First Chapters...

Ah the popularity of the "America-Chooses-the-Winner-Contest." "American Idol" is the cornerstone of this type of contest it has been around the longest-followed by "So You Think You Can Dance?" Even porn stars have gotten into the act in "My Bare Lady" An adult movie star gets a chance to be a Shakespearean actress! (I'm not kidding! I wish I were.) Over saturation of this market aside the contest-reality show has now spilled into my life in two direct forms. First in theater with NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want which I intend to watch because I want to see if any one I know will be on it. And Gather.com's First Chapter Contest which I will be participating in as a reader. I'd never even heard of Gather.com until the press started buzzing about this contest, but joined immediately. Essentially it's like American Idol with reading, there are judges but America Reads, and America Votes, and one lucky contestant gets a book deal. (If only Anya Peters had waited another year in her car-think of the glory!)
Round one is the first chapters of the submissions narrowed down to a field of twenty. Fifteen of those are chosen by readers five by the official judges. The second and third rounds are the second and third chapters, respectively. Four of the five finalists will be selected by the readers, one by the judges, and the finalist will be announced May 31st decided by the judges.
While I think "My Bare Lady is a little out of control, anything that gets Americans reading and voting gets my vote.