd entered my book into the 15th Annual Writer's Digest International Self-Publishing Book Awards earlier this year.
What really sold me on this contest was that the applicant would receive a critique on their book by the judges--judges that were editors, agents, publishers...people truly embedded in this crazy business.
Didn't hear anything...figured, well, that's it, I suck.
Today's mail brought this:
(omitting the usual salutations)On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "poor" and 5 meaning "excellent," please evaluate the following:
Plot: 4
Grammar: 5 (ha!)
Character development: 4
Cover design: 4
Judge's Commentary:
What did you like best about this book?
Shadows of The Keeper has a hook that will make it accessible to a wide audience, including those who do not normally read in the fantasy genre. Namely, it features a heroine from our own time and world, which allows readers to be introduced to a fanstasy world along with the character while still being able to have an element of the novel that is rooted in the famiiar, an element to fall back on. The pacing of the novel is very strong, and Emily is a well developed character with a realistic and sometimes amusing internal elements.
How can the author improve this book?
Shadows of the Keeper is already a strong fantasy novel thanks to its fast pace and genuinely likeable lead character. At the same time, it might be helpful either in future editions of this novel or perhaps in the next one to introduce the element of the story that is most familiar to readers first. If a reader is deciding in the first few pages whether or not to commit to a book, offering them that part of the novel to which many can most easily latch onto could be helpful for bringing in more readers. Still, Shadows of The Keeper is a very inventive and likeable work, and I hope the author continues to work in the fantasy, (or perhaps historical fiction) genre.
This letter made me squeal like a stuck pig, right there in the post office lobby! I was a grinning loon!
No, I didn't place in the top nine. They won to-die-for prizes, but this letter....THIS letter is like getting a nod with a: you're on the right track, keep going.
So, I just HAD to share it with all of you! And to those that believed in me, no matter that I'm self published...LOOK...LOOK...ISN'T THIS GRAND?????
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Congrats Karey. You're wonderful and so is your writing!
