Some of you will remember that I entered a book manuscript in the
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition a few weeks ago. The first cut was announced today, and my work is still in the running. The number of entries has now been reduced to 1000, and the next cut, to 500, will be announced in about a month. Making that next cut means at the
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I've tried cotton a little and you're right, it's completely different. Haven't quite gotten the hang of it but I've been pretty spotty about spinning in general lately.
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Cotton on a drop spindle is a really tough way to start. For cotton, you should have a supported spindle like a tahkli, one that stands on a tabletop and you twist it with one hand while drawing out the fiber with the other. They're pretty cheap (under $10) and can be used for other fine yarns, like silk, or short fibers, like cashmere or camel.
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That said, I soon learned that in spite of advice to the contrary, you really can spin short fibers on a drop spindle as long as the spindle is very light in weight and you move slowly to get enough twist into the thread before it needs to bear the weight of the spindle. I just plied about 150 yards of cotton singles spun that way on a Bosworth micro (<0.5 oz.) and, frankly, I don't plan to do any more. It was to prove a point, and I consider it sufficiently proven. The single thread came out to about 58 wraps per inch, like sewing thread. Plying it without kinking was very difficult.
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Yow! How many were there, and who had to screen through them all?
Congratulations! :o)
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They cut it down to 1000 based on a 300 word "pitch" like you'd put in a letter to a publisher or agent. The next cut goes down to 250 entries in each class, and will be based on readings of the first 5000 words of the book. Both of these first two reductions are done by Amazon staff. The 250 quarter finalists in each class will then be read by Publishers Weekly reviewers, who cut the numbers again to 100 of each. Those semi-finalists go to editorial staff at Penguin Books, who will select three finalists in each of the two groups.
The next cut will be announced a month from now. =:D
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