By Susan Cox
If you are a writer, you
know that you face a labyrinth trying to get published. Writing is difficult,
but it pales when compared to the dead ends, the wrong turns, the retracing of
steps taken earlier, the lost sense of direction and general feelings of discouragement
that follow.
It’s a long journey; you
must first write the book, then find an agent who believes in your work, which
if you are lucky will result in a sale to the right publisher, followed by
the terrifying and possibly mortifying editing process and then, eventually,
publication.
But there are
occasional shortcuts, springboards, which help you, leap to the center of
the labyrinth (or the Exit sign–depends which way you want to go). Probably the
best for those of us in the mystery field is the annual First Crime Novel
contest co-sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America and Minotaur Books (the
mystery imprint of St. Martin’s Press).
Hundreds of unpublished
crime novels of every mystery sub-genre are submitted. MWA judges read,
evaluate and choose the finalists, which are sent on to the editorial
staff at Minotaur Books for the final decision.
And yes, I won it last
year. (Yay me!)
I had given up a
demanding career to write full time. I’d tried to do both and couldn’t make it
work, so I spent the next few months writing a lot and worrying just a little
that I couldn’t make this work either. I entered the contest
as a way of keeping my spirits up and giving me something author-ish to
do.
The win came with a St.
Martin’s Minotaur publishing contract and a trip to New York to attend the MWA
Edgar Awards Dinner. I was asked to keep the secret for nearly a month,
until the announcement could be made at the Edgars Dinner. I tried. I
really did. But within hours I had sworn all my family and friends to secrecy
and before long I was blurting it out to waiters and people who telephoned to
sell me vinyl siding. In the end, it didn’t seem to matter. I stepped on the
stage to good-hearted applause from the hundreds of mystery writers,
publishers, agents, editors and other guests present, and took possession of
the most attractive chunk of acrylic I have ever seen.
Agents returned my calls
and I chose one to help guide my future career.
After edits and
polishing and all the things that go into getting a book ready for traditional
publication, I will be able to hold it in my hand on December 15th.
The important take-away
here is that I had absolutely no expectation of winning.
So go ahead.
Enter a writing contest.
You might win.
And who knows where that
will lead you?
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