Surviving Revision Hell – Finding the Discipline to Edit My Novels

When I started this journey, I had no idea it would be so hard to write a book. I thought I’d sit down and the novel would just flow from my fingertips onto the page in perfect order and sequence. Actually, writing a first draft is much easier for me than editing, outlining, doing character charts, re-writing and all the other more disciplined aspects of the craft.

I love attending writers conferences, attending and/or listening to tapes of seminars, reading writing books, and learning how to create suspense, write better dialogue, a page turner or a better plot. I don’t mind and even enjoy whipping out a first draft as fast as I can so that my inner editor doesn’t have a chance to kick in and give me writers block. I can find the discipline for that – especially during events like National November Writing Month when I can share the experience and commiserate with fellow writers in cafes and online.

What I can’t stand is even the very thought of taking what I wrote, breaking it down and revising it. In other words – editing. Even though, logically, I know the editing process is when the book really begins to take shape, I get completely overwhelmed by the process. You can have a four hundred page manuscript and discover during the editing process that you need to rewrite and/or rework all of it. The very thought of that makes me want to run from the room screaming which is probably why it takes me so long to do it. I can write the first draft of a book in a month and then take years to revise it. In short, I have a hard time getting and keeping my considerable behind in front of my keyboard long enough to do the work of editing.

The worst part is that, even when you think you’re done editing the book, someone with fresh eyes can read it and say that your characters need more depth, the novel is too plot-driven, or you need to pick up the pace. None of these defects are quick fixes. They take substantial work to fix – sometimes even a complete re-write.

Although many writers hate editing, there are some who love it. They like the fact that revision is when you add texture and layers to a scene, spruce up dialogue, cut out excessive backstory and scenes that don’t move the story along, fix plot issues and sequencing errors, and improve pacing, among other things. Even I have to admit that my novels benefit tremendously from editing and that I can see major improvement from one draft to the next.

What I need to remember is that editing is just as much a part of writing a book as whipping out a first draft. One might say that editing is the most quintessential part of the writing process because you never really stop doing it. You edit the draft, most likely revising it three or more times before sending it out to agents (the first time for story, the second time for texture, characterization, pace and flow, the third for prose, grammar, spelling, rhythm, etc.). Once you get an agent, he or she might ask you to revise parts of the book to get it ready for pitching to editors. Once a publisher acquires the book or you hire an editor before self-publishing, the editor might ask you to make some revisions. A copy editor will have some additional corrections.

Since the revision process is a crucial part of writing a novel and is almost never-ending, I need to change my mindset about it. If I don’t, I’ll never find the discipline to do it properly and my books will suffer or, worse yet, not sell. So, I’m going to try to look at editing as an opportunity to turn my novels into bestsellers. Maybe that will help me plant my rear-end in front of my computer and get it done on a more timely basis. Wish me luck.

Peace

My First 10K

Six months ago, if you’d have told me that I was going to train for and participate in a 10K race, I would have laughed it off. Today I walked my first 10K race ever. Overall, it was a great experience. Crossing that finish line was exhilarating. Looking back and knowing I did that gives me a huge feeling of accomplishment.

Although it was a great experience, the race was not without its difficulties. I walked my best time ever – an average of 17:00 minutes per mile – and finished the race in 1 hour 44 minutes time. Even so, I was the last person to cross the finish line. I was also the last person to make the halfway point. Several of the runners coming back the other way when I was still trying to reach the midpoint were sweet and encouraged me to keep going. It was still a little demoralizing and a bit lonely to be the last straggler in the race.

Most of the cops and volunteers I passed along the way also called out encouragement. But, in my last mile, the police started to get impatient – presumably because they wanted to release the traffic. One of them said “C’mon, you’ve got to pick up the pace! Get those arms up!” Now mind you, he had some nerve. He was a big guy who looked like he’d consumed more than his fair share of jelly donuts. Lucky for him, I was too busy trying to breathe and get to the finish line to respond. But even he couldn’t diminish the experience. Today, my goal was to finish the race within its time parameters. I did that and I’m very happy. I’ve had a goofy smile on my face most of the day.

