A B N A Vets Forum Semifinal notices out - Post ..

Dan	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Hi everyone, and congrats to everyone in the semi-finalists round. My excerpt, The Blood of the Templar, is available here: I've read through it and there are some formatting issues -- a scene break in chapter one is no longer a scene break so you have a dramatic switch in pov with no warning -- and the chapters aren't very well distinguished. Overall, minor stuff (well, I think the missing scene break is major, but not much I can do about it), I've read through a number of entries and some others have small formatting stuff like that.
Michael Markefka	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Originally posted by P.J. Lowry I spent the better part of the last two and half hours trying to speak to someone at the Amazon Corporate Headquarters. I spent the majority of that time being transferred from one department to another, and they all had one thing in common: no one had any idea what the "Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award" was. When I finally did get someone on the phone who did, it was someone in PR who was rude, in my face with the rulebook and flat out told me that no more books besides the 836 already posted were going on to the semi-finals. I then asked her why less than a 1000 books were picked, she refused to answer saying that she isn't in charge of judging. I then asked to speak to the person who was. She basically flat out said no and that I was never going to speak to anyone in that department. Our conversation ended there rather abrputly. I'm pretty much at my wit's end. I've scanned over the people who did move on and I am quite disgusted with what I see. I was going to take the high road and be mature about this, but after talking to the c**t in PR... I've decided to be a trouble maker. I'm through contacting Amazon and trying to speak with them. This afternoon I'm going to contact my lawyer and begin the motion of filing civil litigation for fraud, false advertising, breach of contract and pretty much anything else we can think of. I don't want to be that person, but it seems Amazon has left me with no choice... Josh Josh, let it go. I don't think anything valuable is going to come out of that. Use that energy and dedication and turn it towards improving your craft. I firmly believe that determination and effort are rewarded in the long run, so take a few deep breaths, relax and hit the paper again to work on what should be dear, precious and worthwhile to you: writing. -Mike
Leah D	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Some people who didn't get notice last night are getting it now. Check your in-box and junk mail. I've failed to get "closure" from half the agents I've queried -- not even xeroxed rejection, but no answer at all. It's publishing. If you want to be published, this is the s**t you have to go through. Michael's right -- use the energy for your work. It won't help your possible career to get a reputation as a sorehead. It takes a special mix of arrogance and humility to be a writer I think.
Leah D	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Quote: Originally posted by P.J. Lowry Right now there are rumors going around the ABNA board that the reason why only 836 books were posted is because they never finished reading all the submissions! If that's true, than there are a lot of competition laws in both Canada and the United States that might be broken as a result of this. I have also spotted a semi-finalist whose title is a clear violation of the rules set forth in October. So as far as Amazon is concerned the rules only apply to only to some people, but not all of them. This is not legal, and as a contestant that has been playing by the rules, I have a right to file if I feel legitmately wronged. I want answers, and right now I am not satisfied with the ones that I've been given thus far. Filing this suit and forcing Amazon to explain themselves will get me closer to the answers I seek. You say that no good can come out of this... while that's possible truth is I'll never know unless I try. Josh Rumors! Good grief -- if you believe every rumor you hear.... 836 out of 5000 is a big percentage by slush-pile standards. And no, the system isn't fair -- nothing in publishing is, really. (Not much in consumer capitalism is, for that matter -- but that's another can of worms.) Read all the rules again, Josh. There's one big reason you won't get anywhere with a lawsuit, and the lawyers you talk to will probably point this out to you -- Amazon has lawyers too, and they've covered their butts. Here are a couple of phrases: "up to 1000" "rules may change at sponsors' discretion" Even the judging criteria are "at discretion." Okay, now how about writing, and discussing writing, in this wonderful group of wonderful writers?
Dan	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Originally posted by Leah D I've failed to get "closure" from half the agents I've queried -- not even xeroxed rejection, but no answer at all. Very true, many agents tend not to respond at all to e-queries if they are uninterested. I've even had partials and full submissions go through without ever getting a reply. The biz side of writing is definitely frustrating.
Michael Markefka	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Originally posted by P.J. Lowry Mike: I wish I could let it go but I have nothing to let go of. I never got a letter, and because of that I never got closure. Since Amazon is unwilling to explain themselves to me or answer any of my questions, legal action would be the best way to squeeze those answers out of them. Put them and their horrid mismanagement of this contest on trail and force them to explain themselves and provide the paperwork to prove that my work was given a fair shake. Right now there are rumors going around the ABNA board that the reason why only 836 books were posted is because they never finished reading all the submissions! If that's true, than there are a lot of competition laws in both Canada and the United States that might be broken as a result of this. I have also spotted a semi-finalist whose title is a clear violation of the rules set forth in October. So as far as Amazon is concerned the rules only apply to only to some people, but not all of them. This is not legal, and as a contestant that has been playing by the rules, I have a right to file if I feel legitmately wronged. I want answers, and right now I am not satisfied with the ones that I've been given thus far. Filing this suit and forcing Amazon to explain themselves will get me closer to the answers I seek. You say that no good can come out of this... while that's possible truth is I'll never know unless I try. Josh Amazon isn't your best shot at being published. You are. Really, stick with your writing, ignore the drama and politics. Yes, maybe some people have been shortchanged by Amazon, but in that case screw Amazon and just keep going. So they didn't take you along for a piece of the road, but that doesn't mean you can't keep walking while looking for other opportunities to reach your destination. Don't grow rancorous roots there. Keep walking. I only got my rejection mail a few minutes ago, but it doesn't really change anything. It wasn't my first rejection and it won't be my last. The point is that I already refocused on the tasks at hand. Originally posted by Leah D It takes a special mix of arrogance and humility to be a writer I think. Absolutely. I agree. For one, we are all arrogant enough to think that what we write is worth being read and that people should sacrifice their time to do so. That's among the main thoughts I keep in mind while writing: "Why should anyone bother to read this? Why should anyone invest 15 valuable hours of their lives to spend them with this cringe-inducing, atrocious mediocrity?" Yet despite (and partly because of) this whip at my back, I always come to the arrogant conclusion that my writing is worth being read, even more so than most other texts people could read in the same time.
P.J. Lowry	This still sucks... 17 Years Ago Of course the 'official' rejection letter (Complete with Createspace suck up info) comes less than an hour after I threaten Amazon PR c**t with legal action. Coincedence? I think not. But that doesn't change anything: I'm officially out. I was very hesitant to enter into this fiasco in October, and I should have gone with my gut. This farce of a contest has been flawed and mismanaged from the very beginning. I've sent out a fresh barrage of query letters today. I'm hoping something will come of it, but I'm not holding my breath either. I realize rejection is a part of the industry, but Amazon is without class for their actions. Honestly, I have previously considered using Createspace so when the next email comes in I'll have to go over it. From there I'll honestly consider it again. How many rejections I get between now and then might dictate how I feel when that option comes along. Haven't talked to lawyer yet, but still very, very tempted. Josh
J.Bear	[no subject] 17 Years Ago I made it in, too. "Death, Inc." Good luck to all who made it. And to those who didn't--thanks for all your support and kind words. From what I've read here, you all belonged in the semis (more than alot of the stuff I've read there), so whatever you do, keep writing! J.Bear
GRGreene	[no subject] 17 Years Ago The Property.