Booksie 2019 First Chapter Novel Contest

Contest Closed

September 4, 2019 - WINNERS ANNOUNCED

After much reading, re-reading, and musing on the finalists, I have finally arrived at the winners list. This was not easy. Throughout this contest I have read so many great first chapters. I encourage everyone who entered the contest to continue working on their books or continue promoting them if they are already published.

Without further delay, the winners are:

Grand prize: 

• Crip Cyn by Toni K Pacini

There are so many great things to say about this first chapter: the description, the dialogue, the writing, the heart-breaking turn of events. But the element that got me was the fleshing out of the main character Cynamenelle, otherwise known as Cyn. The author made me feel her pain, her fright, her anger, her exhaustion. I want to know what happens to her, and how she'll resppond to the harrowing events of the first chapter.

Runners-up:

• Elena Sarnova and the 5th of July by Morgan Adair

A kick-ass fighter who longs to win in order to pull herself out of some kind of female, orphan bootcamp. It's not exactly clear what situation Elena Sarnova is in, and that mystery is one of the threads that pulled me along. I want to learn about Elena's predicacment and see if she can escape from what appears to be a dreary destiny.

• Nihala by Scott Burdick

A beautifully written post-apocalyptic first chapter set in a world where technology has become verboten. The main character in the first chapter is a mysterious cripple named Kayla who travels with a Monk. They search for banned medical equipment which can save lives. The chapter hints that Kayla is more than she seems. The worldbuilding, the mystery, the scenery, it all works to compel the reader to want to move onto the next chapter.

Please join me in congratulating the winners. I hope this contest not only helps them, but everyone who entered by providing the motivation and inspiration to continue writing, editing, or marketing your work.

Booksie will be in touch with the winners in the next day or two to discuss the awarding of the prizes.

August 25, 2019 Update

We have the short list of finalists! Below is a quick note from the judge, Sol Nasisi.

Hello Booksie World,

Below is the finalist short-list for the Booksie 2019 First Chapter Contest. I want to apologize for taking a bit longer than I would have liked, but there were a lot of entries to read through - 1,537 to be exact. I read through every single one of them, some of them more than once in order to arrive at this list. I did expand the finalist list to 23 as I wanted to give recognition to as many great first chapters as possible. So, wihtout further delay, here are the finalists (in no particular order):
 

• Blood and Resistance by B. Lynch Black
• The Lady of the Glen by Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple
• Paddy & Dear Me by Patrick Owens
• The Rose (Book 1 of the Redemption Duet) by Sheritta Bitikofer
• The Balcony by Fifth Dimensional
• 1565 by Marthese Fenech
• Losing My Reputation by Julie Shreve
• Pandora's Laughter: The Eyewitness Account of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Robbery and Investigation by RAbath
• 67Cents and Change (from Invisible Society Fables II) by Phil Canalin
• My Ticket to Ride: From Cancer to Flourishing by cristina whitehawk
• Into the Darkness by MJ Allen
• Lately Lesbian by J.D. Simmons
• Decomposition by Robert David Buechner
• Elena Sarnova and the 5th of July by Morgan Adair
• Nihala by Scott Burdick
• Killing Faith by Barbara Woster
• Children Of The Third by Suzanne Leonhard
• Crip Cyn by Toni K Pacini
• Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo
• untitled prequel - new york harbor 1889 by Joe Shirley
• Akumu by Cloak-70
• Dead Run by Michael Kent
• Girl Child by Eileen Hodgetts

I'll be re-reading the finalists over the next week and plan to have the winners list ready in 7-10 days. Thanks again for your patience. Congratulations to the finalists and to everyone who entered the contest!

* * * 

Have a book or a novel idea you've been noodling? Enter your first chapter into the Booksie First Chapter Contest and see how it does. You don't need to have finished the book. You don't even need more than the first chapter. We're looking for a start that will grab our attention, that is original, that is well written, and that makes us want to beg you to see what comes next. And for those we find, we'll provide some hefty awards to inspire you to finish writing the book or, if finished, to help get it published.

You can submit your entire book but only the first chapter will be judged.

Prizes

Grand prize winner

• $1,000 cash award
• Gold winner badge
• One free week of Boosts for any content of the winner's choosing (Boosting features the story in front of Booksie’s millions of monthly readers)
• A review of the winning chapter by Sol Nasisi, the publisher of WorldMaker Media.

Two runner-ups 

• $150 cash
• Silver winner badge
• One free week of Boosts for any content of the winner's choosing (Boosting features the story in front of Booksie’s millions of monthly readers).

Judge

The judge for this competition is Sol Nasisi, the founder of WorldMaker Media, the publisher of  Screaming in the Silence, State of Vengeance, My Own Worst Nightmare, and For the Love of Babies. Sol is also the founder of Booksie.com and the online writing workshop TheNextBigWriter.com. 

About Booksie Contests

Booksie is an online writing platform to help writers tell their stories and promote their written work. It is not a publisher and does not take any ownership of the writing posted to the site. Booksie has run writing contests for the last three years. Our sister site, TheNextBigWriter has run writing contests for the last thirteen years. Click here to view a list of previous Booksie winners.

Please note: By entering the contest, your first chapter will be posted on the site. Booksie does not take any ownership or rights to any writing posted as part of the contest. If you do not want your first chapter to appear on Booksie, do not enter the contest. You can delete your entry at any time.