I finally found out about ten minutes ago that I did not make it to the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. I don't know whether I should be sad or relieved. I was starting to get nervous about the timing of the whole thing. I really wanted to start sending out queries to Agents. In fact I sent my first official query out yesterday and I was a nervous wreck. I kept thinking, what if she is really interested and I have to explain to her that the book is in this contest and Penguin has first right of refusal for six months. Ugh. I can't imagine how that conversation would go.
On the other hand everyone likes a little self-gratification. Even though I know the competition favors mainstream vs. genre, it would have been nice to feel like someone thought it was good. Even if it was three judges I know absolutely nothing about.
Oh well. Now I am free to pursue the agents, which is what I wanted in the first place. I am hoping to meet with a few in April at the RT convention.
