Breakthrough

Amazon.com has something called the Breakthrough Novel Awards. It's been around for at least a couple of years, but was new to me a few weeks ago when I heard about it. Apparently you nominate yourself (or perhaps someone can nominate you) and you see what happens. They have two categories: General Fiction and Young Adult Fiction.

Entrants submit a three-hundred word pitch (summary) and a 5,000-word excerpt and a third file that contains the entire work. Those who live in fear of their stuff being hijacked need not apply! The pitch is used to choose 1,000 to go on to the second round of judging. I believe the excerpt is used to whittle the list down further, and the winner, one in each category, receives a publishing contract with Penguin including a $15,000 advance.

Mmm . . . that smells very nice, that amount, doesn't it? And all you have to do is win!

I decided to compile the required items and enter one written work in each category. I chose Will Teach For Food for the Gen Fic and The Average Family for the YA Fic. This afternoon I heard that both made the first cut and are in the second round as one of 1,000 entries. These are not astounding odds, of course, but better than the lottery, and according to the list I downloaded both are near #56. From an alphabetical standpoint, using the author's last name. Listed by title Average Family would be near #1! Will Teach For Food, sadly, would be near the bottom.

None of which really means anything. They'll be announcing the 500 quarter-finalists on March 22, 2011, and I will share the results with you, win or lose. And let's face it, even if I make the next cut, it is unlikely that the fifteen grand is going to end up in my wallet.

But what if . . .