Amazon has included my novel, “No Way In” as one of the quarterfinalists in the 2011 Breakthrough Novel Award Contest in the category of Young Adult Fiction. How did it get there?
Someone pointed out that they were running the competition and urged me to throw my book in the ring, by the time I got around to filing the only available category still left open was Young Adult Fiction. It’s number 65 on the link above. The contest is down to the last 500 entries, with 250 each in the Adult and Young Adult categories.
Wikipedia describes the Young Adult Fiction category to include The Count of Monte Cristo, Huckleberry Finn, Alice in Wonderland and Great Expectations. That’s comforting to know, though some of the internal Amazon reviewers have said that they think it’s the wrong category.
This seems a strange storyline for young adult fiction. When I think young adult, I am thinking 13-18 and that age group is more interested in science ficton/vampires/magic. It seems unlikely that a young adult would be interested in a political novel.
Alas. No vampires in the story, though there are chases, shoot-outs and lots of derring-do. Another said:
I think the only problem here is that it is supposed to be a Young Adult Fiction Novel?
These points are all well taken. In truth, I was rather surprised to have made it this far. If it goes no further, it will have been recognition enough. It’s always good to get the maximum amount of feedback on a piece of writing if you want to improve. The worst thing one can do, I think, is look for praise.
“No Way In” print edition at Amazon
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