Discovery Showcase for Self- and Unpublished Novels

Please note!

This blog, and the Discovery Showcase program, is no longer active.

Ever since our discussion a few weeks about about self-published authors, I've been trying to think of a way to support self-published and unpublished novelists in a manner that won't be overwhelming for me. And I think I've come up with something.

I have decided to declare Saturday as Discovery Showcase Day. Each week, on Saturday, I will post the first chapter of an unpublished or self-published novel. I will not vet or edit these excerpts in any way, other than to assure that any published novels are indeed self-published. This will be your chance to get your work before over three thousand weekly readers.

I do have a few rules:

• Must be fantasy, science fiction or supernatural horror. This includes all subgenres and Christian speculative fiction.
• Must be the first chapter of a novel-length work. This is not a market for short stories, because I cannot pay you. This is a way to promote or get feedback on your novel.
  
• Only unpublished or self-published novels. I cannot take the time to deal with any potential problems with publishers. If you want me to look at your small press novel for a regular Debut Showcase, please send me a query.
• If an agent is shopping your novel, please don't enter it. If you enter and are later lucky enough to snag an agent, you will have the opportunity to withdraw your entry.
  
• You may only have one work in the queue at a time. Make sure it's your best!
• Make sure the work is as good as you can possibly make it.
• If the post contains profanity, please say so just after the blurb (detailed below).
• 2000 word limit on the excerpt (not counting blurb and everything else). If your chapter is longer than 2000 words, send me your opening scenes.
• No erotica--even if it is speculative.

After the end of each post, I'll add a few boilerplate lines about how many entries are in the queue, the titles of the next few works, and how new readers can get their work in the queue.

I will not respond to any of the entries until you are next in the queue. At that time, I'll send you an email letting you know that it's your turn, and I will ask that you reply with an agreement for me to post your work. This may seem redundant, but I will not post anyone's work without explicit permission. I will let you know how to do that in my email to you. This also will be your chance to make any changes to your entry, so don't send any updates in the meantime. If you need to withdraw the work, this will be the time to do so.

If you don't reply to my email, I will skip your work. This is because I want to be absolutely sure you really want the work online before I put it up.

In order to get a conversation going about your work, I will offer my reaction to the excerpt. If I have a critique, I will say so, but I am a skilled critiquer, and I won't be harsh. Make sure you are open to feedback before you enter. The feedback from others may be harsh. I don't moderate comments here, but my commenters seem to be a nice crowd. I will delete comments that seem abusive to me, but that will be after they have gone live because again, I don't moderate comments.

Have I used enough bold here? I just want to make sure you are ready for any negative feedback you might get. I don't think it will be all bad, but I also don't think I have to warn anyone about positive feedback. :)

Great! How do I send my chapter?

Format your excerpt like this:

• Title and Short blurb, 200 words or less.
• Your byline ("by Joe Writer")
  
• Genre and any applicable subgenre.
• Profanity warnings, if applicable.
• Excerpt, 2000 words or less.
• Your publisher, for self-published novels. If you created your own publishing company to publish your book, this is perfectly fine, but please say so. Otherwise, I'll end up wasting time researching your publisher.
  
• Link where one can purchase or download the novel, if available.
• Cover image, if you have one. I will place the image alongside the text, just like I do for a Debut Showcase.

The title of your email must be "Discovery Showcase - " followed by the title of your novel. I'm going to have Gmail sort these entries into a folder, so please get this right. Otherwise, I may miss your entry.

Please follow the instructions! I tried to construct this program so it is something that I have time for. Any entry that falls out of these guidelines will be discarded without notice.

Send your entries to tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.

Thank you in advance!