The Ghosts of Contests Past

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My guest is romance writer Jill Lynn Anderson. Jill and I originally met through a contest and have remained friends and are both of us are part of a large and very close writing group, The Writing Wombats.

 When Jill mentioned she had not only entered Mills and Boon New Voices Contest (she never said a word about entering) with her novel, WINDSONG, but was in the top ten finalists, I was over the moon! Why? Not only because she was a friend with great storytelling ability, but because she had at one time considered giving up writing.


I’ll let Jill tell you about that.



Thank you so much for inviting me to talk about being one of ten finalists in Mills & Boon New Voices contest, Sia.

I am one of the least competitive people you'll ever find, yet I've lost count of the number of writing contests I've entered over the years. My first "win" came from a silly entry into a contest an America Online writing group held for Mike Tyson recipes---this was soon after Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear in their infamous match. As some of your blog followers are probably too young to even know about this, that gives an indication of how long ago this was. (Also shows my age LOL) My prize was a cookbook. A used one. Yet I was thrilled to win.

Once my writing took a more serious turn, I had two finished novels under my belt when I entered the first novel-writing contest at Gather. I was certain I would win. My novel is brilliant! Readers will recognize it as the masterpiece it is! Imagine my surprise when I was out on the first round.

I then entered my other novel into Gather's next novel contest--this one for romances--thinking I "might" win. Again, out on the first round.

Then came the first Amazon Break-Through Novel Award. I submitted the same novel I'd entered in the first Gather contest. Ah ha! I thought. New audience. They'll see this novel's brilliance! Entered. Out.

Second Amazon Break-Through Novel Award. I'd written another novel at this point, and worked hard to fine-tune my pitch, asked for feedback from all the Writing Wombats--whom I was fortunate to find during all those Gather writing contest--and polished, polished, polished. I just KNEW this was it. Entered. Out.

Although you'd think I'd be used to being out on the first round, I was devastated this time. To the point that I'd decided to give up. Not just give up on contests, but on writing completely. I'm not an, ‘I have to write' type writer anyway, and decided there were other, less time-consuming outlets for my creativity. For me, the satisfaction I get out of writing isn't complete without also having readers at the other end. Between the rejections I was receiving from literary agents and the contest losses, my disillusionment was complete. Four novels no one was ever going to read were enough.

But then...

I took two stories I'd written for the fun contests we Writing Wombats have a couple times of year and submitted them to publishers. One was a dark humor piece I'd written for our Phantasmorgia contest at Halloween time (mind you, I didn't win our contest), and it became my first publishing credit when it was published in an anthology "Night Bird Singing in the Dead of Night." My second publishing credit came when I submitted what I'd written for our Valentine's Day contest to Woman's World magazine. Peach- Flavored Kisses was published in their final issue of 2009.

So, I figured though I wasn't winning contests, good did come out of them. Still, when someone mentioned the New Voices contest, I was reluctant to enter. I'd just started writing again after the five-month hiatus that followed my devastation from the Amazon contest. Did I really want to put myself there again? Besides, my category romance was in first person, which Mills & Boon rarely publishes, AND I don't introduce my hero until chapter two. I'd already broken two romance book "rules", but entered a couple days before deadline with a what-the-heck attitude. I KNEW I'd never get past the first round.

Imagine my surprise...

• I'm not surprised, it's a good story, Jill. How do we go about casting a vote for you? Will I have to do anything special to gain access to your first two chapters? Can I comment on the story if I want to?  

Thanks for asking, Sia. Voting is a bit tricky. Readers clicked one to five roses to rate our first chapters, and they still show up on our pages, but aren't clickable in this round of the competition.

To vote in this second-chapter round, readers register at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/, and receive an e-mail with a link to click (to verify they're not robots LOL). Once logged in, a "Cast your Vote" button is on the left side of the site's main page. Clicking on that brings up the top ten. Once there, readers can read first chapters, second chapters, leave comments, and vote.

In this round of the competition, the four entries with the highest scores go onto the final round and will post a pivotal scene for readers to judge. The grand-prize winner is announced on November 1st.

Oh, mine is WINDSONG! See? I told you I'm not very good at the competing part.

• Jill, I'm wishing you the best on this contest. Anything you'd like to add or ask readers?

Thank you, again, Sia. Instead of ending with a question, I'll just ask that everyone instead wish YOU a happy birthday. You, birthday girl, are a winner in all of our books!

Aww, Jill. Thank you sweetie.

