The submission period for the Gather.com First Chapters Writing Competition has ended. Thank you to everyone who submitted a manuscript! The competition was received with tremendous interest by the writing and publishing community and we sincerely hope this competition will be the first of many more to come. At this time we are not able to answer further questions regarding eligibility or entry into the contest. We welcome your entry into future contests.
We received an overwhelming response with over 2,500 entries submitted. Please remember that Round 1 voting continues through 3/30/07.
Also, the First Chapters Reader Promotion continues through the voting period. Comment on your favorite entries now through 3/30/07. The most insightful commenter on each of the 20 advancing Round 1 entries will be rewarded with a $500 Borders Gift Card. You could win up to $10,000 in Borders Gift Cards! Click here for more details.
We ask you to continue to visit http://firstchapters.gather.com to see all the entries and watch the competition unfold.
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Comments: 245
One comment on the writing is about 100 percent more feedback than a writer would be likely to get if he or she were among the 95-99% of rejected manuscripts or queries.
I posted my script because of that promised feedback. And an almost 1% chance is still a chance! :)
It has also been fun just reading such a variety of submissions that include so many genres.
Thanks Gather!
There was a disappointing aspect to the competition that I feel compelled to bring up, though. It seemed there were certain individuals monitoring feedback ratings, and should they get "too high" on any manuscripts, they would pounce in with a low score (and, of course, no comments) to bring the rating down. The administrator said they would be on the lookout for such tactics, but I saw no evidence they were doing anything about it. Perhaps that will all be addressed after the ratings period has closed. Hope springs eternal.
At any rate, thank you Gather for the opportunity. Good luck to everyone.
WOW. 2,500 submissions???? I'm pretty sure that Gather had no idea there would be that many. I would bet that there will be more than one of the top 20 "finalists" that get published. 8 tenths of 1% is about what an agent would take on but that only gets to the TOP 20 for this contest. The winner will be 1 of over 2500 or 4 HUNDRETHS of 1%!!!!!!!!
As someone with a First Chapter currently being rated, I certainly echo Catherine's comment about hoping that the voting patterns ARE being monitored and WILL be adjusted accordingly. It would be a shame to see anything but the best material advance to the next round!
Maybe I should have more confidence in my own submission, but if I make it to the next round it will feel like winning a lottery. Even so, receiving the commentary has been very enlightening, and some of it helpful. There's nothing like those extra sets of eyes scrutinizing the writing and offering helpful corrections, suggestions, and encouragement.
Jennifer O. - I waited two days to receive confirmation on my submission. But, it did come. My novel Threshold is out there waiting to be judged. I know virtually no one in this venue, but hope to get some kind of feedback anyway, even if I don't win. (Which is more likely than not : )) But, good luck to you. What is the name of your submission so I can keep an eye out?
Thanks
The contest, no doubt, boosted up Gather's membership by doubling the number during the last three months. About eight months ago when I joined Gather it had about 20,000 members; now it is ten times more!
Overall, it has been a pleasure to participate in reading the contest entries, though I have not been able to spare as much time as I would have liked. Picking up the highly rated and most read entries was an easy choice. Though the rating process may have been haphazard and, at times, abusive a good number of above-average entries managed to hover above 6.0 rating. There have been quite a few outstanding entries.
Sifting of quality writings out of such a large number of entries is done effortlessly and cost-effectively for the publisher. So, this may set a future trend for the publishing industry. The publishers may even choose to publish more than one book contrary to their original plan. Everyone has gained in some way by this great exercise. The experience gained by everyone should help in ensuring that the future contests are held in a fair and well-organized manner.
I have no expectation of winning. I expected that my chances here wouldn't be much different than my chances with any number of publishers or agents. I know there are a lot of people who want to be writers and very few that make it. I also realized recently that dreaming is a choice, just like love is. Even when the dream seems distant or even dead, you choose to dream. The ones who consciously make that choice at every discouraged moment are the ones who one day live their dream.
I'm on pins and needles over here!
So I guess I might be the only genuine consumer in the whole establishment. Better still, I wouldnt doubt that i was the ideal demograph. I have no entry, do not plan to ever have one. Nor did I count any of the entrants among my friends before some mostly agreeable interchange of letters occured induced by my comments.
2,500 entries? My Lord, did I read that many? Some I skimmed, many I tossed after the first paragraph but I did read at leat once nearly half of these. Whew!
The writer who says one must comment in order to vote has not "been there". I commented frequently, voted far more than I commented.
An observation: My few enthusiastic words triggered lovely private messages and some nice friends. My negative comments received several honest PM's asking for a fuller critique....many many more were snarls and threats and stuff about my rotten spelling and opportunistic grammar... (in case you didnt notice)....
