ABNA discussion

Here is a list of past finalist and winners in the ABNA competition. (*=ultimate winners)

2008 competition


The Hellraiser of the Hollywood Hills by Jennifer Colt Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan
The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer
The Butterflies of Grand Canyon by Margaret Erhart
Ring of Lies by Karen Laugel
*Fresh Kills by Bill Loehfelm*
Motherless Children by Randall Luce
The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita
Wrecking Civilization Before Lunch by John Ring


2009 competition


*Bill Warrington's Last Chance by James King*
In Malice, Quite Close by Brandi Lynn Ryder
Stuff of Legends by Ian Gibson


2010 competition


Young Adult Fiction

*Sign Language by Amy Ackley*
Service of the Crown by Alex Airdale (later retitled The Cadet of Tildor and published under the name "Alex Lidell")
Days Like This by Alison Stewart

General Fiction

Fortune Cookies by Jennifer Handford (later retitled Daughters for a Time)
*Farishta by Patricia McArdle*
Dove Season by Johnny Shaw (later released from Amazon Encore)

2011 Competition


Young Adult Fiction

*Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator by Jill Baguchinsky*
Lost In Thought by Cara Bertrand
Devolution by Richard Larson

General Fiction

*East of Denver by Gregory Hill*
Dog Christ by Lucian Morgan
I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith

2012 competition


General Literature

*The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill*
Grace Humiston and the Vanishing by Charles Kelly
A Chant of Love and Lamentation by Brian Reeves

Young Adult Fiction

Dreamcatchers by Cassandra Griffin
Out of Nowhere by Rebecca Phillips
*On Little Wings by Regina Sirois*

Maybe we need to be careful what we wish for. The 2011 East of Eden ABNA winner is beautiful prose, I read the first ten pages on the free look, but if having amazon as publisher means setting a $13 kindle price, then perhaps that explains why its ranking is well in the 6 digits. I would have bought it and finished it at maybe $7. The author does a wonderful job of taking the mundane and turning it into a fascinating read. Perhaps Keilor without the drabness or the plodding detail. But, again, just not gonna pay that kind of money for a kindle edition.

Hi, I'm the Rebecca Phillips you have listed there. :) Out of Nowhere is not self-published but hopefully you'll see it for sale one day!

Dan, I think that is a Penguin issue that will no longer be a problem. Penguin published the past winners and is in a fight to the death over eBook pricing. (I'm very aware, having a Penguin contract--they insist on exact same price for eBook and cheapest hard copy.

Amazon, on the other hand, knows how to price eBooks.

Rebecca-it will get there!

Rebecca wrote: "Hi, I'm the Rebecca Phillips you have listed there. :) Out of Nowhere is not self-published but hopefully you'll see it for sale one day!"

First of all congratulations, Rebecca! I'm just curious, if you don't mind me asking - was publishing not part of winning? Did you turn down the contract?

Thanks! I didn't win, I was a finalist. The contest was different last year. The finalists didn't get a publishing contract.

Well it must be really great to have made it that far out of 10,000. I know you must be proud. Do you plan to self-publish? I couldn't believe how easy it was. I stumbled across a free book on kindle called "Building Your Book For Kindle". It talked me right through it like I was 2 (which is something because I kinda repel all things high tech and electronic).

It was an amazing experience that I will treasure forever.

I have an agent and we're trying to get Out of Nowhere traditionally published.

That's great - good luck. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Thank you!