I’ve reviewed the changes to the contest rules and procedures on the Sobol website, and I’ve decided I will continue with the contest despite the extended deadline, because the possible rewards are too great to ignore, and they have changed the judging procedures.
The contest was originally segmented into four phases. Phase one lasted 90 days during which 50,000 entries were reduced to 500. Phase two lasted 60 days and reduced the entries to 50. Phase three lasted 45 days and produced the top 10 finalists who went into phase four, which took 30 days to rank the top ten. All top ten winners will be awarded a cash prize and literary representation to help get their book published.
The new contest rules stipulate three phases instead of four. VIEW MORE
I received an email from the people running the Sobol Award (the contest I’m going to send my novel to.) The good news is that a major US publisher has agreed to publish the top three winners. The bad news is that these jackasses have extended the deadline to March 31, 2007. That’ll put the final judging close to November 2007. I am really, really pissed off about this. When I read the email I was so mad I couldn’t even cuss. I was totally flabbergasted. Then I calmed down a little bit. Then I cussed.
I’m still going to get the final revision finished by Dec. 31, because that was my personal deadline even before I heard of these Sobol jokers. I think I’ll continue with the contest as well; it would be stupid not to go on with it, but I also think I’ll go ahead and try to find an agent or a publisher on my own. I’m still contemplating my plan of action, but at the moment I think I’ll get started on the sequel and research a list of book agents. I’m not sure when I’ll send out queries and get the process rolling. My initial thought was to get cracking right away, but if I get an agent I’m still not guaranteed publication, and it will disqualify me from the contest. The contest is a chance at a decent prize and publication, but now that the novel is finished, I want to do something with it. I’m not sure what to do yet.