Anyway I wish all of the honest entrants good luck and convey my compliments to the management of Gather... GREAT WORK GUYS!
Love,
Donna
There were a significant number of entries that really weren't ready to be entries. They would have been rejected by an agent's receptionist. Yet when reviewers mentioned the obvious and glaring errors, they were throttled by people who seemed to feel that spelling, grammar, incorrect tense changes aren't important. They are. Editors don't have time to edit. At conferences, over and over, I hear agents and editors tell audiences that manuscripts need to be "publication ready" when they receive it.
So I hope that if you received less than glowing remarks and suggestions to join a writer's group, it was made with good intent. Reading aloud to someone else, even to yourself, helps highlight problems. Keep writing. Get ready for next year.
I've submitted my manuscript and I'm hoping to get some good feedback and, of course, even a small chance is wonderful. I, too, echo the concern over 'drive-by' ratings, but I know that in earlier rounds Gather did remove many such votes, so I'm choosing to have faith in their 'fraud detection system.' Doesn't do me any good not to, after all. :)
Lastly, a bit of shameless self-promotion, a link to the first chapter of my manuscript A Sign in Blood: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976932639
And to all the writers...YOU DID GOOD!!!!!!!!
And the folks at Gather have to go through all the submissions. Thanks for being willing to take us all on.
Amen to Paige C. It's wonderful that so many submitted, but some weren't ready. If all a writer takes away is constructive feedback, that's at least more than he had before.
I didn't bring my posse with me to Gather, so I'm also requesting comments and critique. My first chapter of A Distant Thunder went live March 13th. I appreciate all comments. Thanks
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976930550
I submitted the three chapters to Gather back before the first of the month, thinking that the submissions period ended on the 1st and not the 15th of March. It appeared here for several days and then it was removed. Now, I'm reading that the comment period is "extended" (?) until the end of the month and where's my submission? Nowhere to be read!!!
I am positive that my submission will not go to the second round -- I've read some of the many others and there's some I really like. But for them to remove the posting WITHOUT posting me and saying "Hey look Mike, it's being removed..." for whatever reason -- that's a problem.
If I don't hear from anyone by Monday, I'll just go ahead and post all three chapters on my own Gather space, for I know that there's some interest among some of the Gather people here in the novel and "what happens" after the first chapter.
This is a good contest -- I just feel that it should have been "managed" a bit better. They'll learn...I think this was the first time they've done this kind of of contest and like anything you do the first time around, there's bound to be problems, issues and crits about it!
Settummanque!
First of all, thank you for serving. I was in the Army Reserves as an OR Tech (91-D) for six years, myself.
Everyone's first chapter was posted for two weeks. The reason there was an extension to the commenting time, I believe, is for the last minute entries that Gather couldn't get posted in time. It's so they get their two weeks. So don't post your three chapters just yet.
Good luck, Mike and all the other competitors!
Oh, and since everyone else is self-promoting, SHOULD my first chapter (no longer posted) make it through to the next round, and the second chapter get posted -- (from my keyboard to God's ears. :) -- my manuscript is titled "Still Life in Motion." It's a young adult novel, not necessarily everyone's cuppa, but I would appreciate some feedback. SHOULD I make it to the second round, that is.
Congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry. How many people in the world can say they've written a novel-length manuscript?
One question I have is, Will both Chapter's One and Two of the 20 Round 2 entries be available for reading in case a reader missed seeing Chapter 1 when it was posted? Same Question for the later rounds.
I've written elsewhere on my own experiences in the contest in the article "Fourteen Days of a Novel", which is at:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976933998
Now, on to the last 14 days and Chapter 2!
You are probably fine. They took about 3 days to post my entry. You'll get an email when it's posted, along with the all important link to share with others. At least you won't have to worry about a flood of newer entries coming in to push yours to the back of the list.
My primary suggestion is to allow people to also submit an "elevator speech" or back-of-the-book blurb along with the first chapter. This would give readers some context in which to rate the chapters -- and this would more closely simulate the query letter approach that writers take with agents and editors.
I, too have an entry Thanks For Nothin' and I hope this contest will help to prompt more,of the same.
I have had some constructive commits and I love it.
I too wonder how the judging is being done. All I can say is "Ya Gotta Have Faith."
And I plan on visiting everyones First Chapter, and rate it to my best ability, that had the courage to ask. So Go See Mine Now.LOL. {Is that too MySpace?}
Where is the much lauded American ethos of equality? Why are some more equal than others on Gather?
The Australian ethos of a fair go for all is missing in action in this competition.
