Being on a Longlist: Misha Herwin

 

It’s a strange experience having a book on a longlist. It’s never happened to me before and now suddenly two of my books are awaiting a decision.

The first is “Vladimir the Vampire’s Cat” a children’s book which I entered some months ago for Writing Magazine’s Chapter Book Prize. “Vladimir” is something I’ve been working on literally for decades. I began in the 1980s and it has gone through endless incarnations since then. Last year however I decided that I was going to work on the final version. Whatever shape it ended up in, whether as a short story, a picture book, or something longer that was going to be it. The decision having been made, it didn’t take long to do. Years of reading to grandchildren gave me a feel of how it should be, plus constructive feedback from Renegade Writers, and I finally could type THE END.

When it was done, I had to make up my mind what to do with it. After sending off the first chapter an agent wanted to see the full ms. When that came back with a “Thanks but no thanks” I was mulling over the next step when I found the Writer’s Magazine competition and decided in a random moment, of what later felt like madness, to enter.

To my surprise I was asked for the full ms and then told I had been longlisted.

I was just as surprised, when on another whim, I entered “Freecycling for Beginners” for the Arnold Bennett Prize. This is an award open to any writer living in, with connections to, or writing about Staffordshire. Since I live in Staffordshire and as Arnold Bennett is one of my favourite writers I flirted with the idea of entering. It took me so long that I had to hand deliver two copies to make sure I met the deadline.  

Once again I was surprised to be told that my novel had been longlisted.

It may seem from this account that I’m not taking any of this seriously. I, however, would argue that a certain casualness about this award business helps to stave off potential disappointment. A “What will be, will be”  attitude is more healthy than agonising over the competition and trying to convince myself either that my book is so brilliant it is bound to win, or despairing that the other writers are so much better than me that I’m not in with the slightest chance.  

To take a more rational view, being longlisted is an achievement in itself. It’s good for the ego, useful for future publicity and/or approaching agents or publishers and perhaps most importantly of all it’s a validation of what I do.

By the very nature of writing, writers work alone and no one sees what we do, or the effort that goes into it until the book/story or play is finished and even then it can sink into obscurity. Being on a list of potential winners makes me feel that I must be doing something right and there are people out there who value and appreciate my work. So whatever happens I’m not going to fret. I’m not going to think about it too much. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and wait.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freecycling-Beginners-Misha-M-Herwin/dp/191628650X/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Misha+M+Herwin&qid=1630166072&s=books&sr=1-3

Comments

Umberto Tosi said…
Congratulations. It's quite an honour and no doubt a thrill. Good luck. You are right in feeling proud regardless of the final outcome!
Peter Leyland said…
Well done Misha. It's great to hear of success in what as you rightly say is often the loneliest and most unrecognised of worlds.
Joy Margetts said…
Having never even had a competition entry acknowledged I can honestly say you being long-listed in two is an amazing acheivement! Well done!
MS Aamir said…

You have share your good knowledge. keep sharing such tricks and ideas and I will also share this Generatortext Thanks for sharing.
Dora William said…
Having a podcast is definately a great way to engage readers. However for newbie authors like me, getting reviews and writing the next book are the best weapons to ensure success. Waiting for bloggers to read my book and post a review is tiring. I used https://usbookreviews.com to gather reviews for my book and I am happy with the increase in reviews, sales and visibility.
Reb MacRath said…
Well done, Misha. I admire your perspective and believe that, whatever the outcome, you've already won in the best sense.
Ruth Leigh said…
Fantastic! Well done - what an achievement.

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