Here's Windsong's Summary:

Journalist Lexie Gray enters the Witness Security Program and plans to write a tell-all about the secretive program. But, when she falls in love with the U.S. Marshal protecting her, her hard-hitting exposé softens into a romantic memoir. Chapter One Excerpt

~ * ~ * ~

Jill Lynn Anderson has published several short stories. Jill writes mainstream and romance fiction in a little office in her petite home located in an itsy-bitsy Pennsylvania town. To compensate for all the smallness, she thinks and dreams BIG.

Go Jill Go!

Interview with Dorchester's Fresh Blood Finalist—LISA KOOSIS

I’m amazed how many contests there are in existence for writers to enter. Many aspiring authors choose to enter contests to receive feedback on things they’ve written with the view to improving their work enough to eventually win the big prize of a publishing contract. There are various contests out there. Some small contests online and through various magazines, some larger contests provided by writing associations, like RWA. Then there are the colossal contests like Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award, started in 2007, American Title Writing Competition, based loosely on American Idol and these two bring in thousands of entries.


I’ve had various friends compete in small and large contests. I competed in Gather’s First Chapters Romance contest, which was also big and similar to ABNA and to lesser degree, ATWC. All three of these contests have a base in not only writing skills, but also the writer’s promotion abilities and popular vote does come into play at one stage or another depending upon the sponsors and rules. I will say it’s a rather insane way to get a publishing contract. I’m glad I did it; I learned an amazing amount about good writing and the importance of promotion.


Not long ago, Dorchester Leisure, Rue Morgue magazine, horror fiction web site ChiZine, got together for “Fresh Blood,” a new writing contest specifically for unpublished horror authors. I know little about this contest other than it’s similar to Amazon, Gather, and American Title, with thousands of entries. Writers not only have to be able to write well but be able to promote themselves and their work because there is also an element of popular vote.

The prize? The winner will have their book published by Dorchester's, Leisure imprint, and see their book in bookstores in 2011.


My guest is Lisa Koosis, one of two finalists in Dorchester’s Fresh Blood contest. Lisa was nice enough to let me pick her brain.

• Tell me a bit about Lisa Koosis.

First of all, thank you so much, Sia, for having me on your blog.

• Oh, it's my pleasure, I assure you. So tell me about you.

A little bit about me… Let’s see… I’m a native New Yorker. I grew up on Long Island, so you’ll see the influence of the shore in a lot of my writing, and I currently live in the Hudson River Valley with my family and a bunch of furry, four-legged friends. I’ve been self-employed for the last few years, which has really given me the opportunity to pursue my writing dream, mainly concentrating on my short fiction. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had stories published in a number of great speculative fiction magazines and anthologies like Abyss & Apex, Murky Depths, Meadowhawk Press’s Touched by Wonder anthology and recently, Blade Red Press’s Dark Pages anthology, among others. I’m also a bit of an internet junkie and a hopeless multitasker.

• Have you been writing long? What’s your preferred genre and why?

I’ve been writing for a long time. In elementary school, when the teacher would assign the class a creative writing assignment, the other kids would turn in a paragraph or two, and I’d be the crazy kid churning out pages-long epics about talking dogs and mer-folk. I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t write.


My penchant (as you might have guessed by my cringe-worthy early efforts) is for speculative fiction. I’m not so good about sticking to one genre--you’ll find me moving around among science fiction, fantasy, and horror, sometimes even mainstream—but I just love those crazy, magical, surreal elements.

• Do you belong to any author/writing associations?

No. Ironically, my only professional sales have been in mainstream short story markets so I haven’t yet qualified for membership in HWA or SFWA, which would be my goal.

• Have you entered many writing contests in the past?

I love writing contests, and contests have been kind to me. My first published short story came about through a contest. Several years ago I placed second in The Poughkeepsie Journal’s Talespinners short story contest. This year, I was the grand prizewinner in Family Circle’s fiction contest. It’s a little bit ironic because in both of those contests I won with mainstream stories that were way outside of my comfort zone. In fact, each year those contests served as a challenge, a reason to push myself and stretch my boundaries. I think contests like that keep my writing fresh and new.


I’ve also entered Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award competition all three years with widely varying results. The first and third year I didn’t make it past Round 1. Last year, I made it all the way to the semifinals with the novel that’s now a finalist in the Fresh Blood contest. ABNA was an excellent experience because I not only came away with more confidence in the novel, but also with feedback that allowed me to make the novel even stronger.

• What made you decide on an author promotion styled contest to enter?

I hate the thought of a missed opportunity. I want to keep putting my work out there. I want to push as hard as I can toward my goals. I plan on entering the Amazon contest every year as long as they run it. And when I came across the information for Dorchester’s Fresh Blood contest, I knew I just had to submit an entry even if it meant I would have to give myself a crash course in author promotion.