Perhaps Gather has much to learn from us.
Because of this, this contest was 50% writing a great chapter and 50% promoting your chapter. With high vote totals in the hundreds rather than the thousands, it's all about connections of the author. It's a factor of how many loyal friends, family and co-workers you have, whether you have hundreds of friends on Gather or on a website like Myspace and your personal marketing ability. Once they see it, the quality of the writing will determine their level of support, but the author still needs to get them there.
I'm glad that the judges of this contest will save some diamonds in the rough that got left behind. I've seen some good entries that should have had more support, but the authors didn't realize they had to turn into a marketing department for two weeks.
Not that it's a bad experience. I am learning valuable lessons about the hard work of promoting a book.
I expect the second round to be more about the quality of the writing. With 20 entries to choose from, readers can check out all of them and pick their favorite. The vote totals should be in the thousands, meaning a marketing campaign based on getting 100 votes wouldn't help.
And one more thing: Please open this to non-Americans in the future or do a seperate contest with international publishers.
Those comments should be printed on a tee-shirt and given out to every entrant.
It's been an interesting competition. The quality has been...very curious, with some writers thinking it is okay to submit piles of rubbish that I wouldn't line my hamster cage with (if I had a hamster, of course) due to: awful spelling (how wonderful to be able to invent words. Also, I thought Word came with a free spellchecker? Hmmm.), dire grammar and even worse punctuation (some starting paragraphs lasted for six lines. Read those aloud and you end up passing out from oxygen deprivation)
However, there have been some gems that have made me remove my witches hat and turn my scowl into a smile. It's always a pleasure to read raw talent that jumps off the page, grabs you and ruffles your brain into a frenzy.
I think the real winners will be those who take the comments, use them, and come back stronger for it.
I didn't need to see my stuff in print.
I didn't need to see a half-assed byline.
I didn't need inane comments from amateurs, with perhaps one in ten saying something to indicate that they got it.
I needed a fair competition.
But 2500? Tolstoy, Somerset Maugham, Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald would be lost in this morass and never recognized.
So I guess my dream of a pas de trois with Simon, Shuster and me will not come to pass.
Malheureusement.
Now I don't know if they read the synopsis and if they think it's interesting they go on to read the first three chapters or if they go about it some other way. However, I think that with this many stories for them to sort through, S&S might just want to publish more than one story.
So no one give up hope. Keep yourself positive, because sitting around crying about it isn't going to get you anywhere.
It seems as though this contest may become a victim of its own success....there have just been so many entries in the last two days, that it is impossible for them all to be read and voted upon by the masses. So while it was possible for me to just read through most of the entries early on, now, there is just no way to read all the chapters in the 14 days that they will be available. Instead of the quasi-legitimate voting process that was happening in the early days of the contest, now it seems the only votes most of the later submissions will get is from family and friends--and they will all be 9's and 10's, of course. Perhaps a better way to run future contests would be for those running the contest to spend a month or so reading all of the first chapters, eventually narrowing the field down to 200 or so entries. Then all of the people interested in voting could actually read and evaluate the entire field and vote accordingly.
By the way, please check out my submission, and if you could comment and vote on my entry, I'd sure appreciate it, as I'm buried in the middle of 39 pages(!) worth of first chapters right now:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976933390
Thank you to everyone!
Jeff.
I would welcome some objective, constructive criticism.
My book, ClanDance, is a life saga, a love story; a tale of two families battered by adversity, of two people burying their hearts in their work.
They meet, and despite the hurdles of travel schedules, miscommunications, family secrets, family intrusion, and insecurities borne of tragedy, they carve out a relationship.
Amid the uncompromising pace of their business lives they find a common ground in the family, or clan, dances at a Cape Cod summer town. They learn that ClanDance is perhaps a euphemism for the dances that families do TO each other, rather than WITH each other.
Please take a look. I'm trying to do the same, look at other entries, even for just a few paragraphs.
Thank you.
On the other hand, if you would like to give me an honest comment I WOULD be greatful, truly.
Thanks For Nothin' is my Book. How Ironic.
In the end, thanks so much to Gather for bringing the contestants and their friends and family who may contribute to the site. It was in good spirit from the beginning, and some people like to look at it that way. I for one think this is the best site I've ever been to.
What I'd like to see in the next contest is 20 entries picked by the editorial team, in all fairness to everyone. This would give those who don't contribute to the site no opportunity to have their people cheat against others. And what about these one star voters who are simply mad and jealous? We can trash their vote, too!
Good luck to everyone
Several authors have expressed lack of trust in the voting process. This would ultimately undermine people's confidence in the fairness of the contest. Wide fluctuations in the rating during a short time just before the end of voting period confirm prevalence of manipulative practices. I suppose the organizers are not completely bound by the voters' decision. The voting simply helps the organizers in skimming through a very large pool of entries. At the end of the contest a specially constituted editorial panel can review the highly rated entries TOP DOWN and eliminate those that appear to be blatantly manipulated and, thus, make room for the meritorious but less fairly rated entries.
Indication of genre and a short synopsis can facilitate proper targeting of readership which would render the voting process a little more objective.
The entries should be released for voting in a uniform manner in order to ensure proportionate exposure to all entries. This requires good planning and organization right from the start.
The amount of hard work, love and patience that the authors have put into their work is mind boggling. It is easy for readers to tear down a work involving months, if not years, of preparation in a matter of minutes. However, it should be possible for readers to provide genuine and honest critic in a considerate manner. The rush of the competition may not have afforded sufficient time for several authors to edit their work in progress. It would stand in good stead for the authors to take care of the technical aspects of the work fully well before presenting to the contest.
The spotlight generated by this highly publicized contest may have attracted attention of several agents and less known publishers to the entries in the contest. This should improve the marketability of many of the gems churned out by the contest.
It is heartening to see the positive ('the pleasure is in the writing' and 'spirit of the game') attitude of some authors like Judith G., Frederick M. and others. I hope the positivity will eventually outweigh the negativity.
This is the first time a contest like this has taken place. Are there problems? Sure. Will they do it better next time? You bet. Will it be perfect next time? Not a chance. But none of that takes away from how great it is that there is a major literary contest like this, or what a fine opportunity for feedback it provides us.
Contest was fun but with over 2500 entries, the lucky few who advance can't be all that had or have worthy potential. I think at times the comments a lot of writers received were uncalled for. You can state an opinion and point out mistakes but the down and out crude and harsh remarks were often out of line. Very few first time authors are going to come out of the gate as being the next Hemingway, Grisham or Stephen King.
I would have liked to have seen the contest presented with ratings by a review group from S&S then the posting of the material they felt would appeal to the private sector. American Idol type contestants must perform first then be rated by a panel long before they are voted on by the general public. To me that would have been the way to go with this thing.
All that said, it was an experience to be sure. It gave me new insight on how to focus and how to prepare myself for rejection and disappoint while at the same time holding on to the dream that others would like what I had worked on.
1. They gave it the wrong title.
In the synopsis it is clearly stated
SYNOPSIS
The Eleventh Hour
By
my name next and then the synopsis.
So why was it named In the Beginning of the Christion Era
2. Note how you spelled Christian.
3. My first paragraph is totally messed up in a double space format when it was sent in a single space.
This is totally unacceptable and unfair. My entry had three strikes against to from the jump.
I am not saying it would have won or even gotten past the first round but it would have been nice to see the correct title in big letters. Has it is, it is an abomination and I wish and beg you to remove it from your competition.
It has been violated and I feel I have been. I have deleted everything from my gather page with the exception of a group I started and that's only because I don't know how to end that group.
If I knew your contest would have such disregard for their entrants I would never subject myself to enter as it is Gather treated my work like parents that tell their children you will never amount to anything, your worthless and an accident. I'm sorry if this note takes any of your time. Your administration certainly killed mine.
If my assassinated child wasn't still up there for gather to leer and jeer at I would have already left this group. Please remove my entry and don't bother trying to make it right. You didn't bother in the first place.
I agree that voting irregularities will make the Top 15 vote winners not an exactly accurate picture. I, myself, only started reading first chapters 2 weeks ago and do not know how the first First Chapters were rated. I do know that clearly people are stepping in to lower high scores. With the top ratings now at 7.4, this is not an accurate commentary of what is out there.
Helpful comments have been great, and I do not think it appropriate of us authors to put down some comments as "amatuer"...those will be our readers...WE are ALL amatuers, are we not?
With all its faults, this is a competition that has allowed us all to hope, to push through the equally faulty agent/publishing world. And how much better for us to get the opportunity to be read as we process through this latest "rejection letter."
Writing is a lonely, frustrating business. I am just happy to know that there are 2,500 people out there like me that are trying, and trying hard enough to put themselves up for mass ridicule. I applaud us all and can't wait for Chapter 2!!!
A lot of us have gone through our two week viewing period or about to wind it up. I'm interested in how other contestants experienced the contest. How did it feel as your ratings bounced up and down? What would you do differently if you could go back to the beginning of your viewing period and start again? What do you wish gather.com had done differently? What do you feel you'll bring away from the contest? Are you glad you entered it? Would you do it again if gather.com has another contest like this? What were your impressions of your competitors? How obsessive did you get over the contest?
I set up a topic where you can post your answers to those questions in the First Chapters Lounge, an unofficial gathering place for First Chapters contestants to hang out and get to know one another. The direct link to the topic is:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976935695
Thanks
Dale C.
Meghan
I have no delusions about making it into the top 20, all I would like is feedback. Perhaps those of us who have been left out in the cold - so to speak - should create a forum to post our entries and invite those people who have been giving thoughtful feedback to critique us.
I too submitted on the 14th and have not been posted, nor have I received a reply to any of my emails. I was patient because I knew they were overwhelmed, so I didn't send many follow-up emails regarding my entry. Even so, they havn't the courtesy to respond. I had hoped to find that it was just some terrible mix-up and my submission posted on this day. I only wanted the feedback. I never expected to win. It has been an incredible sacrifice for my family these past months, as they waited patiently for me to return to them, and now it hurts to know it was all for nothing.
---
'Before 11:59 PM (EST) Thursday, March 15, 2007, you must complete three (3) steps in order to enter The Gather.com First Chapters Competition:'
---
So if you have not recieved a confirmation email to reply to (which is criteria 2), then technically you're out of luck. Of course to be fair you would think they add our entries to the slush pile and extend the reading period, right? All's fair in love and writing I suppose...
I've emailed the administrator yesterday, asking if they've received my submission. I haven't heard back. I'm betting he is waiting to see what the plan is on last minute submissions... I'm hoping they at least get them entered, even if we don't get a full 14 day reading time...
Trying to be calm and cheery...
My novel was finished before this competition began. I submitted last minute, because I made the attempt to clean it up before entry(unlike some of the ones that were posted). At the cost of valuable time taken from my friends and family I might add. This, I do resent. I followed their guidlines. It is not the fact that my entry was not posted that bothers me. It is the fact that they won't even extend me the courtesy of answering my emails and those of others. While I do appreciate the opportunity, it seems the opportunity may have only been given to those who were hasty with their submissions. This experience has proved to me what I already knew; there is no integrity left in this world. Yes, I am bitter for now, but I am also resilient. And this, too, shall pass. Good luck to those who were successful in making it through the obstacle course.
I submitted on the 14th, and my submission, Threshold, is posted out there. I wish I could tell you what the problem was. It must be very frustrating to have gone through everything and then not be able to compete.
And Tanya, I feel like there is no integrity either. I am just hopeful that my work will stand on its own merits. I have been the victim of drive-bys and nasty comments from people who just don't get that scrambling at the last minute doesn't make for a viable submisison. I worked for over a year on my novel. It is frustrating, but I can't control any of it. I hope you will enter future competitions. This is a great venue and I have met some interesting people, people who are writers and who understand that unique pain and joy! These are also people who understand that writing is a full-bodied venture, that you have to be able to tell a story compellingly while observing simple rules such as grammar and syntax. It is not a matter of picking one rule or the other. It is a matter of presenting a finelt chiseled piece of work.
I am just going to keep my chin up, no matter who tries to knock me down. Because it is the resilient and persistent ones who will succeed - even outside of this contest.
I'm disappointed that I lost sleep to make the deadline and came up short, although I suppose that's what I get for not having a completely finished manuscript waiting for this opportunity back in January. Perhaps I should have submitted the unpolished version earlier and hoped for the best, just to make sure I got in before the doors closed. Silly me, I figured I'd better take the time to get everything just right.
I do realize that they've been overwhelmed with manuscripts and that the first run of a contest like this is unlikely to be problem-free, but better communication from the staff should have been a top priority.
Good luck to the writers who advance. But more importantly, good luck to your families. When the time comes to pander for votes, they'll see brand new sides to you. And that'll be a fun time for everyone.
Cam Martin, author of "The Clouds Don't Aim"
I think you're right about the MAC rule. It seems to me that some kind of conversion would not stretch the bounds of technology. As for PDFs, transporting files to HTML format is a significant task (it has to be HTML to show on the same page as comments, ads, links, etc.). Is it not possible to save MAC files in PC format? I remember seeing some Apple advertising making that point.
So what else is new in the publishing racket?
I have been slowly going thru all my emails, reading a few at at time, commenting on and grading only those that I really like.
I did have a problem though with a couple of private e-mails, which were more or less an invitation to cheat: I'll give you a high mark if you do the same for me. Not very sporting. And also, even if you get a million tens, if your work is below par, they are not going to publish it. Period.
Good luck, everybody. If nothing else, this has been a very interesting experience.
Do you know exactly what is on the standard publishing contract? I have only heard rumors.