In a Way, We’re All Winners. But in Another, More Accurate Way…
And, with the review from The Qwillery, my #SPFBO journey is at an end. It looks like I’ve made 8th place, and barring intervention by Russian hackers, I don’t see that changing much. The math for the top three or four books is still maybe fluid, but I think my spot is pretty much set in stone. Eighth out of ten finalists isn’t terrible, and eighth out of three hundred contestants is pretty damn good, so that’s how I’m gonna spin it.
So, at the final bell, the punches stopped landing with me swaying and seeing double, but still standing. Despite the temptation I didn’t break my laptop over my knee, change my name and join the Foreign Legion to forget my writing career. In fact, I just put another book out, so I’m definitely not throwing in the towel.
All in all, this contest has been a good thing. More exposure, more sales, more insight. I met a number of people that I otherwise wouldn’t have, and made some friends, so that’s a plus. I did take the critiques seriously, and recognized the validity of a few of them. I did do a light revision of the book, more a sanding of the rough edges that rubbed people the wrong way and smoothing of clunky spots than a change in the voice, so if you really didn’t care for it, you probably still won’t, but if you thought it was promising but flawed, you might find it better. It also probably enraged the narrator who had just finished the first read for the audiobook, but we can’t win them all.
I’m a bit bruised, a bit bloody, and maybe a bit wiser.
I’d like to go out with a “thank you” to Mark and all the contestants and judges who took the time to make this contest what it is and give some much needed exposure to self published authors. Looking forward to SPFBO 5