• It’s always fascinating to me to see how an author chooses a title, why did you choose the title Heart Of The City?

Funny you should mention the title, because if you read the comments of the judges, it’s probably the thing they like least about the book. It’s a good thing to know, and I’ve learned through short stories that it’s never wise to get too attached to a title.

In Heart of the City, Charlie and Eva travel from city to city in a world devastated by Charlie’s creation, the Phoenix Particle, and with every place they visit, the heart of that city becomes a part of Eva. Though I’m not a city person myself, I’ve always been fascinated by cities and how they each have distinctly different personalities, different hearts. Walk down a street in Boston and it has a completely different feel from walking down a street in New York. In Heart of the City, the hearts of those cities and how they change Eva become a crucial part of the story.

The book is also a bit of a love letter to New York City post-9/11, when the world got to see not only tragedy but also the heart of New York, so the title is also a bit of a nod to that.

• This contest is largely decided initially by judges, correct?

Yes. The good folks at Dorchester Publishing, ChiZine Publications and Rue Morgue Magazine decided on the Top 10 based on the submitted manuscripts. From there, a panel of judges, which included editors and published novelists, determined the Top 5.

• Promotional votes play what part?

Promotional votes began once we hit the Top 5. After that, it became an American Idol styled contest where the contestant with the least amount of votes got eliminated each month.

• You’re one of the finalist, how does that feel?

It feels a little surreal. Or maybe a lot surreal. I took a gamble entering this contest because I’d always considered Heart of the City more science fiction than horror, so I really never expected to make it too far. To make it to the Top 10 was huge. To make it to the Final 2 is an amazing feeling. I grew up reading Leisure Horror novels, and to be this close to getting a publishing contract with them...I don’t even have words for how good that feels.

• I’ve read the judges critiques. Over all, you have some high praise for the professional polish of your work. How do you handle the negatives?

They promised us at the start of the contest that they would be brutal, and sometimes they have been, but I find that I’m okay with the negatives. I think, in part, being a short story writer has prepared me for the editorial criticism. I’ve worked with zero-sugarcoating critique groups (which I wholeheartedly recommend), and I’ve been out there submitting my work and collecting rejections for years as a short story writer, so I’m no stranger to the tough stuff.

And that adage about being our own worst critic…well it’s true, at least for me. I’m always tough on myself, so the judges can give it their best shot, but they’ll never be tougher on me than I am on myself!

• So, if after reading the first two chapters I want to vote for you, how would I go about doing it? Is it hard and involved?

Voting is about as simple as it gets. All you have to do is send a blank email to freshblood@chizinepub.com with “Fresh Blood Vote - Heart of the City” in the subject line. It’s as easy as that. They’ll accept one vote per unique email address and voting closes on July 14th at midnight EST.

• What are some of the good experiences that have come from this contest?

On the whole, this contest has been an exceptional experience. It’s been a crash course in the art of self-promotion and networking, which I needed. Plus, no matter what happens, I’ll come away from it with feedback from a field of professionals, feedback that I know will help me to make the novel even stronger.


But I think the best part about it has been the people I’ve met through the contest, the community of writers that I’ve connected with while trying to drum up support for Heart of the City. Seeing people who hadn’t even known me before the contest going above and beyond to support and encourage me, well that’s a feeling like no other.

• What difficulties have you faced and how have you over come them?

Self-promotion has never come easy for me. For a long time in my life, my writing was something I kept private. Even friends I’d had for years often didn’t know that I was a writer. So having to go to the opposite end of the spectrum and push so hard to promote myself was really very difficult. I’m a pretty determined person though, and I want very badly to succeed as a writer, so I did my best to learn as I went and to just go with it.

• Any lessons learned from this experience?

Absolutely. I’ve learned to have more confidence in myself and in my work, and that sometimes I just need to get out of my own way. I’ve learned that it’s okay to let people know how important something is to me. I’ve learned that there are great people out there who are willing to share their experiences and their expertise to help out a fellow writer. I’ll take those lessons with me now and apply them to whatever comes next.

• Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Lisa. I wish you the very best in this contest.

Question to readers and authors: What benefits have you had entering contests?

Here's the blurb on Heart Of The City:

The Phoenix particle, created to burn out and replace damaged DNA, should have been the medical breakthrough of the century. Instead, it was the beginning of the end, its fires decimating person after person and city after city with a ferocity its creator could never have imagined. But cities don’t die so easily. The Phoenix particle was engineered to remember, and in the ashes, the particles remain, carrying within them the genetic blueprint from the billions fallen prey to the burning. And the Phoenix still has a mission, to pass on that information.