I learned some important lessons during this race. For one, I need to get faster. I don’t want to be the last straggler during the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Training and learning the proper technique for race walking is the key to that. I decreased my time by nearly three minutes per mile from the 5K I did in February by training in a half-assed sort of way. Imagine how much more I could have decreased my time if I had followed the training schedule diligently and learned how to race walk. Maybe I could get down to a twelve-minute mile. Now that would be something. There is a race walking group in Miami that meets on Tuesday and Thursdays. I think I’ll go check them out.

I also need to make sure I get a good night’s sleep and give myself more time to park, stretch, etc. before the race. I stayed up too late and got about four hours sleep last night. As a result, I was already tired when I started the race and rushed so I didn’t get a chance to hit a restroom right before the start. With all the water I drank before and during the race, it was a little uncomfortable.

I learned a lot about myself during this race too. I learned that I need to rely less on external positive encouragement and more on internal drive, focus and commitment. I learned that I need to push myself harder and more often because I can do more than I think I can. Before today, I had never consistently walked at a 17 minute per mile pace. It wasn’t comfortable and I was breathing heavier than normal, but I could do it. I rediscovered that once I set my mind on a goal and dig in, I can achieve it. I think I’ll set my mind to some other goals now, like taking off some of this weight, finishing my novels and finding an agent.

Peace

Pre-Race Jitters

So my first 10K ever is coming up in just three days. On Saturday, May 11, 2013, I will be participating in the 12th Annual ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease 10K in Coconut Grove, Florida.

I’m going to be walking – not running the race. But still, I need to finish within the race’s time parameters. I’m a little nervous about it, but at least I don’t think that participating in a 10K is Mission Impossible for me anymore.

To make sure that I was physically capable of completing the 10K within the time parameters, on Sunday morning I put on my shocking pink Mizuno Wave Riders and matching top and walked 6.5 miles. According to my pink Garmin Forerunner 10 watch, I completed my walk in two hours two minutes and thirty-five seconds. Since that includes the time I spent waiting to cross the street at red lights and dodging wandering tourists, and a 10K is only 6.2 miles (instead of 6.5), I should be able to complete the race by the deadline. Barely. By the skin of my teeth. Pray for me.

When I finally got home from that very long walk, I was thirsty, sweaty, sore, stiff, vaguely nauseous and very tired, but I was still happy. What made me happy is the fact that whether or not I complete the race on Saturday, I’ve already accomplished something that seemed out of reach even two weeks ago. I’ve learned so much about myself during this journey and I look forward to learning more as I finish the race, take a short break, then continue on to train for the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

Watch out world! Here I come – one step at a time.

Peace

Getting a Ph.D in Writing by Reading

As you might have noticed from reading some of my posts, I am the queen of procrastination. It’s okay. I admit it. I can allow myself a few flaws and work on fixing them.

The latest manifestation of this affliction is my lack of writing. I have a legal thriller to re-work for better characterization and a political suspense novel I need to edit so I can send it out to agents and editors. Instead of working on my writing, however, I’ve been spending my time re-reading the novels of one of my favorite novelists – J.D. Robb a/k/a Nora Roberts.

Although I already have a hard copy of most of her books, I bought J.D. Robb’s entire “In Death” series on Kindle to read on my I-Pad and I’m re-reading the entire series in order. The “In Death” series is comprised of futuristic police procedural/romantic suspense novels involving a tough New York City homicide detective, her billionaire former criminal husband, and all the friends and family they accumulate along the way while they work together to solve murder cases. It’s set in NYC in 2058-2060. Each book is a fascinating journey in relationships, the human condition, human nature, police procedure, love and overcoming adversity. Apparently, I’d much rather live in the futuristic world of Eve Dallas (the heroine) than to face the work I need to do to edit my novels and get them out the door.

Although I began re-reading the series in an effort to escape, I’m actually not wasting my time. Having read the series before, my writer’s mind is now picking up things I never noticed previously. I now see how the author always starts out with a great and intriguing sentence at the beginning of each book to draw the reader in. I see how the book is written mostly from the perspective and in the voice of Eve Dallas – her main character. I see how, in aeach chapter, she draws you in at the beginning and leaves you dangling for more at the end. I even see how the characters’ stories continue from book to book providing continuity in the series even though each book contains a new murder mystery that must be solved.

