I submitted the first chapter of Marking Time expecting to wait the full two weeks. It's on their submission page that they will review first chapters, and the process could take that long. That was three days ago. I received an email on Sunday saying they approved my submission. Excited and nervous doesn't begin to describe how I'm feeling. People are going to see what I've written. You may be reading this thinking why is she going on? She's published before. That's under a pen name. It's not *me*. This is me. Friends and family will read these. They've been waiting patiently for me to publish something they can read.
I logged in to the JukePop site to make my first chapter live. I pushed the button but there were no flashing lights or bells and whistles. Not even a little bit of confetti. A bit disappointing. On the main page, I could see a button for contests. After clicking that, I clicked the SheWrites contest button. There are two categories; fiction and non-fiction. Under fiction... one entry. Mine. Ta-da! I win!
It made me laugh. No wonder they were so quick to approve my entry!
It's early in the contest. It runs from December 9th to March 10th. I'm sure there will be more entries. I don't think there are separate winning categories so I still have to compete with the 5 or 6 non-fiction entries. The competition isn't the point though. I feel brave and ready to hear reviews of my work out there in the real world.
Head over to read the first chapter. If you like it, don't forget to vote. I believe that you don't have to be logged in to vote on first chapters. After that, read some of the other serials. I have my eye on a couple of stories that seemed intriguing. I'm always interested in reading free stories.
Congrats on being brave! So excited to hear your journey and can't wait to see how it turns out....but I think your a winning for just trying.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Brandi! That's kind of how I feel whether I win or lose. It's a step in the right direction at least.
DeleteCongrats! That's the big deal! Enjoy this new step in faith! I just posted my first book last week. It sure is a lot of work, but it was AWESOME to know I can go and buy my book on Amazon. That was the best thing. Probably the same thing for you!
ReplyDeletePublishing is an amazing feeling. I'm not quite there because it's only one chapter in a contest, but I'm on the road!
DeleteWow, Congratulations on believing in yourself! I'm sure a scary step, but courageous of you to do this.. we cannot grow if we do not take chances.. but i'm sure it's more than courageous, i'm sure it's a great chapter too! i'll be checking out right after I post :) so, here are some bells and whistles for you :) toot beep ringaling, falala wheeeeeeee, whoot, zippitydoohday, tadum!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Thanks so much. I love whistles and bells, too!
DeleteLet's try this again! Congrats on your win, I think it's fantastic! Now I'm headed over to do a little reading! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a silly joke of mine because I was the only entry. :) but someone else showed up in the category so it's not a sure win! I'll have to get more people to read and hopefully, they'll like it and vote. I'm going to put the second chapter up in a few days.
DeleteThanks for heading over to read it. I have my fingers crossed that you like it!