These Vines Have Sour Grapes

I have been hanging out a little bit at the writer's forums at the Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award Contest (which I said I wouldn't do) and let me tell you, just like every year, things have turned ugly since the quarter final cuts.

People aren't happy. They are complaining about their reviews about Amazon's Vine reviewers not being professionals so they have no business judging the competition etc.

Like I said, it happens every year. I believe this is the 7th year of the contest and I've entered 6. Of those 6 times, I have made it to the quarter finals twice, the first year and this year. Did I have sour grapes? Honestly, I don't remember. It's possible, but as a veteran and seeing it happen, I would say probably not. I would say I probably got my reviews, maybe bitched a little and went back to improving my manuscript.

Except the 4th year, but I've already talked about that. And speaking of that, yes, sometimes you will get a person who is not a good reviewer and if you do that sucks. That's what happened to me that 4th year. And when I am talking about a someone who is not a good reviewer, I'm not talking about someone who didn't like my book. Shit happens move on. I'm talking about a person who:

1. Says nothing at all about your writing in their review.
2. Adds their biased opinions about ____________(fill in the blank, it could be homosexuals, the death penalty, drugs, whatever) and decides your book is no good because it includes it.
3. Is obvious they didn't read your entry or openly say they didn't read it yet gave it low marks.
4. Gives no constructive criticism whatsoever.
5. Gives criticism in the form of insults, snark and sarcasm.
6. Instead of encouraging you to work on your craft tells you to quit altogether or worse, kill yourself (yes, the latter has been done).

So, if you get a reviewer like this in the contest the only thing you can really do is

report them to Amazon and hope they never choose them for the contest again. Other than that, it's a done deal.

There are people on the forum bashing the contest, saying it's stupid and Viners shouldn't judge and they will never enter again. Okay. Those people have that right. I just had to point out a few things though:

• ABNA is a free contest.
• Amazon gives away 6 publishing contracts and advances in the amount of $125,000
• It's Amazon's contest, who else are they going to get to judge the 500 excerpts but their own reviewers.
• You can't judge the entirety of the contest on a couple bad reviewers.
• Amazon states in the rules who is judging the contest and who they are.
• It actually prepares you for the real publishing world as it is subjective and some people will hate your work and some people will like it and you will have to learn to deal with that.

I have gone far, I have been cut. I've received good reviews and I have probably
seen the worse review the contest has ever seen, but I will continued to enter because 1) It's free. 2) I'm still a Mid Lister 3) It's a good opportunity to meet other writers 4)I like getting the feedback on my work, which always helps me learn and grow as a writer.

Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

So, I don't even know if I mentioned that I entered this contest again. This is the...wait, I need to count...1,2,3,4,5...6th time I've entered the ABNA contest. The first time I went to to the semi-finals. After the first year, they changed the way they did things drastically. The 2-4 time I got past the pitch phase. If you make it that far, you received reviews from the first round of reviewers, I think in the 2nd year it was Publisher's Weekly, but since, it's been Amazon Vine reviewers. The 5th year, I didn't make it anywhere.

I was trying to locate the reviews I received, but alas, could not, except for the scathing one I received in year 4. You see, although I was ousted in year 2, both my reviews were good. Year 3, the reviewers like my writing, but not the subject matter (school shooting, graphic violence, meh).

However, year 4...oy. I don't even remember my 2nd review (though I think it was pretty good) because this one blew my mind. If there was every a person that didn't "get" my writing, or the voice, it was this guy. And I only say guy because that's the vibe I got from the review. I will add that the reviewer though I was a teenager,

which I take as a compliment to the voice of my character being spot on, although he didn't get that.  But this is also a sad statement because if I had been a teenager, this person probably would have made me quit writing forever. The following is not constructive criticism. It is an attack and would do no writer any good. I will also add that by the time I entered this contest, I already had my book contract for Never Eighteen.

 Here are a few of my favorite lines from that review.

"Unfortunately you have failed to pay attention in the one class required to be able to write well - English."

Um, really? I think Houghton Mifflin Harcourt would disagree.


"It's a shame that you didn't write anything that hasn't been written hundreds of times already this year."


Yes, because in 2010 I'd seen tons of book out there about girls who wanted to play high school football to gain the attention of their estranged father. O.o

"If this was a school paper, I'd have to give it an 'F'."



Well thank god it wasn't!

"It is way too easy today for people to get published and sincerely hope you do not see that as an option. Frankly this is no where good enough to be called a "book" and you to be called an "author.""

First of all, really? It's too easy to get published today? What alternate reality are you living in? And um, you think I'm like 16 and you're going to say something like that to me. Yeah, way to dash the hopes and dreams of tomorrow's future. I'll think I'll go shave my head, put on some black clothing, read some Plath and cut into my thighs. Sheesh.

In a word, this guy(woman, whatever) was a douche. I've learned to handle bad

reviews and criticism, but I was like, bewildered. *Blink Blink* Did I really just read that?

So anyway, I digress. The point of writing this blog was to tell you that I have made it to the quarter finals of the ABNA contest for the first time since the first year I entered and with the same book I entered that received this scathing review.  Girl in Motion - football book. So, there you have it.

F³A: ABNA contest

So, the contest closed a couple days ago. I've entered my cutter book. I entered it under the title Slice. I've changed the name about a million times. Maybe I should just let my readers name by book. Ugh.

I was reminiscing about the contest. This will be my fifth time entering. I've entered a different book every time. First year made it to top 100. Since then, I've made it through the pitch phase and no further. 

The last time I entered I got a HORRIBLE review. And I don't mean a constructive review, but just a mean spirited review. I laugh about it now because, hey, I'm a published writer, but at the time I was really pissed at first. 

Here are some of my favorite excerpts from that review:


Before I post this one, I will say the reviewer thought I was a teenager, which I took as a compliment (though it wasn't supposed to be) as it meant the voice of my character was right on. lol.

"Unfortunately, you have failed to pay attention in the one class required to be able to write well - English." 

"It's a shame that you didn't write anything that hasn't been written hundreds of times already this year."




Before that year I have never seen any books about a 17 year-old girl who wants to play high school football.



"If this was a school paper, I'd have to give it an "F".

He's talking about my grammar, word usage, and sentence structure and "much, much more".  I honestly don't know what he meant. I know he didn't like some of it because I'm not sure he realized my character was southern, IDK.

"It is way to easy today for people to get published," O.o really? "and I sincerely hope that you do not see that as an option. Frankly, this is no where good enough to be called a "book" and you to be called an "author". Pretty harsh thing to tell someone you think is a teenager.


"To not have learned the basics of writing and yet expect people to read what you have written shows no respect at all for your readers."

lol. I just have no idea what to say about that one. I'll add that the other three years I entered the contest, they all commented on what a talented writer I was, I mostly got ousted for violence (content). But I took those reviews gracefully, because they were constructive.

I'm honestly not bitter about this review at all. Like I said, at first I was pissed, and yeah if I would have won the contest, I would have received a publishing contract, but I had 1/5,000 chance. Reviewing is subjective, it's really a crap shoot.

That said, I do think the contest is a great opportunity for unpublished and mid-list authors and that most of the reviewers are very good at what they do. I was just thinking back on the years I'd entered before, remembering all the people I connected with, many of them good friends. It was great fun on the contest forum to chat and share with other writers. 

If you've not entered before, it's too late this year, but you should consider it in the future.