ABNA

Well, apparently there's a big contest that happens on Amazon.com every year and my timing couldn't be better. Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award accepts up to 10,000 manuscript submissions between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5.
I've submitted mine (and re-submitted revisions a million times) and am sort of excited about it. I don't expect to come close to winning, but it's always constructive to be judged against your peers, like it or not...
The winner gets $15,000 and a flight to some fancy party and many other non-cash prizes are awarded for runners-up. I just want to see reviews and comments. But alas, this is a game of patience. The following dates are benchmarks in the contest:

2/5 - Submission deadline
2/23 - 2,000 submissions (1,000 in General Fiction, 1,000 in YA or Young Adult Fiction) are chosen.
3/20 - 250 from each category chosen (Quarterfinals)
4.24 - 50 from each category chosen (Semis)
5/22 - 3 finalists from each category chosen.

I'd be quite happy to reach the quarterfinals...


(edit) *fist clenched, teeth gritted* "Next year!"
I learned a lot about the industry simply from a few weeks of banter on the forums of the contest; the multitudes of miniscule details that make a great 'pitch,' which is all they used to determine who moved into the second round. No hard feelings, my pitch is much improved now and looking forward to next year's ABNA.

Novel

As a novice novelist, I have many questions regarding what path to take with my manuscript. Part of me wants to self-publish...and the trend in publishing seems to be moving toward that direction.

However, having an agent sounds enticing! Connections, upfront cash with which to (fuck around) work on another masterpiece, ace in your legal pocket protector, backstage groupies (oops, wrong decade...)

All I know is that within the few short months of creating fictional characters and a vague plot, I've experienced a wide array of epiphanies on paper.

That said, my research has revealed that this latent passion, similar to a musical one, provides little in the way of financial security. Sad, but true...

The few authors you can probably name by name spent years (usually a decade or more) creating several literary works, earning as little as a few thousand dollars for each, if that.

A book is a book is a book... But I'm thoroughly enjoying this new project :)