Buried by charlatans

I enter Writer's Digest's Self Published Book Awards every year. Even though I have yet to bring home the top prize, the judges' critiques of Sever, Regret Things and Sin Walks Into The Desert have all been worthwhile - tough but fair, complete and useful, insightful and marketable.

This year, I sent The Baby Monitor: A Novella of Family Horrors to the competition. I believe in this little book. You can unwrap layers of meaning and metaphor from every page. And its characters and foreshadowing are much deeper than in anything else I've attempted.

I had high hopes. But Tuesday I got an email informing me I didn't win and delivering the judge's critique.

It was glowing.

Beyond glowing. It was a rave review, including perfect scores in the categories for Structure, Grammar, Plot, Character and Voice. The judge went through line by line calling out favorite moments:

"You have particular flair for repetition, a musical bent to your prose... The buildup of empathy throughout the story is powerful... I don’t just admire your use of metaphor, I admire the pace of them – just enough, like spice in a well-seasoned dish. The sheer propulsion of this climactic scene is priceless. An excellent book."

Writer's Digest is a legendary publication with serious cred. I know from experience their judges aren't nice to every book they receive, so it should be validating to get such a positive critique.

But accolades like these make me want to shoot myself.

Because The Baby Monitor has sold fewer than 60 copies despite hundreds of dollars worth of advertising, raves from Indie Reader, the support of my email list, and an audiobook available on all the major podcast platforms and my personal YouTube channel. Plus I've given away hundreds of copies and gifted 40 more with only four Amazon reviews to show for it.

Meanwhile, you know who I hear is making money in publishing? Plagiarists who buy ebooks, swap out a few adjectives, and republish them as their own work. Clickfarms that boost authors' page count for a price. And frauds who steal outlines and outsource their content to ghostwriters in the Philippines.

Amazon has given writers a way to publish fiction that never would've seen daylight a few years ago. An 18,000-word novella like mine would be dead in my desk drawer. So I guess I should be grateful. But right now I'm just frustrated. I've been buried by charlatans.

What's the answer? In moments of doubt, I watch this video and am reminded.

Sever, Writer's Digest and new short stories

Sever did not win the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards, but it did get a very kind review from the judges. Writer's Digest allows you to publish their commentary, as long as you cite “Judge, 24th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards” and don't cherrypick it to make it sound better than it is. I figured I'd just publish the whole darn thing.

Structure, Organization, and Pacing: 4
Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: 5
Production Quality and Cover Design: 5
Plot and Story Appeal: 4
Character Appeal and Development: 4
Voice and Writing Style: 5

Aimed at a young adult or even teen audience, Sever pulls in the shadows around the characters quickly, suggesting that life can all go terribly wrong even before one gets out of college.

Narrator Leo Thomas tells us that in the town of Epshire where “Sophie” is going to graduate, four axe murderers (two of them serial killers) have nestled in. I wish the author had been a little more specific when introducing his characters. Nonetheless, I appreciated the growing parallel I felt the author suggested: to wit, that once college ends, it cuts off everything, just like death does. As this horror thriller progresses, I felt awful for Leo when he saw the mutilated female. I liked the way Leo goes about investigating and I liked his relationship with Becky. I became convinced, while I read the book, that Epshire was the center of all evil in the universe. The author did a good job convincing me.

I liked the front cover art. The back blurb is well worded. The author does not give away “Sever,” which is as it should be. I liked his voice, both telling the tale in that random college guy way, narrating all the dumb things college students do, and in hindsight, sounding spooked, looking into lakes and imagining monsters. The story was well told, though a bit choppy at the beginning.

I am a little disturbed that Sever is so consistently identified as YA. But I love, love, love the identification of the parallels between the end of college and the end of life. And the idea you have to kill the person you were to live in the waiting world.

Sever has won a different award which'll be announced sometime next month. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have been writing short stories about the various killers that inhabit Epshire. I always send my short stories free to my email list, so if you want the next one, sign up in the sidebar of this blog.

Regret Things doesn't even come remotely close to winning the Writer's Digest 23rd Annual Self-Published Book Awards

I entered Regret Things in the Writer's Digest 23rd Annual Self-Published Book Awards. It didn't do especially well. The judge's review, while often complimentary, criticized the structure, saying "Ingwalson’s collage/burst-of-scene approach to writing quickly becomes difficult to follow." I think that's fair. I mean, obviously I'd be happier if I'd won. But life goes on. I did enjoy the end of the review however:

"This being said, one of the big strengths of Regret Things is Ingwalson’s casual, laid-back writing style. Line-by-line, it was a pleasure to read, and he did a good job executing the kind of conversational, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” tone, which certainly makes it stand out from other books."

A judge in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards on Sin Walks Into The Desert

I entered Sin Walks Into The Desert in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Winners won't be notified until December 31. But each entry comes with written commentary and advice from a judge. Here is a portion of what mine had to say, good and bad:

"What we have here is a hardboiled detective novel without the theatrics, stripped bare to the bones with prose that is tight and taut, that causes as much damage as a loaded gun. It's a thrilling ride and the story not only grips the reader because of the expressive characters, like Sin himself, but because of the way the phrases turn and return like a stacked deck of cards. The story bounces around in time a little bit and while this makes sense, overall I'd suggest that these transitions be played up a bit, prepared for in a way."

There's more to it, but that's the gist. I have no idea what this means for the awards, but I'm honored to be considered. And taken with the reviews from CrimeFictionLover.com, IndieReader.com, Kirkus Reviews and San Francisco Book Review, well, I guess I'm pretty convinced my book doesn't suck.