Eva Moline—immune to its devastation—is the perfect conduit for the Phoenix. She’s prepared to help put the world back together in any way she can, even when she feels the Phoenix at work inside of her, somehow sentient, somehow knowing. As the children of the Phoenix grow to term in Eva’s womb, so does the essence of each city become a part of her. And as Eva joins the creator of the Phoenix in a cross-country journey from city to ruined city, she must decide whether she’s recreating a world or giving birth to monsters.

Excerpt

Lisa Koosis & Taffy

Originally from Long Island, Lisa A. Koosis currently lives in New York’s historic Hudson Valley. She was recently named the grand prize winner in Family Circle's 2009 fiction contest. Over the past few years her short stories have appeared in an assortment of publications including Abyss & Apex, Meadowhawk Press’s "Touched by Wonder" anthology, Susurrus Press’s “Neverlands and Otherwheres” anthology, and Murky Depths. In 2006 she was awarded second place in Poughkeepsie Journal's Talespinners short fiction contest, which was judged by a celebrity panel including bestselling author, Da Chen, and Michael Korda, former Editor in Chief of Simon & Schuster. Mr. Korda called her work, "sharply written and nicely conceived." Lisa is a dedicated and prolific writer of speculative fiction, and a former fiction manager at Barnes & Noble.

Find Lisa online.

WHERE IS JUDI FENNELL?

Wednesday, Judi Fennell showed up in the Atlanta area, she was also in Northern California and I heard she was in New York too. Thursday she was in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and I heard rumors she was also in the LA area. I'm getting reports of Judi Fennell spottings from all over the country.

Now, how is this possible you might ask? Does she have her own Lear Jet? Perhaps she worked a deal with I Dream of Jeannie who crossed her arms and blinked Judi Fennell to all these places?

No Jet and I know for a fact, "Jeannie" is a favorite of hers but alas, no help from there either.

The truth is Judi Fennell's debut book, In Over Her Head, scheduled to be released June 1st, has been released early and is showing up in Barnes and Noble and Border's promotion towers across the country.

Have you spotted her yet? If you do, take a picture for me and post it to Facebook, Gather, MySpace, your website, or any social network and send me the link. Be sure to list the store, the state, and the date. The person with the most Judi Fennell sightings, will win a autographed copy of In Over Her Head and one lucky commenter will win a Mer cell phone charm. This Contest runs until June 16th.

You may send the link to me via facebook, or pop in here (this article will be archived but you can click on it anytime) on the comment section with the words: Judi Fennell sighting and the link. Be sure to leave me your name and a way to contact you. I will go to the link and copy the picture for my Where's Judi photo album. This photo album will be my gift to Judi. Let the hunt begin!

Yesterday, I was able to catch up with Judi in Barnes & Noble, in Philadelphia. While I had her ear, I asked her a few questions:

So tell me Judi, how did it feel when you saw your books up for the first time?

You know? I've imagined it for so long that it wasn't as surreal as I thought it'd be... at first. Then, as I stood there, and realized, hey, this is really happening... this isn't your imagination... then, it was verrrrrry surreal. Almost out-of-body. Especially when a woman in the aisle said, "That's your first book?" then BOUGHT ONE! Of course, I signed it for her, and THAT was awesome!

You knew they'd be part of Barnes and Noble's Promotional tower, but what was your reaction when you saw them up at Borders?

I had noooooooo idea about the Borders tower. I cried when my publisher told me about the B&N one; when I saw it there in Borders, I was just dumbstruck. I had to go outside and check the sign to make sure I was in a Borders. I'm just so honored that they liked my story enough to do that. Mind-blowing.

I have to say, seeing your books up brought tears to my eyes and it wasn't even my book, lol! You mentioned seeing it in Borders, was this the Borders you frequent when you were writing the long hours on these books?

Actually, no. This was the opposite direction from my house. There are more bookstores in that direction and since I wasn't feeling well, I wanted to maximize my time out. I have to go to "my" Borders and see it there. More photo ops! :)

Did you do any impromptu book signings while looking at the displays?

I have to say that the staff at all the stores was very helpful - before they knew I was an author. Not that I could keep it quiet once they asked, "Do you need help?" Once they found out I was the author, the "do you want to sign them" immediately followed. I brought my "Signed by Author" gold foil stickers with me, because Borders' store stickers go on the corner and would have covered either my name or Reel's chest. Couldn't have that. So, all the stock got signed and I did sign the one buyer's.

Any plans for a book signing Event?

