Back in January, at the encouragement of my dear friend and fellow Young Adult Author, Amy Miles, I entered Amazon’s 2012 Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. The odds were daunting to say the least. They only accepted 5000 entries, then cut them off. After that, you had 300 words total in which to ‘Pitch’ your story. From that pitch alone, the 5000 were dropped to 1000.
They announced those 1000 today, and I am happy to report that I have one of those 1000. I am shocked and overwhelmed, and honored. I have no delusions of getting any further (since from this point they cut to 250) but the thrill of beating out 4000 other pitches gives me validation that at least the pitch doesn’t need anymore work. And that alone is a victory in itself.
Below is the info about the rest of the contest.
2012 Breakthrough Novel Award Contest
Announcing 2,000 Second Round Entrants
Congratulations to the 2,000 entrants moving on to the Second Round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest! Download the complete list of 1,000 General Fiction and 1,000 Young Adult Fiction Entrants moving on to the Second Round.
We’ll be announcing the 500 Quarter-Finalists on March 20, 2012.
This year’s competition will once again award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.
Danielle Bannister, Author 