I see how she makes her characters three-dimensional. When I put the book down and ask myself what we (the readers) know about the heroine, I realize that it’s a lot. We know what she looks like, how she dresses, her complete lack of vanity, what horrors and tragedies shaped her into the cop and the person she is today and her outlook on life, why she wanted to be a cop in the first place, why she feels the way she does about children in general and having children specifically. We know that, left to her own devices, she has the eating habits of a child (favoring candy, pizza, spaghetti, soda, etc. and an intense dislike for vegetables) and that she is prone to working herself into utter exhaustion to solve a case. We know what her moral code is and why sexual homicides hit her harder than others. In other words, we get a three dimensional view of the character from the inside out. And the author not only provides a 360 view of the heroine, but also the hero, the villian and several of the supporting characters as well. I realize that it’s the characters I want to see and watch and live with when I read these books. I also note the tricks and methods the author uses to provide us with this information without affecting the pace of the story.

I’ve read several books on characterization and taken a few seminars on how to make books page turners that will keep readers up at night, but it is truly an education to see for myself how one fantastic author puts these principles to work in her books. It’s almost inspiring me to put the books down and apply these principles to my books. Almost. Maybe when I finish the book I’m reading now.

So, are you having a problem making your characters three-dimensional or in making your book a page turner? Or maybe you need some help with dialogue or to learn a few tricks to keep the pacing of your novel rocking along. Try reading some novels in your genre and see how the pros pull it off. It’s a fun way to see how they apply all of those principles we learn at seminars, in books or in class. Enjoy.

Peace.

Time to Dig in

So I’m signed up to do the 12th Annual ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease 10K on Saturday, May 11, 2013 in Coconut Grove, Florida. I’m going to walk it. Running is just not in my wheelhouse right now.

Since the race is less than two weeks away, I stepped up my training last weekend and lengthened the duration of my endurance walk. I walked 4.5 miles on Sunday. Since I was too lazy to leave the house and take my walk in the cooler early morning hours, I did it in 85 degree weather. Needless to say, I had to stop for water at one point and I was pretty tired and overheated when I got back to my place. At some point during the journey, I didn’t think I’d make it. I had visions of being found laid out by the side of the road, wearing my new searing day glo acid pink tank top, matching sneakers and black Bermuda shorts. I normally am a very conservative dresser. Reknown for wearing black and navy Jones New York suits, I like to fade into the background and not make too many waves. Apparently, I’ve gravitated to the opposite end of the spectrum with respect to my workout clothes, shoes and equipment, opting for gear that fairly screams “Look at me!”

My lack of stamina is a slight problem since I struggled to walk 4.5 miles and a 10K is 6.2 miles. Strangely enough though, once I got over the initial feeling of wanting to die, walking started to become easier. Maybe I fell into a good rhythm or found my second wind. Maybe the music got better on my I-Pod or the scenery more interesting. Whatever the reason, I started rocking right along until I became unbearably thirsty and had to stop at a Walgreen’s for a bottle of water. I bought some makeup removal cloths too since I was there. But I digress.

The closer I got to home, the more I struggled to keep going. I wondered whether I’d be able to do the full 6.2 miles in 12 days and, more importantly, within the race time parameters.

They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. When I was so tired, I just wanted to lay down, I grit my teeth, reached into my reserves and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until I was home. Next thing you know, I was home.

Right now, I’m having a hard time envisioning walking for 13.1 miles in September. Hell, I’m having a hard time envisioning completing the 10K on May 11th. But I know two things: (1) I’ve never let fear or a few obstacles stop me from trying to achieve whatever goal I’ve set for myself and I’ll be damned if I’ll start now, and (2) I’ll find the strength to tough it out and finish the race. I always do.

It’s time to dig in and find out what you’re made of. Is there a dream you’ve been putting off for a long time? Does the road get so tough or have so many obstacles you just want to give up? These challenges are just opportunities for us to dig in, reach into those reserves and find out what we’re made of. Take advantage of them. You’ll be glad you did.

Peace.

How to Walk a 5K by Mistake

So, I’ve been training to walk a 10K next month and I’m freaking out because it’s coming up soon. May 11th to be exact.  It’s the 12th Annual ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease 10K in Coconut Grove.

