2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award - Submitted!

At zero-dark thirty this morning, I submitted my novel THE MENGELE EFFECT for the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA).  The submission included a 300-word pitch (posted yesterday, if you saw that entry), a 5,000-word excerpt, and the full manuscript...mine was ~84,000 words (based on the computer word count) or ~124,000 words (based on an old-school publishers count of 250 words per formatted manuscript page; courier 12 font, double spaced, 1" margins all around).

Amazon started accepting entries at midnight Eastern time, and will continue until they receive 10,000 (stop date is 27 January).

This year, they've divided their submissions into five categories:

- General Fiction
- Romance
- Mystery/Thriller
- Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
- Young Adult Fiction

13 February - Second Round Announcement (2,000).  Based on judging the 300-word pitches, the judges will cut the field from 10,000 to 2,000 for the Second Round.  Huge cut...and it highlights how important those 300 little words really are!


12 March - Quarterfinalists  Announced (Top 500).  Based on the 5,000-word excerpts, the judges will cut the 2,000 Second-Rounders down to determine the 500 Quarterfinalists.  Amazon customers can download, rate, and review ABNA excerpts on Amazon.com, and provide feedback to Amazon Publishing Editors.

16 April - Semifinalists Announced (Top 25).  Publishers Weekly reviews each full manuscript...and makes the cut from 500 down to 25 Semifinalists.

21 May - Finalists Announced (Top 5).  Amazon Publishing Editors pick the top entry from each of the five categories.  Each of the five finalists is guaranteed a publishing contract through Amazon, and a $15K advance on royalties.  Cool.

15 June - Grand Prize Winner Announcement.  Of the five finalists, Amazon customers vote to select the Grand Prize winner, who, instead of a $15K publishing contract, will receive a $50K publishing contract.  Really cool.

In 2011, my novel THE COMING made it to the Quarterfinals...I hope THE MENGELE EFFECT does that well during this year's contest!