To see the winners, you can go to the link Here: http://theedgars.com/nominees.html
You can also watch the awards on YouTube if you like. I just finished watching. Kind of boring, though it is a wonderful thing to see Mystery writers get acclaim, win awards, etc. Christina Lane, who won the award in the category of Best Critical/Biographical, for her book, Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock, was the most touching acceptance speech. She couldn’t stop crying.
I had looked a week or two ago to see who had been nominated this year. I was especially interested in the short story nominations, and was surprised to see the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine that I happened to have a copy of presented in the photo. So I was able to read one of the nominated stories: “The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay.”
I was left scratching my head after reading the story, however. Don’t get me wrong–It’s a good story. But really? I will even say it is a Very Good Story, but still . . . an Edgar nominee? Who decides these things? Of course, I know who decides, in the end at least. MWA judges. I’m not exactly sure how the nomination process works. This story didn’t win, and I haven’t had a chance to read any of the other stories. I want to read them. Like I said, it is a good story. And I encourage everyone to read it. I just, well . . . you know. Just read it and decide for yourself.
It is kind of like submitting stories to a magazine and getting rejected, and then reading what got accepted. Often, the pick is mind-boggling. This is especially strange when you have specifically written a story for that particular magazine, based on previously published stories in that particular magazine. Was the pick, or rejection based upon the mood or whims of the “reader” that one particular day? Maybe that person just wasn’t into it. Or did they just shuffle things around and then go “eeny, meeny, miny mo?” Who knows?
I will admit that I don’t handle rejection well. Who does? I guess that’s why I’ve only ever submitted about five or six stories total, of the roughly 150 or so that I’ve written over the years. It is certainly more fun writing stories and publishing the stories yourself, rather than sitting around waiting on someone else’s approval. I guess you could say that I just do story dumps every so often, letting the readers decide. Eventually, I’ll find that group of readers who really like my stories. I know they are out there. Looking forward to that day. With 90 million plus readers on Goodreads, there has to be a few (probably a few thousand) who are open and interested.
I am very prolific. I could probably put out a book every two weeks (one week to write it, and another week to edit, format the text, and design the cover and then upload) if I really got busy. As it stands, I finished another book a couple of weeks ago. The book is formatted and ready to go. I thought about it, and realized that I have several stories that might just be acceptable to Asimov’s Sci Fi magazine; along with a couple of stories that might be acceptable for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen. Several of the stories, however, I would have to go back through and chop out large chunks of text to bring the story down to an acceptable word count. As I stated in the last post, my stories are becoming huge.
So, I did send one of the stories off to one of the above mentioned magazines. I figured the rejections usually come fairly quick, so I’ll be able to publish the book soon. I can’t publish it while the stories are submitted and being considered for publication elsewhere. However, the process can take up to several months. It is difficult for me to just sit and wait. As far as the stories go that I would have to whittle down to size, I’m still debating: Should I take the time to chop the stories down? Or would it simply be easier for me to just write new stories to submit? The second option would probably be easier for me. Once I’ve written a story (and edited it to the best of my ability), I’m usually chomping at the bit to move on to one of the other hundreds of story ideas I have floating around in my imagination.
I’ve been thinking lately maybe it is time for me to seek approval from some of the gatekeepers. I’ve published a good bit of my own stuff. It has been fun, and I’ll certainly keep doing it. But, there is something to be said for “acceptance.”
In fact, The SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) will not even accept you into their organization if you haven’t been published in the required magazines. The MWA (Mystery Writers of America) are a little more lenient. You can become an “affiliate” member at least. I guess they figure money is money, and they’ll take it (considering the dues are, I believe, the same for all members, whether professional or amateur).
So, I guess it behooves me to start submitting more stories, and trying to gain acceptance within the professional writing community. The networking side of things would be beneficial, of course. The problem is that I would rather spend my time actually writing. Writing, for me, is where the fun is, though (as you know), I do love sharing.
I’ve printed out the MWA application, and am debating on whether to go ahead and join now or wait until I actually qualify for the professional membership . . . Hmm. ??? The requirements for the professional membership aren’t that stringent. I just need to sell a few more books to make it. We’ll see.
Perhaps one day soon I’ll even try and get an agent. I’m thinking of getting a Virtual Assistant for the marketing side of things. Marketing has been the most difficult side of things for me. I guess, in the end, I have to accept that no one does it all alone. And of course, no one gets anywhere without the readers. You guys are especially important!
In any event, getting back to where this post started. I encourage everyone to read all of the Edgar Award Winners, and the Nominees. Every writer deserves a shot, and a nod of appreciation!