Wednesday, March 22, 2006

The 2005 Needle Award Winners!

And the winners of the 2005 Needle Awards are . . .


In the Commercial category:
ISN'T THAT BIGAMY by Mike Vogel

In the Literary category: MORNING GLORY'S LONG LOST ORDER OF WORSHIP by Brian Agincourt Massey

Congratulations to both Mike and Brian!

Here are some comments from the judges . . .

On ISN'T THAT BIGAMY:

"This book was laugh-out-loud funny. And it's got St. Martin's written all over it. Too bad I edit memoirs and self-help. Maybe it's time for a career change."

"A gem, totally engrossing and funny. Judging aside, it was a pleasure to read this book. It's a keeper."

"If Carl Hiaasen is looking in his rear-view mirror, that's Mike Vogel he sees fast approaching. What a dynamite little novel."

On MORNING GLORY'S LONG LOST ORDER OF WORSHIP:

"Brian Agincourt Massey has written an unparalleled piece of literature here. From the first page to the last, one word will return to your mind: lovely."

"Holy cow, [Brian Agincourt Massey] is a wordsmith. Slap a Knopf or Viking logo on this and I'd be paying $22.95 for it at Barnes and Noble. What voice!"

"This is one tight novel--error free and perfectly edited--and an absolute treat to read. A marvelous effort."

Congratulations, as well, to the other 2005 nominees:

WAITING FOR THE WORLD TO END by Nicole Hunter

ENVY THE RAIN by Jamie Boud

THE SEARCH FOR AN INAPPROPRIATE MAN by RoseMarie London

DAYS OF GRACE by Mark Falkin

RATED F by Todd C. Noker

GOLEM by Greg Vilk

THE DIDYMUS CONTINGENCY by Jeremy Robinson

ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE by Jeremy Robert Johnson

And thanks to all the folks who helped this effort, from writing the books to judging them to taking a look at the winners. It's been a wonderful year.

Monday, March 20, 2006

The nature of the, uh . . . professionals in publishing.

Well, this was the big weekend, the weekend for the judging of the esteemed (or whatever) Needles. All the judges finished the books and we were to discuss (in two separate conversations--one for Literary and one for Commercial) the books on topic, and to pick a winner (I was just a guide, not giving any influence.)

So, I had two conference calls (at my expense--sheesh) for each category. And the funny thing is, what happened is what you might expect to have happened. The calls were indicative of the type of work they were reviewing. What am I getting at?

The Literary conference call lasted 84 minutes.

The Commercial conference call lasted 16 minutes.

The Commercial judges were quick, incisive, and armed with a clear cut favorite. The Literary judges had several favorites and wanted to discuss them, almost be convinced out of their opinions. (One judge had us wait so she could make a cup of tea!)

When all was said and done, though, we had winners in hand--even though I was at one point unsure if the Literary folks were going to come to a conclusion; two of the judges were firm on their selections (different books) so the third had to break the tie.

The winners will be announced Wednesday, March 22nd at which point I will send out the results to various publishing professionals--some of the very best folks out there--now with 41 editors and 20 editors interested in getting the inside scoop, folks from such esteemed groups as William Morris, ICM, Trident, Writer's House, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Grove/Atlantic, Tor, Warner and a whole bunch more.

Stay tuned, folks.