Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Okay, so this is my third year participating and my third year feeling highly inadequate.  Why do I keep doing this to myself?  Because practice makes perfect and someday, something GOOD is actually going to happen for me and my writing.  At least I hope it is.

Here's my main dilemma with all of this:  I did some research on the types of books that make it in to the quarter/semi/finals.  Now the main header is "Fiction" and then all of the sub-genres of it.  I write more along the romance line.  Do they take a lot of romance?  No.  One year, a majority of the stories that made it into the finals had a handicapped person as the main character!  How is that possible?  

I was reading some other blogs that have dealt with the ABNA's and a lot of them are discouraged by it and not participating any more because of the fact that although the grand prize is a contract with Penguin Publishing (and they are HUGE) none of the books that won have sold well.  Shouldn't that tell the judges something?  Um, like maybe not everyone wants to read the same book year after year?  Am I the only one that sees the problem here?

So I'm submitting and although I've never advanced in to any form of the finals, I'm okay with that.  Normally, I get a free printing of a proof of one of my books from Create Space because they give all of the entrants a coupon for one.  If nothing else, I'll save $10 on a future copy of one of my books.  

Still winning...LOL!