Shameless Self Promotion

So, let's explore the highly unlikely. That's always fun!
 Let's pretend I make it to the final three of the ABNA contest.  Currently, REM is in the top 1% of the contenders. On or around May 16th Penguin books will contact the three finalists by phone or email.  The finalists are not allowed to disclose their winning status, however, until the 24th when Amazon posts the winners on their website. Twelve days.  That's how long I have to wait.  But of course, being the writer and day dreamer I am, I have already scripted the results--winning and losing--and am just counting down the days until the 16th.

The three finalists will depend largely on self-promotion because the general public will vote for their favorite out of the three.  IF I make it to that stage, I may be at a huge disadvantage because I don't have as large of an internet presence as I'd like.  In Young Adult writing, being found online is extremely important.  I've prepped my skills--I have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging accounts and I know how to use them--but I don't have a lot of following yet.  I will be begging everyone I know to post the link, I'm sure.

But back to the contest specifics.  The three finalists will be flown (or driven as in my case) to NYC for 3-5 nights.  They will also be given 100$ spending money. I"m not sure what the finalists will be doing for those few days, but I imagine they involve meeting with publishing professionals. What a fantastic opportunity.  Then the winner will be announced based on the voting process and the winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin and $15,000 advance.  Sigh....

So, here I wait, drooling all over the message boards, cruising the competition--which is fantastic, I must say--and counting down to the week of the potential announcement.  I'll be disappointed if I don't make it through, but honestly, I can't be too hard on myself.  Making it to the top 50 out of 5000 has been a major confirmation for me.  I can do this.  I can be a published author.  I'm looking forward to many days of writing ahead of me.



You can check out an excerpt to REM  HERE