I haven’t been extremely diligent in my training, but I have been training and I have noticed some improvements in my speed and endurance. I’m hoping that what training i have done and will do in the next two weeks will enable me to finish the 10K and cross the finish line within the allotted time. This is an intermediate step that I’m taking before I start training for the 2013 Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon which takes place in September.

Two Sundays ago, in furtherance of my training, I got up, dragged on my sneakers and prepared to walk. It was the day for endurance training, so I made a plan. I used shopping as a way to provide myself with the incentive to take a good hike. I planned to walk from my house to a nearby Best Buy store and back. To reward myself, I planned to stop at the Best Buy store and purchase an I-Pod. I wanted one because they’re lighter than my I-Phone and thus easier to carry while I train.

I walked to the Best Buy store, made the purchase, grabbed a bottle of water from a vending machine and walked back. When I got back home, I was somewhat tired, very hungry and a little sweaty. I stretched my tired muscles and then plugged my Garmin Forerunner watch into my computer to see the stats pertaining to my walk. To my surprise, I had walked a total of 3.2 miles (1.6 miles each way). That’s .1 miles more than a 5K!

I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea that the Best Buy Store was that far from my condo building. I thought about the way I felt after walking the Tropical 5K earlier this year versus how I felt after this trek and realized that I had made measurable improvement in my speed and stamina.

So, what incentive can you give yourself to get off the couch? A massage? WeightWatchers activity points that can applied to food? Together time with your honey bunny or child? A new toy or gadget? Apparently shopping is a great motivator for me. Whatever it is, go for it. The benefits are worth it.

Getting Back on the Wagon

So, I lost 60 pounds a year ago and guess what happened?  I got complacent, lax with my diet, got off WeightWatchers, stopped exercising regularly, and gained a large portion of the weight back.   I was so disgusted with myself and so intimidated by the prospect of taking it all off again (and keeping it off) that, for months, I did nothing.  And I do mean nothing.  No exercise, no attempt to balance my diet, no regular exercise, nothing.  I didn’t even continue blogging about health issues or posting new healthy recipes because I just didn’t feel qualified to do so.

A couple of things happened recently to re-ignite the spark in me and get me off the couch.  First, enough people at my job agreed to bring back the WeightWatchers at work program.  Yay! No more having to travel to North Miami  to attend a meeting on Mondays when I have a conflicting gospel choir rehearsal (which is why I quit).  I can just go to a conference room at work on Thursdays at noon.  Also, WeightWatchers has a new 360 degree approach to weight loss that appears to be working for me.  I got my first gold star for losing 5 pounds on the program at last week’s weigh-in.

The second thing that happened is that my girlfriends came to Miami for the ING Marathon.  Some of them are old pro runners who ran the half-marathon.  Two of the girls are novices like me who vowed to participate in the Tropical 5k the day before the marathon. Since I am  a joiner at heart, I jumped onto the bandwagon and agreed to do the Tropical 5K.

Unbeknownst to me, however, one of my friends, who just had a baby less than a year ago, had been training to run the 5k for months and lost more than sixty pounds in the process.  When I saw how good she looked, my jaw dropped.  And I used to be the one to inspire her to get into shape.

I walked the Tropical 5K and came in two seconds under the deadline.  Crossing the finish line was exhilarating.  Going to the ING Marathon site the next morning to cheer my other friends on was also very inspirational.  Standing amidst a crowd of 25,000 runners from all over the world and watching the sun rise was an indescribable experience.

Needless to say, I have now been bitten by the marathon bug.  The three of us who participated in the Tropical 5K now plan to do the Rock and Roll Half Marathon with our other friends in Philadelphia in September.  I also signed up for a 10K that will take place in Coconut Grove, Florida in May.  I’m training for the 10K now.  I plan to walk it (I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination).

Training for the 10K has brought a purpose to my exercise regime other than weight loss which is to survive the race and come in under the deadline.  This type of external goal is something I’ve never had before. It gives me a more direct incentive to wake up and walk in the mornings.  And I must say that it works.  I may have slacked off the past few days, but you better believe I’ll be up walking tomorrow morning because I want to be ready.  I want to feel the exhilaration of timely crossing the finish line once again.  In every sense of the word.

