ABNA 2013 - HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

 

ABNA is the lottery for those of us struggling to break into publishing.

I. BETTER THAN THE LOTTERY, FOR WE HAVE SOME INPUT:

     1.) We can polish our prose to give us our best product to be evaluated.

     2.) We can edit the remaining parts of our entries should we pass the Pitch round.

     3.) That's like being able to change the numbers of our lottery ticket!  How cool is that?

     4.) And for a month or three we get to dream of what it would mean to win.

II. MY REALITY CHECK JUST BOUNCED!

     1.) Eden had a snake, and dream dates sometimes have bad breath.

     2.) If your book is published by Amazon, it won't be shelved by B&N.

            a.) Some books do really well with online-only presence.

            b.) Mostly the popular, in-trend genres --
                 which by the nature of ABNA will be the winners.

            c.) For other books, not being in B&N (or other brick-and-mortar stores)
                 can have a devastating impact.

III. WHAT SMALL PRINT?

     1.) The official rules can be found here: 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000633821

     2.) When a stage magician sweeps broadly with his right hand ...
           watch his left hand -- the key to the trick is there.

     3.) Part of the contract (the first section puts stars in our eyes, right?):

          "Amazon Publishing is offering five publishing contracts. Four first-prize
            publishing contracts with a $15,000 advance against future royalties.

            One Grand Prize Winner will receive a publishing contract with a $50,000
            advance against future royalties. A brief summary is available below with
            more information available on the Prizes overview page.

            {Stars in our eyes may make us blink through the rest of the words.}

            You will be required to accept the Amazon Publishing contract "as-is"
            if you are selected as a First or Grand Prize winner.

            Each finalist will receive a full publishing contract with additional details."
           
     4.) I have accepted jobs with the phrase "and duties as required" to discover that I had
          signed on for the labors of Hercules!  :-)

IV. THIS PUTS LOSING INTO A WHOLE NEW CATEGORY!

     1.) Non-winners may be offered publication by Amazon.

     2.) They must then negotiate exclusively with Amazon for a contract.

            a.) If they can't come to an agreement, they're free to shop the manuscript elsewhere-

            b.) But if they receive an offer, they must give Amazon "the last right to publish"
                 on the same terms and conditions (and for a bit more money)
                 than are being offered by the other publisher.

            c.) So if you enter the contest and get a publishing offer,
                 it may be very hard to refuse.

                 (See Clause 5 of the official rules.)

     3.) The lovely Victoria Strauss pointed this out to me.
          
            a.) By the way, Ms. Strauss, the cover to your PASSION BLUE is evocative and beautiful.

            b.) http://www.amazon.com/Passion-Blue-Victoria-Strauss/dp/0761462309?_encoding=UTF8&al_rs=#al_rp

     4.) Once again, I hope I have helped my friends in some small way, Roland