I guess I should start getting less surprised that everything in my life seems to happen for a good reason, and often with great timing. It was just yesterday that I made a commitment to have a beautifully-edited version of my Japanese novel ready by February 2, as per the 15 day creation challenge set by Zoe Westhof.

This morning I sat down at my computer with the fresh eyes and stimulated brain of a Monday morning. (Oh, that might sound odd. My Monday morning, the first day of my working-from-home days, is probably different to yours, if you’re hitting the office for the first time for the week, bleary-eyed and unenthusiastic.) Anyway, I checked on my to-do list with the aim of getting this blog a bit more action, and saw that I had an overdue task to blog about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Perfect timing: My novel will be ready for Amazon Breakthrough

I’ve had my eye on this contest for ages, but let it drift off the radar recently. It seems that there is no entry fee, and the way it works is they accept only the first 10,000 entries starting from February 2. I have no idea how long it will take them to get 10,000 entries, but I remember reading a tip from Hope Clark at Funds for Writers which said we should have our manuscripts ready to go from the first day to be sure we didn’t miss out.

If you’ve been paying attention, you might have seen the lovely synergy here. According to the 15-day challenge, my novel will be ready on exactly the same day as the contest opens. That’s surely a sign, isn’t it? Now, since this is only the second year that the Amazon Breakthrough award has run, it’s hard to know too much about what they’re looking for – last year’s winner was a fairly thrilling-sounding mystery, but others that did well included quieter storylines that might match mine.

A good pitch gets you into Round 2

The key thing seems to be that the pitch must be fantastic. The first round of culling, from 10,000 down to “up to” 2,000, is based solely on the 300-word pitch that you send in. Three hundred words? To describe my 60,000-word novel? Eeeeek!

Amazon’s explanation of a pitch in their FAQ doesn’t make it sound any less daunting:

The pitch is more than just a summary, it needs to be a well written explanation of what the book is about.  Talk about your novel’s strengths with respect to how it is being evaluated; Think about the elements chosen on which to judge your novel for the purpose of this contest; its overall strength, plot development, character development, originality of idea, and writing style or prose.  Take the time to study your intended market and make sure your pitch demonstrates that you understand how your book fits within this market and how it will identify with your audience …  The Pitch should be a concise explanation of your book and why the reader would want to read your novel.

I’ll have to dig around the site a bit more, as there are two videos to watch about preparing your novel and about writing the pitch, plus a discussion forum to go with it. As you all know, I love working under pressure – or more accurately, I actually get work done under pressure, rather than when life is easy – so I’m hoping this contest and the 15-day challenge actually net me a beautiful, complete novel.