Finalists are posted!! (Nathan Bransford's First Page Challenge)

None of my favourites made the top six. Was anyone here one of the finalists?

My favorites didn't make the top, either. And I don't think I know any of the finalists? Ah well.

My favourites didn't make the list either. I've read them all a couple times. I'll vote tomorrow.

They are depressingly good though, aren't they?

Depressing? Nah, I'm going to take it as a lesson. They all did what is needed to draw the reader into the story. I think each character was strong, too. Much to keep in mind while writing.

Best Wishes to the finalists.

The entries that really drew my interest did not make the list either. I think the whole experience has been of great value, though, and it really does show how subjective the business is.

There were a couple of folks I was rooting for and neither of them made it. Oh well. I cast my vote, and it looks like my fave of the finalists won't make it either. Just goes to show you that it's so subjective. In the long run, that's a very good thing. It gives us huge diversity in the publishing world and on the bookshelves when we go to buy something to read.

It also explains why just about everyone says that 90% (or fill in your percent) of stuff that's published is crud. That just says that 90% of the stuff out there isn't what any given person likes. On the other hand, I've seen some very poorly edited, poorly written stuff that makes me really wonder what the publisher was thinking when they took on the manuscript.

I'm sure the finalists will have to be roped and hauled back down to earth by their families and friends before they float away. I wish them all the best of luck!

Well just goes to show how subjective it all is. None of the ones that made me go WOW are in that list. Of the six finalists, only one made me get to the end and want to read on. ( mostly not my genre though so....)

Ah well, good luck to the finalists!

Well done to everyone who submitted and congrats to the finalists.

Of course, thanks to Nathan for allowing us the opportunity to grow in confidence by submitting and to read on in awe at the submissions.

I like the idea of an AW contest along a similar line.

JJ

mollyluna said:

I went through all of the AW's entries and liked Grace's the best (Devil Ledbetter).

Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Mollyluna!
I read through the winners last night. Hmm. There's a funeral in my book, maybe I should have started with that? I'm kidding. My book starts exactly where it's supposed to.

It's interesting to note that only a further 3 or 4 entries out of the 675 generated any desire to read more.

That's a pretty sobering but not unsurprising statistic.

I thought Heather!Anne!'s was terrific and voted accordingly.

I voted for Kari. I think that's got a lot to do with me not having read a good authorial voice in quite some time. I wonder how I'd have voted next week. Or last week. Or next year.

I wonder how I'd have voted had I read >600 openings.

I'm amazed by how many people actually seem angry about the choices!

Elladog said:

I'm amazed by how many people actually seem angry about the choices!

Click to expand...

Me too. But you know -- no one is offering up their own choices, so I take it with a grain of salt. Maybe making tough choices and picking 6/675 and putting your choices up to public scrutiny is harder than it looks.

Perks said:

I thought Heather!Anne!'s was terrific and voted accordingly.

Click to expand...

Me too! 'cept my vote was posted as "Saskia", my daughter, because she was logged in to Blogger at the time!

Really? Angry people over this? Good grief! Must check out the comments.

I'm obviously not cut out to be an agent because none of my favorites made it. While none of the winners were my kind of story, they did show some damn fine writing. I can appreciate that even if the story doesn't grab me. Good luck to them all! I voted for Heather!Anne!

Nathan Bransford said:

Me too. But you know -- no one is offering up their own choices, so I take it with a grain of salt. Maybe making tough choices and picking 6/675 and putting your choices up to public scrutiny is harder than it looks.

Click to expand...

Yes, to me this has been a vital aspect of this contest - to gain some perspective from the agent's side of the desk, which in turn ought to make me a better, tighter, more interesting writer. IMO. And I think it will with time and practice. I'm not going to forget what I've learned from this.

While I know we could express our own choices/favorites in the blog comments, I chose not to because my best reading effort was only about 100 of the entries; unless I could get all of them read I didn't feel right about choosing.

I thought the final six were all worthy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of them and would have read on. Good job all around.

I don't get the anger, either. Think about it. 675 entries. We can't sit here and say, think, or feel that there weren't lots of others Nathan and Holly liked. Only they can answer that, and I certainly don't expect them to do so. They had to choose only 6 out of all those 675.

They should be showered with their favorite drinks, chocolate, whatever, for the daunting task they offered to do for free.

Folks need to calm down. 6 out of 675 is not even the top 1 percent. I'm sure Nathan has a "mental honorable mention" list and maybe some of us made it.

Chances are, you saw things about your first page that you wished you would have changed before posting it. Now's your chance.

Rob (The Killing Stones)

I also thought Heather!Anne!'s was fabulous, though I'm going to read them all one more time before I vote.

Bufty said:

It's interesting to note that only a further 3 or 4 entries out of the 675 generated any desire to read more.

That's a pretty sobering but not unsurprising statistic.

Click to expand...

Yep, sobering would be the word! But I thought it was a pretty good snapshot of what a writer trying to get published is up against: not only did I get a peek at the agent side of this process (which made me look at my first page in a whole new light), but for me it was a much-needed reality check. 675 submissions; 6 finalists; 4 runners-up. Pretty stiff competition.

::rolls up sleeves::


Nathan, thanks so much for doing this, and for offering your thoughts on the "grab" factor of a first page on your blog. I still can't believe you and Holly got through it all in one weekend.

rwam said:

Chances are, you saw things about your first page that you wished you would have changed before posting it. Now's your chance.

Click to expand...

You bet! (Starting with removing my rotting corpse...)
It was such a valuable learning experience. Looking forward to the next contest.

Elladog said:

I'm amazed by how many people actually seem angry about the choices!

Click to expand...

That's less surprising to me than the gumption to say it out loud. It's fine to have an opinion, but outrageously rude to take Nathan and Holly to task for it.

Nathan ran this contest on his own time. It gave us a glimpse at what we're up against competition-wise. It gave me some measurement perhaps as to why I do nothing but fail. It gave a good deal of information and excitement and did not take, or cost, anything.