FIRED ON MY DAY OFF AND ON MY BIRTHDAY

FREE KINDLE FOR PC

FREE KINDLE FOR PC
So you can read my books

Monday, January 14, 2013

SECRETS OF ABNA 2013 REVEALED!




There are secrets to ABNA.


Not all of them are known to the public.  It is that way with any world-wide endeavor.


I.)  THERE’S NO ROOM IN THE CYBER-INN!


If you were one of the first to enter last night, then many of you found to your horror that when you tried to copy and paste your EXCERPT, 


          there was only ghostly laughter and frustration awaiting you.


         The word "false" appeared in the field and wouldn’t accept any pasting or  typing over.


Amazon published this for all of you:
 

Thank you to all authors who have reported receiving the "False" code when trying to complete the Excerpt portion of ABNA entry form. 

After investigating the issue we isolated the problem to authors using newer versions of the Internet Explorer browser (versions 8 & 9). We have deployed a fix to address this and are continuing to monitor the platform.

 If you are still having issues with the contest forms using the IE browser, please try these two alternate solutions:

1.) Reload your IE Browser cache. To do this:
a. Hold down the shift-key on your computer
b. Click the reload button on your IE browser

2. )Try a different browser:
Authors using Firefox, Chrome, Safari and other non-Internet Explorer browsers have not experienced this issue. You may wish to complete you entry using one of these alternative browsers. You will need to close your current Internet Explorer session after logging out of CreateSpace.com.
 Good luck to all entrants.

 I used Firefox to enter my EXCERPT, and everything worked just fine.



II.)  ARE YOU TRYING TO CONFUSE ME?

As you began to enter, you were asked for a 300 word DESCRIPTION of your book.


Later, you were asked to copy and paste your 300 word PITCH.


Say again?


The difference is that one, the PITCH,

is for the competition


And the DESCRIPTION is for the introduction of the work on the website.


I put my pitch in both places.


The "About the Book" isn't used for judging, so don't worry about it.



III.)  HEY, I’VE GOT A PROSE CLOT!


Many previewed their EXCERPTS, only to find it was one massive formation of prose. Ouch!


If your excerpt appears as one large mass of text,


you should change your browser to Firefox or Chrome.  It cannot be a good thing to bruise the judges’ eyes with a blunt instrument of prose.


IV.)  Finally …

If you have properly entered ABNA, you should receive a confirmation  email. You will be given your own code then too.

The following answers from the editors judging 2009’s ABNA are revealing:

8 comments:

  1. What is it with IE? That's why I switched to Firefox - never a problem.
    Glad you got yours loaded! Good luck, Roland.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex:
    Yes, IE also prevents you from putting pictures from your computer to your blog post. Ouch!

    Thanks for the well wishes. Alice is looking forward to some midnight snacks of mean-spirited judges. Elu is chuckling. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very amusing, Roland.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good luck, Roland.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shelly:
    Thanks!

    D.G.:
    Thank you. I was trying to help others who might be floundering in the attempt to enter ABNA, too. :-)

    Donna:
    We'll find out if I can go on the middle of February. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Roland, meant to ask about IE, when you said it prevents uploading of photos, which I had trouble with, so I downloaded Picasa and now I can load them.

    I thought it was Blogger giving me grief, but I'm no techie. I've got Chrome too, but don't like that much. (there's always something, like Rosanna Rosannadana used to say)

    It's great that you share your knowledge, Roland. I applaud that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. D.G.:
    With Firefox, I can download my pictures straight from my computer to Blogger without Picasa.

    But I have Picasa Web Albums as well, but they have a limit to free storage.

    When I hit the EXCERPT stonewall, preventing me from entering my own excerpt, I was so frustrated.

    I managed to find the solution to that problem along with other snags, so I thought I would spare my late-entering friends that upset! :-)

    I know you would do that, too, D.G. Have a great new week, Roland

    ReplyDelete