Liz Lipperman Talks Amazon Breakthrough Novel

The Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers are pleased to welcome Liz Lipperman to our blog. Liz is a chapter mate of mine (Dallas Area Romance Authors) and a huge support to me and Mary Marvella on our Goals loop (headed by Amy Atwell). If you want more information on the goals loop, let me (ArkansasCyndi) or Mary know and we'll get you hooked up. Take it away, Liz!

First off, I want to thank Cyndi and the rest of the girls at TPFS for inviting me to talk about the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. When I heard it mentioned on a loop the early part of February, I decided to give it a shot since I was in a funk after having rushed through a manuscript to enter in this year’s GH.

Let me stop right here and say up front - I hate contests! I have never had much luck with them since I write Women’s Fiction. Until a few years ago, this genre didn’t exist, or at least it wasn’t addressed. Those of us who write it have always had to enter Single Title which still carries with it a lot of romance mindset and genre rules. (Hero and heroine meeting in the first chapter, sexual tension right up front, etc.) Judges either hated my writing or they loved it. Usually, I got one of each, and I never finaled. Two years ago, I entered a Colombia story in the GH in the new category, Novel with Strong Romantic Elements (NSRE), happy I had finally found my home. Imagine my chagrin when I received scores of 9, 9, 8, 7, and 4. The 4 judge said it wasn’t a romance despite the synopsis that detailed the strong romance that played out and ended in a marriage.

That’s when I vowed NEVER to enter another contest again.

At the encouragement of my agent, I broke my rule and entered the GH. Her motive was to get me to finish a ghost story she loved. So, I did, wondering what had I been smoking.

I only mention this to let you know where my mind was when I entered the ABNA. It was free, so I thought what the heck. I had a week to get my entry ready since it required a pitch, a bio and a short synopsis. Never having written a short synopsis and hesitant to sing my own praises, it was a challenge. I forgot about it until the day they were supposed to announce the quarterfinalists – March 16^th.

I was nuts that whole day, checking the Amazon site at least every ten minutes. Finally at midnight, I went to bed, but when I woke up at 3:30 am, I HAD to check. Sure enough, there was an email from Amazon time stamped 12:30 am.

Now here’s where it gets spooky. TALK DEAD TO ME is a story about four sisters who come together for the funeral of the fifth sister, fashioned after my own relationship with my four sisters, one of whom is dead. The dead woman has been a loner all her life and she and the heroine have been estranged for over nine years. At the funeral home, the dead woman appears to the heroine to convince her to help her find her killer. I’ll spare you the details except to say, TDTM is a story about starting over, healing relationships, murder and mayhem. I made my ghost a wise-cracking, potty mouthed woman (nothing like my real sister) who adds humor to the mix.

I sent out emails to all my relatives and told them to read the excerpt. I can’t tell you the chills I got when my nephew commented about how appropriate that I found out on the day his mother, my sister, had died twelve years earlier. I swear to you, in that moment when I realized he was right, I knew Theresa, my sister, had a hand in this. Knew she must have hexed the two people who reviewed my entry and bullied them into choosing it.

Anyway, I was supposed to be talking about how ABNA works. Out of 10 thousand entries, Amazon reviewers chose 500. Until April 14^th, the excerpts are posted on Amazon as a free download. Mine is (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3BYK,) Publishers Weekly will review the fulls of all 500 entries and will post their scores. Then Penguin will use that, the original scores and reviews of the second round reviewers and the input from the reviews on Amazon to come up with 100 semi finalists whose names will be posted on April 15^th. Penguin will read the 100 fulls and pick three finalists. At that time, Amazon customers will be allowed to download a longer excerpt and like American Idol, you get to pick the winner. Of course, Penguin has the right not to publish and award a cash prize instead.

So, that’s how it works. I’ve read the threads from last year’s top 10, and they all agree, the reviews probably mean nothing. Penguin will be looking at the PW reviews and scores. It is really fun, though, to see my excerpt with author after my name.

Oh, congrats to everyone who made the finals of the GH. I didn’t. Where was that damn ghost when I needed her??

I’d love to hear any spooky stories you’re willing to share as well as your comments. I’ll let the TPFS girls pick one, and the prize will be a copy of The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) by Jack M. Bickham. This is one of my favorite books, but somehow, I ended up with two copies.

Thanks for listening to me babble on.

Thanks for visiting Liz. You're always welcome at Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers!