Attention all (legitimate) agents and (respectable) editors!

Well, here we are the door of February, and--due to some silly idea I came up with last year after a bout with the flu--I am getting ready to make selections for the Needle Awards.

My initial interest in POD books was for the wrong reason: my friends and I used to make fun of them (covers and text alike) in the manner of a bunch of middle school doofuses. Then I found one that blew me away and I figured my editor would buy me a big juicy steak for getting a read before anyone had heard of it. Well, I got brushed aside (the nerve!) as the premise was too quirky.

Yeah, well, shortly thereafter Paramount bought the movie rights and Simon & Schuster published it.

So, I was right--and not my editor. Which got me thinking . . . are there more incredible books buried out there? Turns out there are: I managed to find 48 so far, with two more on the way (out of over a thousand read--or, at a minimum, started.)

So what's my point? Benefit from all the research (read: I've culled, just like your underpaid assistant(s)--except I'm free and much more attractive) I have completed over the last year.

That said, if you want to receive--via email--a PDF file profiling the finalists and the winners (when they are announced in March), send me an email and let me know. No need for body text, just send me something in the subject line like "Needle me" or "I've got big hands!" or something like that (and let me know who you are if your email is not something obvious, like binky@icm.com.)

So far, I've gotten interest from a bunch of editors and agents, from everywhere from Random to Tor to Billy Morris--not to mention that the judging of the five top books will come from two editors at big imprints and two agents with powerful firms.

What am I getting out of this? Not 15%, that's for sure.

I'm getting nothing--other than the happiness at seeing some fantastic books get the light they deserve. You guys missed them the first time around. Here's your second chance.