Some Good News!

[Crittias]

My first completed novel manuscript, The Emancipation of Bartholomew Benson, written back in November 2007, has made it to the quarterfinals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards this year. That means that out of 10,000 entries, I'm one of the top 500. Not too shabby!

You can find my novel excerpt at the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3CW6

There you can read a short bit of the novel, and then post comments just like any other commercial product that Amazon sells.

I'll hear in mid-April if I make the next cut (from 500 to 100). Keep your fingers crossed for me!

[total]

Wow man, that is fantastic! Congrats!

[Psykoboy2]

Any way we can help out or is the decision made by a collective group of other people?

[Spectre-7]

Any way we can help out or is the decision made by a collective group of other people?

In the current round, the contestants' manuscripts are being read and reviewed by Publishers Weekly, and Penguin editors will choose 100 semi-finalists based on those reviews. Reader reviews come into the game in the final round (around May 22nd) to determine who of the last three competitors takes the grand prize.

I know I've said it elsewhere, but congratulations again Crittias. We're all pulling for you.

[Ancalagon]

Congrats!

So.... excuse my ignorance on Amazon shorts, but what is the grand prize, has your book been published, etc etc. How does it all work?

[alienmastermind]

Wow!
Congratulations, man! Like the title, and haven't read the excerpt but will at my earliest convenience. :)

Here's to you winning top honors, man!

Alienmastermind

[Crittias]

So.... excuse my ignorance on Amazon shorts, but what is the grand prize, has your book been published, etc etc. How does it all work?In short, it's a contest for unpublished manuscripts. For me, it would be my first publication of any sort. The winner gets a publishing contract with Penguin and a $25k advance on future royalties. Even if I don't win (which, let's face it, is extremely unlikely) the ability to mention the quarterfinalist (or, fingers crossed, finalist) finish in a query letter is going to be a really nice bonus. So I'm very pleased.

I'm also encouraged by this result because, while I love Bart Benson and this story, it's not as good a tale as my newest manuscript, Theme. So my spirits are very high at the moment :)

[Crittias]

Oh, and if anyone wants a copy of the manuscript to read, just message me. Or wait until this summer, when you can buy it for $19.95. :D

[Superman's Dead]

Fantastic and congrats! =D

[Kielaran]

Congrats man! Keep us posted.

[TheFlyingOrc]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/theflyingorc/farnsworth.jpg

[Generation ABXY]

Ah, congrats, Crittias! From what I've read of THEME (don't ask; it happened again, and this time for good), you certainly seem to be a very good writer, so I believe you could indeed pull this out. Good luck! :)

[Ancalagon]

Oh, and if anyone wants a copy of the manuscript to read, just message me. Or wait until this summer, when you can buy it for $19.95. :D

Or $50 for your friends right?

[Spacetronaut]

Congrats man, that's awesome!

[National Kato]

Oh, and if anyone wants a copy of the manuscript to read, just message me. Or wait until this summer, when you can buy it for $19.95. :D

Any of you motherfuckers who requests a copy without paying Crittias needs a punch to the face.

[Crittias]

Any of you motherfuckers who requests a copy without paying Crittias needs a punch to the face.For anyone that requests a copy and is willing to pay, I will throw in the punch to the face free of charge.

[DangerousDaze]

That's fantastic! Good luck with the rest of the competition!

[Arphahat]

How cool is this? I somehow missed this thread, but ended up reading about it in my RSS feed for NaNoWriMo. Check out an interview with Ted here (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3154302)!

Congrats again, Ted!

[DangerousDaze]

If truth were told I'm envious as hell. I'd love to be able to finish a project like that but I have too limited an atten

[Vermillion]

I'm sure it's not as good as Evil's "Agent Red" story, but hey, at least you aren't completely worthless in the eyes of your other peers. Not that that counts for a whole lot either. I'm sure it's a literary masterpiece in the likes of your fellow authors of Twilight and Everyone Poops...

Jebus, I kid, I kid... Congarats! Let us know when we can ballot stuff :)

[pronounconnoun]

Congrats!

Looks like I'll have to download the snippet to read it, so I'll have to wait until I get off of work to see it.

[Crittias]

I'm sure it's not as good as Evil's "Agent Red" story, but hey, at least you aren't completely worthless in the eyes of your other peers. Not that that counts for a whole lot either. I'm sure it's a literary masterpiece in the likes of your fellow authors of Twilight and Everyone Poops...You know you're slated for success when you're compared to the author of Twilight.

And you know you're at CoG when you're compared (as a jest) to Evil. :D

[Crittias]

Congrats!

Looks like I'll have to download the snippet to read it, so I'll have to wait until I get off of work to see it.My excerpt is the most disappointing part of the story for me. It's well-written, but it's too slow of a start. I think it'll be my undoing in this round.

But, you never know.

[Spectre-7]

My excerpt is the most disappointing part of the story for me. It's well-written, but it's too slow of a start. I think it'll be my undoing in this round.

But, you never know.

If your excerpt could have sunk you, it would've happened last round. It doesn't make any difference this round. Your next review will come from Publishers Weekly and will be based on the full manuscript.

[Crittias]

If your excerpt could have sunk you, it would've happened last round. It doesn't make any difference this round. Your next review will come from Publishers Weekly and will be based on the full manuscript.Oh. Well, then. Hmm. Yay? Crap, now my hopes are up a bit.

[Spectre-7]

Oh. Well, then. Hmm. Yay? Crap, now my hopes are up a bit.

Whoops! Didn't mean to get your hopes up. If you like, I could make up some nasty things about your novel, and perhaps drag you back down to a healthy level of pessimism. ;)

[shunoshi]

Wow, this is great, Crittias. BTW, I'm about half way through "Theme" and am digging it quite a bit. I'll have to check out this one after I finish up with it.

[Crittias]

Wow, this is great, Crittias. BTW, I'm about half way through "Theme" and am digging it quite a bit. I'll have to check out this one after I finish up with it.Cool! I really do like Theme, and I look forward to your feedback when you finish.

[Crittias]

No luck reaching the semifinals.

Oh, well. I'm pleased that I made it to the quarterfinals, and I'll take that as a good reason to do a rewrite and send the manuscript out to agents.

[Kielaran]

Congrats man. I know you would have liked to make it further, but getting that far alone is quite the accomplishment.

[tombofsoldier]

Mini Review: Not bad! Not great. The overarching flow of how the words go together could be better. E.G. Stephen King or J.K. Rowling being excellent at this. But it was interesting. I like the title, reminds me of a Philip K. Dick novel. Anyway good luck in future endeavors man.