I'll be signing 6/6 from 1-3 at the Borders in North Wales, PA, and 6/13 2-4 at the Barnes & Noble in Plymouth Meeting. And tomorrow I'll be calling the correct people for two more stores to set up more. My mom is having a very large book signing at her home, so they are happening. Plus, I'll be signing books at the Sourcebooks Publisher Signing at National on that Saturday, around 3 pm. I hope to see lots of familiar names/faces there!

Congratulations, Judi! I know how long and how hard you worked to see this day. I'm proud of you my friend!

Be sure to look for Judi's book, In Over Her Head in your local bookstore and send me the link. If you spot Judi Fennell do take her home and give her a resting place on your bookshelf or your TBR pile. Be sure to be on the lookout for the next two in this series.

***
I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I seemed to have followed writing contests around, being a finalist in such online contests as American Title III, sponsored by Romantic Times BOOKreview Magazine and Dorchester Publishing, and two First Chapters contests, sponsored by Gather.com and Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books.

I grew up watching Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and The Addams Family--my mom looked like Elizabeth Montgomery and I had a special Barbie outfit that looked like Morticia Addams' dress. My favorite books are Bewitching by Jill Barnett and A Knight In Shining Armor, by Jude Devereaux, so it should come as no surprise that I like to write tongue-in-cheek lighthearted paranormals.

I love pop culture and manipulating language, so you'll find lots of puns, double entrendre, plays-on-words, alliteration, clichés, and twisting of phrases, as well as several one-liners in my stories that give me a few chuckles.

Now with kids, a husband, a house, a social life (Go Survivor Girls!), and two cocker spaniels named Vixen and Raven, I get to live my dream of being a writer!

Website: http://www.judifennell.com/

AS A WRITER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR PEBBLES?

I’m a reflective person by nature. I think about many things in life. Look for lessons and ways to make things better for me and mine. To me life is like a giant puzzle made of pebbles. Sometimes it’s comprised of hard labor. Other times, the fun is in seeing how to work all the pieces tossed at us, and make a picture of it. Don’t like those particular pieces, rearrange them. I’m also an optimist but with my feet firmly planted in reality. I know if I work at it hard enough, think it through, I’ll find a way. And so it is with my writing.

To be a writer is rather solitary. We pour our hearts and souls into our writing--our characters, our created world. They're part of us, aren't they? When someone rejects that, of course we feel it AND feel they're rejecting us. On one level that's true, but we have to learn to compartmentalize, or we're dead in the water. We have to have tough Rhino skin or we're not going to survive. And yeah, it sucks.

As with most of the entertainment/arts groups, publishing is a tough playing field to break into. A key element in being a success in any field is focus, working at perfecting your skills, and believing in yourself and your abilities.

I think about authors like Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Catherine Coulter. They all started out with Harlequin and or Silhouette. Many curled their lips at books from Harlequin. Whether it’s a lightweight romance publisher, or POD and E-book publishers—who cares where you start, so long as you start? I believe these authors honed their story telling skills and learned what readers like and didn't like, and built a readership base in these forums. And who are we to curl our lips, or diminish the worth of an author that makes those choices? Now, these authors are regularly on the Best Sellers lists.

Singers start out playing local, market themselves aggressively, and get their names out there. How? Singers play for anyone that lets them sing. Bars, lounges, you name it. Actors do the same with local theatre, and work their way up. They network like crazy. Are you doing that as a writer?

Pebble in the pool effect. Think about American idol. These singers are looking for shortcuts and there isn’t anything wrong with that, but even the shortcuts come with fierce competition. As authors, we do contests too, so we can relate.

What’s important here is: if the pebble isn’t first dropped into a pool of water, no ripples happen. The pebble has to be dropped more than once. It’s the same with writing. Every time you write a story, you drop a pebble and every time you query, or enter a contest, you drop another one. Every blog, writer’s conference, and joining a writing group is another pebble.

Maybe only a few of us will make it big. The truth of the matter is; getting published is not solely dependent upon talent. There are many talented people. Sometimes chance, fate or whatever you want to call it, steps in. If we’re not putting forth the effort of getting our writing and our name out there, what have you offered fate or chance to work with?

There’s a quote I like and I’ll share it with you. "Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor."

…or dropping your pebbles.

It’s something I think about frequently—what am I doing with my pebbles? Stacking them in a pile with no work or thought given them?
Am I hoarding them in a drawer where no one can see them?
Am I allowing fear of success or failure, hold me back?

By putting our work out there, we’re on the dance floor or to continue the metaphor, dropping our pebbles.

As a writer, where and how are you dropping your pebbles?