Amazon's Breakthrough Author: It Could Be Andrew Schneider
Yesterday I received an e-mail from my friend and coworker at Empty Room Studios, Andrew Schneider. (Andrew is also one of the new Living Forgotten Realms team for the RPGA.) Back when Amazon first publicized it's Breakthrough Author contest, I pointed it out to Andrew, because I knew he was shopping around a novel. Recently, a small group of the five thousand entrants into the contest found out that they'd be continuing to the next part of the competition, and Andrew's novel is among them!
I'm sure that there were a bunch of brilliant novels that didn't make it to the next pass, but I'm psyched for Andrew that his is going on! So, here's how the next part of the process is going to work, according to Amazon:
"From now until March 2, we're inviting Amazon.com customers to download, read, and review excerpts from our semifinalists and help decide who will make it to the Top Ten. Penguin will select manuscripts to read from the semifinal round based on customers' feedback and Publishers Weekly reviews."
As a note, there's also a ginormous prize package (including a Kindle, $2000 in Amazon credit, and sundry other gifts) going out to folks who post reviews of the titles. So going over and writing some reviews is a win-win proposition. If you'd like to read Andrew's piece, you can find it here. There are 104 entries classified as science fiction/fantasy, another 36 in the romance category, 202 in mystery/suspense, 74 historicals, and an overwhelming 420 in general literature. Plenty of reading material for the procrastinators out there!
Congrats again to Andrew!
I'm sure that there were a bunch of brilliant novels that didn't make it to the next pass, but I'm psyched for Andrew that his is going on! So, here's how the next part of the process is going to work, according to Amazon:
"From now until March 2, we're inviting Amazon.com customers to download, read, and review excerpts from our semifinalists and help decide who will make it to the Top Ten. Penguin will select manuscripts to read from the semifinal round based on customers' feedback and Publishers Weekly reviews."
As a note, there's also a ginormous prize package (including a Kindle, $2000 in Amazon credit, and sundry other gifts) going out to folks who post reviews of the titles. So going over and writing some reviews is a win-win proposition. If you'd like to read Andrew's piece, you can find it here. There are 104 entries classified as science fiction/fantasy, another 36 in the romance category, 202 in mystery/suspense, 74 historicals, and an overwhelming 420 in general literature. Plenty of reading material for the procrastinators out there!
Congrats again to Andrew!