So, have you fallen off the wagon?  What will inspire you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on?  Maybe I’ll see you at the 10K or the Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

Peace.

2013 San Francisco Writers Conference

So last month I  hopped a five hour flight to San Fran to attend the 2013 San Francisco Writers Conference.  It was my second time attending the conference and I must say that the experience was well worth the time and money.

The conference had great seminars, inspirational speakers, fantastic networking opportunities and, for those seeking publication, lots of access to agents and editors.

One of the best features of the conference is that each attendee is allowed two short consultations with an independent editor as part of the conference fee.  You could use that time to get feedback on your book pitch or a critique of the first few pages of your novel.  You could even ask about the market for your book.

I found the independent editor consultations to be an invaluable resource.  I asked one editor to read the first few pages of my suspense novel and provide me with feedback.  She loved how I began the book and the storyline. She also let me know that there was definitely a market for the book and a real possibility that it would be made be made into a movie. Needless to say, I was on top of the world after that consultation and oh so inspired.

My consultation with the second editor was not so positive or inspiring.  I asked her to look at the first few pages of my legal thriller and she told me the same thing the agents who’ve been sending me rejection letters said:  the book starts off too slow, in the wrong place and my opening scene tells the reader very little about the heroine (i.e. inadequate character development).

At first she said that I need to rework the first chapter, but when I told her about the comments I’ve been receiving from agents, she said that I probably needed to rework the entire book to make it more character driven.  That was the last thing I wanted to hear since I had already revised the book and thought I was done with it.

The independent editor’s advice to rework my legal thriller was reinforced by a seminar on characterization that I took the next morning.  During the seminar, Ellen Sussman, the author of French Lessons, told us about how she once drafted an entire novel that was plot-driven instead of character-driven, and that her character development suffered as a result.  I asked her what she did to fix the book.  She said that she re-wrote the entire book from scratch and it came out ten times better than it was before.

I was horrified.  The idea of rewriting my 330 page suspense novel made me want to run out of the room screaming.  I now understood why some writers prefer to scrap whole projects and start new ones rather than do extensive revisions.  The lawyer in me kept looking for a shortcut or a loophole – anything to avoid completely rewriting the book.  To tell the truth, I’m still looking for an easier way to fix the character development issue without having to rewrite the entire book.  The task is so daunting to me that I haven’t begun the rewrite. In fact, I’ve done no writing at all since the conference.  But I will.  I want to get this bad boy published and I want it to sell, so I will do whatever I have to do to get the job done right.

The rest of the conference was both fruitful and fun.  I read a couple of poems aloud at the open-mic session. I consulted with editors of large publishing houses regarding my suspense novel during the Ask-A-Pro session.  They liked both my pitch and my story idea.  One editor even agreed to review a portion of the manuscript and consider it for publication.  I attended some great seminars about self-publishing and am seriously considering it for my Brooks Sisters’ series.

All in all, I’m glad that I attended the conference.  I learned a great deal, re-connected with old friends, recharged my batteries and came back with some great marketing ideas.

Maybe I’ll see you at the conference next year.

Peace

 

What Writers Can Learn From Rejection

I’m baaaack!  I took a little hiatus to work on some non-writing goals, but I’m back baby and more fired up than ever.

Okay, so I got kicked out of the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Contest during the pitch stage and two of the three e-publishers that requested to see excerpts of my legal thriller have rejected it.  I could sink into a funk, throw in the towel, and stop writing, or I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and see whether I can learn something from this experience.

As writers, we get a lot of rejection – whether it’s a less than thrilling grade from a professor, a form rejection letter from an agent or editor, or a bad review of a published work.  Chances are that if you submit your work to public scrutiny and/or try to get it published, you will withstand a fair amount of rejection along the way.  They say that, to survive in this business, we must learn to be thick-skinned, to roll with the punches and to never give up.

In his book “On Writing” Stephen King tells us that we should be ready to paper our walls with rejection letters until we get that one shot.  In fact, he literally did that.  I don’t know . . .   that would take up a lot of wall space and mess with my decor.

