Sunset Surrender has been selected as a finalist in the Valerie Parv Award for 2018!
To paraphrase a certain US President, “that’s huge, people; a huge deal”, for this aspiring novelist. Champagne anyone? The winner will be announced at a gala dinner at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Sydney on August 18. I’ll be there to enjoy the moment when one of the six finalists is chosen for a year of mentoring support with Valerie. (More about this below)
Why enter awards?
I’m glad you asked. Awards like the Valerie Parv Award offer external validation that your work is good – possibly very good — from respected peer writers and other authors, which feels a whole lot different to your kind friends or supportive relatives. Writing and waiting for feedback can feel like whistling into a stiff breeze at the beach. All you hear is wind rushing past your ears. Ask any first-time blogger. So yeah, it takes a certain amount of courage to put yourself out there and enter national writing competitions. Sometimes you catch the trapeze, sometimes you fall to the bouncy net below. (Editor: “You’re mixing your metaphors!” Me: “Yeah you can do that on a blog, no one dies…”)
Doing well in a competition gives you something to talk about online that’s not your cute cat/dog/child/houseplant (I’d like to change it up but I can only claim the plant since the dog moved and the kids grew up – and the plant is frankly looking feeble.) Unlike my new typewriter (so vintage!) performing well in a contest is genuine news. As an ex-journo, I can claim that. Handled lightly so it doesn’t sound like bragging, award success can serve as relevant, interesting and engaging content that can help build the required author platform. Authors are marketers these days; readers and publishers expect to be able to find out more about you online. And it’s fun to engage with people. Hello? Anyone out there? (Click on the link above to comment if you would like. )
And also, guess what else?
Awards create other opportunities. For authors, submitting a work that has already gained some attention may put your manuscript on the top of the pile for an acquiring editor to consider. Your labour of love stands a better chance of finding a publisher who may love it too, enough to invest in publishing it. And that is a big investment; editing, design, printing, marketing and distributing it so readers can pass their judgment with their hard-earned cash. Publishers need to be convinced.
Awards can help highlight potential, both of manuscript and the writer. Alli Sinclair’s Luna Tango came after a publisher urged her to stop working on the manuscript she was pitching and instead write another story she ideas about. Luna Tango was voted 2014 Book of the Year by Ausrom Today Readers Choice. Alli is now published around the world. She’s also a multiple award winner.
Back to the Valerie Parv Award
The VPA prize includes a year of mentoring support from romance industry icon Valerie Parv AM, for a year. Valerie Parv is a prolific author, published in multiple genres, who has sold more than 34 million copies of her books in 29 languages. Valerie literally wrote the book(s) on writing romance. Her writing craft books include The Art of Romance Writing: Practical advice from an internationally bestselling romance writer and Heart and Craft: Bestselling romance writers share their secrets. With her help, the VPA winner will have the chance to turn their unpublished manuscript into the best version of itself it can be. Almost all of Valerie’s “minions” have gone on successful careers as published authors.
The VPA is the third contest finals appearance for Sunset Surrender this year, and the most exciting. It doesn’t mean my manuscript is any closer to publication (sorry rellies, I know the wait is killing you!) but it means when it is, I will have done all I can to make it the best book it can be. Nine judges have given me detailed feedback already and I have listened, absorbed and gone back to the page to polish.
So you know what? I may not take home the prize, but I feel like I’ve already won. I’ll cheer just as madly for all six nominees on the night. Congratulations to fellow contenders Ree Andersson, Jillian Jones, AJ Blythe, Paquita Fadden and Stella Quinn; you are inspiring and I’m proud to be in your company.
I know how much work, how much heart and how much courage it takes to toil at this. It can take years from getting an idea and getting to The End, especially that first book. And that first book needs to be good enough and do well enough in the marketplace to keep the door open and opportunities coming. I’ve met some wonderful talented writers who’ve been published and later had the door slammed closed because of changes in the market or disappointing sales. True grit is picking yourself up and writing the next book. I salute you. Like old age and mountain climbing, writing is not for the faint-hearted. But it is worth it for the possibilities.
As best-selling Australian author Jennie Jones recently posted on Facebook,
“One of the best things I did was work exceedingly hard to get my first book ready for publication. It turned into a five-book series and that series has since sold 130,000 copies.”
So whatever happens next, it’s back to the keyboard and notepad for me. And that’s a win.
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