~Song From the Heart~ Suddenly Has a Chance in the Dorchester/TextNovel Competition!

8/23/2009  10:53:00 AM
by Shalanna Collins (writing as Caitlyn Young)

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Contest entry written by Dallas, Texas-based author of fantasy and mystery/suspense Shalanna Collins, writing as Caitlyn Young, is climbing in the contest rankings, and now has a serious chance to enter the semifinals, against all odds and gainsaying all naysayers.

 When Dorchester Publishing, a prestigious print publisher based in New York City, joined with TextNovel.com to create a contest to find the next new voice in romance--and to incidentally create an entire new market, the novels-by-the-chapter market for those reading on Kindles, iPhones, and PDAs--many established authors rushed to join in.  Contracts are fiercely won in these days of the economic downturn (otherwise known as "Aaaaaack!  Layoffs!  Save your money!"), and many authors who already have agents and publishers and tools at their disposal entered the contest.  But what of the contest's aim, "NEW VOICES in romance?"

Author Shalanna Collins, as her alter ego Caitlyn Young, thought she could compete.  After all, doesn't quality trump power?  Can't the little guy--or gal--triumph, the way it happens in all the movies we love best?

She wasn't too sure about that when she first entered the contest.  Many of the contestants had been entered since June, and she only entered as Caitlyn Young with SONG FROM THE HEART, her romance-with-a-supernatural-suspense-twist, on August 9th.  She feared she was too far behind to make any gains, but she wanted readers, and she'd always believed in this story, a book of her heart.  SONG FROM THE HEART had been recently revised and was still a strong contender that she believed readers would love.

And she was right--because within the first ten days SONG FROM THE HEART had garnered almost a hundred points (votes plus subscriptions)!  "I have always believed in magic, and that the little guy can triumph over the corporate-sponsored big guns . . . maybe it's true!" said Shalanna (Caitlyn) over lunch with her critique partners.  "I'll keep believing.  Maybe more people will read and like my story."

All it takes to help make her dream a reality is visiting textnovel.com and signing up (it only takes a moment of your time), and then clicking on the link in the confirmation email it sends.  Everyone on the site has to choose a pen name/handle, but it can be just your first name and last initial or vice versa.  Once you're registered, you can read as many novels as you like--all FREE of charge.  If you like what you see in a story, you can arrange to have a notification sent to you when a new chapter is posted--or you can even ask to have the text of the chapter itself sent by email.  There are novels and books of every stripe.

If you'd like to take a look, SONG FROM THE HEART by Caitlyn Young has its own page at 

Click here 

Don't forget to VOTE. Just click on the "thumbs up" icon next to the novel's title.  Subscribe so you don't miss any chapters by clicking on the cell phone icon next to that.

Again, this is all at NO CHARGE.  You can read as many stories as you like, vote, subscribe, or enter a novel of your own.  They don't send spam.

"I really need votes to overcome the steamroller effect of those who have more resources and who have already gathered up to three hundred votes," says the author.  "I hope you will feel disposed to take a look at SONG FROM THE HEART by Caitlyn Young, and, if you like it, vote for it (all you do is click on the thumbs-up icon next to the book's title).  And, please, feel free to leave comments on the book's comment page!"
 

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