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Why more writers of color need to enter the ABNA’s
This year my book HEAVEN once again made it to the quarterfinal round of the ABNA’s (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards) which meant the book was reviewed by someone contracted by Publisher’s Weekly. Long story short, I can use snippets of the review when promoting the novel. The ones I plan on using are “straight forward and emotionally raw story” and “starts off strong and develops a genuine emotional connection between Nevaeh and Joshua.”
The ebook HEAVEN I’ve had a great run with this novel. It reached #1 in a couple of sub-categories on Amazon (the category dance on Amazon is tough enough for indie writers, but especially frustrating for YA indie writers whose leads are characters of color. That’s a whole ‘nother post that I have to rant about).
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HEAVEN is a quarterfinalist in the 2014 ABNAs
HEAVEN made the quarterfinals of Amazon’s ABNA contest for 2014.
The linked screenshot below shows the place holder for the excerpt’s first 5,000 words (which are identical to the already released novel).
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award excerpt of YA novel HEAVEN I wasn’t going to enter this year, but I decided at the last minute to go ahead and submit it. Last year JUKEBOX was cut before this round, but prior to that (in 2012) it made the semi-finals.
The ebook HEAVEN 
JUKEBOX Volume One For those interested in entering next year, Amazon usually puts up an announcement in either December or January. As in prior years I plan on posting it on this blog in order to encourage more authors to enter, especially authors of color who write interracial romance or have a diverse set of characters in their novels. Writing can be a very solitary endeavor, but there’s a great group of authors on the ABNA boards both new and experienced who offer assistance and are supportive, should you choose to enter.