November is the Write Time

It will soon be November and that means it's time to write.  The folk at the National Novel Writing Month website would like to challenge you to pour out a 50,000 word novel from start to finish in a month's time.  Here's the basics taken from their website: 

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.
Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.
Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.
Where: You write wherever you’d like. On your computer, on your iPad, on a typewriter---anywhere is fine, just as long as you’re writing! For a more in-depth NaNoWriMo overview, visit the devilishly handsome "What is NaNoWriMo?"and "How NaNoWriMo Works" pages.

It's either write a novel in November or rake up leaves.  So get to typing!

Preview Dogs to Men

Author James T. Baker recounts the escapades of a small-town football team that endures the hazards of growing up.  He follows “the Demopolis Dogs" through pratfalls on the field, on the stage, and in their relationships, and on their twisting trail to becoming men.  On its face, it is a coming of age simple story, but Baker makes you feel both the anguish and ecstasy of adolescence.  An experience that turns out to be a  muddy, painful team experience.

The group of boys , who refer to themselves as “Us Dogs” appears as a somewhat disjointed team.  They always seem to come together in an “all for one, and one for all” spirit.  As each member of the team uniquely arrives at manhood, the similarity to your own youthful struggle awaken long ago memories.  By the end of the novel, you'll be reminded that we all have come to the same end point.  As adults, we have the wisdom to realize that some complete their journey in better condition than others.
 

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest

For all of you out there that have unpublished or self-published novels hoping to attract the attention of a major publisher, here's your shot.  Amazon has partnered with Penguin Press to look for the "next big thing" in print.  For more information you can visit the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest page at the high lighted link.

If you're thinking about entering, get your pencils sharpened, the contest ends on 7 Feb 2010.  There are also a few hoops you'll have to jump through when submitting a book:

• Submissions are to be works of fiction and can be entered in the general or young adult categories.
• Novel lengths are to be 50,000 to 150,000 words
• Submissions must be made in specific Microsoft Word formats or a rich text format with other formatting requirements.
  
• Along with the full novel, aspirants must enter a 300 word "pitch" and the first  3,000 to 5,000 words of your book.

For more information about entry requirements, check out the How to Enter link.  If you're thinking about entering, there is a catch.  By entering, your work is basically locked up by a "first to publish" agreement with Penguin.  This means you cannot publish your work until after 30 June 2010 if you enter the contest.  The up side to all of this is that the Grand Prize is a publishing contract with Penguin and a $15,000 advance.

So what are you waiting for, get writing....