ABNA 2014 Quarter-Finals!

The Runner is a Quarter-Finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest!!

ABNA is sometimes referred to as the American Idol of the indie author industry. You can read the official rules here. The submission period opened in mid-February and stayed open for two weeks or until they reached 10,000 entries. There are a total of five categories: General Fiction; Mystery & Thriller; Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror; and Young Adult.

The first elimination from 10,000 down to 2,000 entries (400 per category) is based solely on the author’s pitch.

The second elimination is based on how well the 3,000 – 5,000 word excerpt is judged by at least two Amazon Vine Reviewers, leaving a total of 500 remaining contestants (100 per category).

The Runner is currently 1 of the 100 contestants remaining in the Young Adult category. Now, my entire manuscript will be read and reviewed by a Publisher’s Weekly reviewer and I can use this review to help promote my book. Also, sometime in the next few days all of the excerpts will be uploaded onto the site so anyone with an Amazon account can read and comment.

I am simply amazed that I’ve made it this far in the competition. This whole process of writing and self-publishing is filled with so many highs and lows and this is definitely a high I will have to remember during the low days. As exciting as it is to have my work commented on by these reviewers it is also frightening.

Now, to pass the time until the next elimination round (on June 13^th, the 500 contestants will be narrowed down to a scant 25) I will continue to write, try my best stay positive and keep the doubts out of my mind, and figure out a way to slip the words “my Publisher’s Weekly review” into as many conversations as I can get away with.