The thing is that not all rejections are created equal and the reasons for rejection vary.  Your work might be rejected because you didn’t properly research an agent or editor and they might not represent the type of book you wrote.  You might get rejected because the type of book you wrote is not hot in the market at this time or the agency or publishing house already represents or has books by competing authors in your genre.  You might get rejected because you didn’t do a good job of pitching or describing the story or your target market or because your prose or your storyline or your writing is not up to the standards  of a particular agent or editor.  You might be a fine writer and/or storyteller but your storyline might not excite or inspire an agent or editor to want to sign you up or publish your work.

The types of rejections you get vary as well.  Sometimes you get a form e-mail or letter simply stating that your work is not a good fit for that agency or publishing house, sometimes you get very detailed editorial comments, and sometimes you just get radio silence.  I seemed to have progressed from getting form rejections letters to getting very detailed comments on my excerpts from editors and agents alike.  That tells me that I’m close to finding the one (agent and/or editor) according to the tales told by successful novelists concerning their breakthroughs.

Sometimes, we can actually learn something from rejection.  In my last rejection letter, the editor told me some of the same things I had heard from my beta readers – that my book has too much legalese in it which threw her out of the story and that it started too slowly after the action- packed prologue.  So what did I learn from that?  I learned that I should listen to my beta readers and edit the beginning of the book to move it along.  The legalese and a couple of unnecessary scenes are slowing the book down.  Apparently, it takes flight after page 50 where the only legal scenes take place in the courtroom (as opposed to in the law firm) and are more dramatic.

Sometimes, you have to take some of the editorial advice you get with a grain of salt.  One editor, in her rejection letter, told me that she didn’t like the fact that my hero was suing for the death of his wife and child and yet was attracted to his very sexy attorney.  All of my beta readers (with one notable exception) had no problem with that whatsoever.  They felt that almost two years was enough time for him to be ready to move on even though he was in the process of seeking revenge against the company that caused the death of his family.  If it was a romantic suspense novel (as opposed to being a legal thriller with strong romantic elements), I might have to rethink that storyline since romance readers might be more sensitive to that issue.  But I seem to be making more progress now that I’ve stopped trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  I do not write romance novels.  Period.

What did I learn from being kicked out of the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Contest at the pitch stage?  That I probably shouldn’t have put a line as asinine as: “This book is a legal thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat” in my pitch. Oh well, I’ll do better next year.

In the meantime, I have a legal thriller to edit and send out to more agents and editors, another thriller to rework, and a political suspense novel to edit and get ready to pitch at Thrillerfest next month.

Giving up is not in my DNA.  I bet it’s not in yours either.

Peace.

The Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

So, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I entered my romantic legal thriller – “Just  Dreams” –  in the Amazon.com Breaththrough Novel Award Contest (also known as ”ABNA”).  The contest officially closed to new entries in the adult fiction category on February 2, 2012.  I know this because I went to upload an edited version of my novel and I couldn’t anymore.  Imagine the angst I felt knowing that all the mistakes I had so painstakingly found and fixed in my latest draft are still there in my entry for all the world to see.  Hopefully, acceptance will kick in sometime soon, because it hasn’t yet.

Anyway, here’s how the contest works.  My entry consisted of my pitch which is a less than 300 word blurb about my book (kind of what you would see on the back jacket cover of the book), a 5000 word excerpt, and a copy of the manuscript.

• First Round: Amazon editors will review a 300-word pitch of each entry. The top 1,000 entries in each category (2,000 total entries) will move on to the second round.  (Announced 2/23/12)
• Second Round: The field will be narrowed to 250 entries in each category (500 total entries) by Amazon top customer reviewers from ratings of a 5,000 word excerpt. (Announced 3/20/12)
• Quarterfinals: Publishers Weekly reviewers will read the full manuscript of each quarterfinalist, and based on their review scores, the top 50 in each category (100 total entries) will move on to the semifinals. (Announced 4/24/12)
• Semifinals: Penguin USA editors will read the full manuscript and review all accompanying data for each semifinalist and will then select three finalists in each category (six total finalists). (Announced 5/22/12)
• Finals:  Amazon customers will vote on the three finalists in each category resulting in two grand prize winners. (Announced 6/16/12)

If I make it to the semifinals, I’ll be able to use the Publisher’s Weekly review of my book (assuming it’s a good review) to market the book even if I don’t win the contest.

Wish me luck.

Peace