The Nathan Bransford 4th First Paragraph Challenge is officially over, so I can blog about it. See, a few days ago I submitted the first paragraph of Solace to Nathan Bransford's little challenge. It just kind of happened. I saw the challenge in my Google Reader and I copy-pasted my paragraph in the comments and forgot about it. A week later (last Tuesday), my jaw dropped from my mouth to the floor what I saw I was chosen among the six finalists.
Let me explain how much it meant to me. The week before, I had received a rejection email from the Quebec Writers Federation for the mentorship program. The rejection itself didn't tickle me so much (I was told my chances were slim), but it's the numbers that bothered me the most. I was left aside when there were seven spots available on sixty-seven entries. I started doubting. Then it happened. Over a thousand participants (1500 I think), my paragraph stood out to the eyes of an agent. I didn't win the public contest, but that, I expected. The kind of story I write will never get J.K Rowling-like numbers.
Nathan Bransford is kind of a big deal. He used to be a literary agent in San Francisco and most writers having access to internet turned to his blog one time or another, for guidance. Shining to him was the most important thing, I find. I received many amazing comments from voters, the stand-out one was being compared to Ray Bradbury. It's by far the most flattering thing I was ever told by a complete stranger. So thank you Nathan Bransford and thank you internet! My confidence has been renewed and now I know my novel can cut it if I put the necessary focus. For those interested, you can see my entry in the last two posts on Nathan's blog. He even critiqued it.
In other news, I had a pleasant surprise while monitoring my traffic. Some hits from Wikipedia. I discovered I got listed as a reference for...Techno Viking! While I'm glad to be recognized as an internet reference for a meme, this can be big, if handled well. I have received a lot of traffic for my analysis of Sarkozy Was There, it's one thing I might have to pursue more, the memes. I might get unexpected cred.
It's been a good week to be a writer!
Let me explain how much it meant to me. The week before, I had received a rejection email from the Quebec Writers Federation for the mentorship program. The rejection itself didn't tickle me so much (I was told my chances were slim), but it's the numbers that bothered me the most. I was left aside when there were seven spots available on sixty-seven entries. I started doubting. Then it happened. Over a thousand participants (1500 I think), my paragraph stood out to the eyes of an agent. I didn't win the public contest, but that, I expected. The kind of story I write will never get J.K Rowling-like numbers.
Nathan Bransford is kind of a big deal. He used to be a literary agent in San Francisco and most writers having access to internet turned to his blog one time or another, for guidance. Shining to him was the most important thing, I find. I received many amazing comments from voters, the stand-out one was being compared to Ray Bradbury. It's by far the most flattering thing I was ever told by a complete stranger. So thank you Nathan Bransford and thank you internet! My confidence has been renewed and now I know my novel can cut it if I put the necessary focus. For those interested, you can see my entry in the last two posts on Nathan's blog. He even critiqued it.
In other news, I had a pleasant surprise while monitoring my traffic. Some hits from Wikipedia. I discovered I got listed as a reference for...Techno Viking! While I'm glad to be recognized as an internet reference for a meme, this can be big, if handled well. I have received a lot of traffic for my analysis of Sarkozy Was There, it's one thing I might have to pursue more, the memes. I might get unexpected cred.
It's been a good week to be a writer!
