Contest mania
Aug 30th, 2005 by Sandra
I’m thinking about entering THE ORCHID HUNTER in the following contests:
The RITA (no-brainer)
National Readers Choice Awards
Holt Medallion
The Maggies
But by golly, I run into the problem of what to categorize my single-titlish, action-adventure, series novel. I guess Long Contemporary is going to have to be It, but if the judges stick to the tried-and-true Harlequin Superromance, Silhouette Special Edition, and Silhouette Intimate Moments, I’m kind of screwed. The love interest doesn’t show up until Chapter 3.
Maybe contests for published books will be different than contests for unpubbed manuscripts.
I sure the heck hope so.
In addition, I have to make clear to myself why exactly I’m entering. Romancing the Blog had an article the other day by a writer in this position — wondering whether submitting to a contest made any difference (or sense). I responded that, for me, it had to be an ego thing because I’m just not sure what it means when I read “Award-Winning Author” on anyone’s book.
So, yes, it’d be nice to have the strokes because I sure didn’t get many from readers. Occasionally someone will pop up and say, “Hey, loved the heck out of The Orchid Hunter!” but those are few and far between. Will a contest give me that?
I somehow doubt it. I suspect that I haven’t found my audience yet, and that perhaps I need to be writing in single title or mainstream for a better fit with readers. But how do you know until you go for it, right?
I really enjoyed The Orchid Hunter — it had great characters and a solid story with humor, emotion and adventure. I usually twinge when I see first person books, no matter the genre, because so many times, the narrator comes off arrogant or obnoxious, not real enough to relate to or root for… but I found Jessie believable and compelling, and that made a big difference in my enjoyment. Given these strengths, I’d love to see a longer single title from your imagination. :)
I have a few ideas percolating, Mariann. One in particular that I think would be a nice mainstream thriller.
Thanks for letting me know you liked TOH. That means a lot, especially since I’m struggling through a manuscript right now.
And a huge thanks for turning me on to WordPress. I love modular, expandable, and user-friendly scripts!
*Cringing at the thought of TOH competing against SuperRomances and Special Editions*
Sandra, I think you will lose the contest, and not because TOH is a bad book. On the contrary, I think you already know how much I love, love, LOVE TOH. But entering it in a contest filled with Supers? The moment the Long Contemporary judges read about Jes and the pilot in chapter 2, they’re going to mark the book down and it won’t recover, I’m afraid. I want you to enter it in categories where TOH will have a fighting chance! Like the Mainstream Category in the RITA. Or romantic suspense. My sister-in-law won the Long Contemporary category in this past RITA (Inglath Cooper) and I’m afraid if TOH is judged next to her book, Jess & Co. won’t stand a fighting chance. I want my girl to win!!!
Thanks for the thoughts, Karmela. You’re right. I’d totally forgotten about The Carlos Incident and that’ll sink TOH from the get-go, won’t it?
Better stick to the RITA (mainstream w/romantic elements) and contests with similar sensibilities (i.e., they accept a long contemporary novel in a different contest category).
Thanks for the feedback, girlfriend!
Hi Sandra, just stumbled on your blog. I too loved TOH, thought it was one of the best Bombshells I’ve read. :o)
Good luck on the contests!
Wow, Lis, you just made my week! Woohoo!
hehe, I’m glad! :)