Making Virtual Connections

I confess, I’d never heard of the Web platform The Black List before reading this item in B.V. Lawson’s blog, In Reference to Murder:

The Black List, which was established in 2005, is a platform that allows screenwriters to upload their scripts for review by industry professionals for a fee, which has led to the production of several projects by studios, some that even went on to win Academy Awards. In 2024, the website expanded to include novels as a way to offer a unique entryway to potential industry exposure and connections with agents and publishers for fiction writers with unpublished novel-length manuscripts. The very first book snapped up for a project has been revealed as the crime thriller, Then He Was Gone, from Isabel Booth, which is set to be published in February of next year by Crooked Lane Books. The Black List for Fiction has also established the Unpublished Novel Award to celebrate excellent manuscripts in seven genres including Crime & Mystery and Thriller & Suspense, with a winner in each genre to receive a $10,000 grant to support it on the journey to publication.

Being the curious sort, I went looking for some information about Booth’s Then He Was Gone. It has been described as “a nail-biting and unsettling thriller” about desperate parents searching for their missing son. And the 2025 winner of that Unpublished Novel Award is to be announced in December. I’ll be watching for the results.