Best of the Best Ebook Contest Semifinalists Announced Starting Tomorrow

October is finally here and that means starting tomorrow, Editor Jennifer will announce the Best of the Best Ebook Contest semifinalists, one per day in random order.

Each semifinalist will have his/her novel showcased for a day right here on the Editor Jennifer site, including a cover image, description of the novel, a bio and a link to the publisher/sales page.

Come back daily to discover who made it to the semifinals. Check out the books and follow the links to learn more about all of these incredible authors and publishers!

Prize winners will be announced on November 1st.

Good luck to all the contestants!

Ten Ways to Ace Editor Jennifer’s Best of the Best Ebook Contest

1. Write a good story. There’s no getting around the fact that if your novel isn’t interesting and well written, it’s not going to win.

2. Get your novel critiqued several times – by real critique partners that you find through writers’ groups – not by friends or family. Discover plot problems, slow spots, and other issues, and fix them. These novels are supposed to be published, after all.

3. Get your novel proofread. Once you’ve made all the changes in your novel and you’re sure it’s the best it can be, get one of your nit-picky English major friends to go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Your story might be great, and it might be published, but if I see a bunch of typos and grammatical errors, that’s ALL I will see.

4. Start strong. Just like an editor at a publishing house, when the submissions stack up, I make my initial judgements based on the first five or so pages. If that. You’d better hook me right away with the quality of your writing. Don’t give me five pages of back story. I’ll be long gone.

5. Show, don’t tell. Show, show, show. Look it up. Every book and website on writing covers this one.

6. Be original. Editor Jennifer was the kid at school who carried ten to fifteen books home every week from the school library and then got more from the public library for the weekends. I have read just about every book in the universe. Surprise me. Please.

7. FOLLOW THE RULES. I’m amazed I have to write this one, but I do. Read the rules. You are not exempt from them. No – not even you. Follow them to the letter. Remember to include your bio, your novel blurb, your cover image and a link to the website where it can be purchased. And no, you can’t send them in now – it’s too late. If I needed them, I found them online myself.

8. Check the formatting of your published copies. Ebook formatting has a long way to go. Somehow, even pdf files get messed up when publishers convert them. It’s your job to check that nothing heinous has happened on page fifty – before you send it to me.

9. Make sure your novel fits the contest. Subject matter, length, format...all of it needs to be appropriate.

10. Keep your correspondence cheerful, not cocky. You cannot bully or intimidate me into giving you the prize. Really.

Best of the Best Ebook Contest is CLOSED

Entries are in and Editor Jennifer's first annual Best of the Best Ebook Contest is closed!

We had a terrific response and I can already tell I'm going to be sweating bullets when I try to pick the winners.

Semi-finalists will be showcased one per day right here on the Editor Jennifer website starting October 1st. Check back daily to see if your book made it!

The prize winners will be announced November 1st.

Good luck to all who entered; start writing your next novel now! I will start taking entries for next year's contest in June 2010!

The Five Steps of Dealing with an Edit

I know it's hard to get your manuscript back covered in red marks and suggestions - even when you've paid me money to do just that. I go through the same thing whenever my critique partner looks over my writing.

Here are the five steps of dealing with an edit as I see them:

1. Denial - Are you kidding me? My manuscript was perfect! What are all those red marks all over it?

2. Anger - That jerk! What does she know about great writing, anyway? If she was so hot, she'd be writing her own best-sellers.

3. Bargaining - Fine. I'll correct all the typos. But I'm not rewriting chapter three. Or chapters eight, nine, ten and eleven.

4. Depression - Forget it. I'll never be an author. I hate books, anyway.

5. Acceptance - You know what? She's right. If I make those changes, my book's going to rock.


My advice? Try to get to step five before talking to your editor/critique partner. Saves a lot of hassle down the road.