Kate is a sure bet! Everything she touches turns to gold.

Regardless of Shindle’s alchemic talent, these pages are flat-out funny and the humor incisive. As far as this story’s market potential, America loves insider views. Especially of contests filled with passionate, neurotic and sometimes even talented competitors (see almost all reality T.V.). Then there’s another favorite story element, The Underdog. One senses that’ll show up in “Crown Chasers”. Finally I believe today’s pop culture would eat up a book that takes us backstage at the very first version of “American Idol” especially when the authors pedigree reminds us that we’re likely reading more fact than fiction.

Are you kidding me? The only way this doesn’t get a book deal is if a Studio doesn’t grab it first. Read the pages…it’s lovingly wicked.
Speaking of “Wicked”, if we’re studying massive media success, here’s a similar story. Only this one is likely and mostly fact and a lot closer to home than the land of OZ.
Who doesn’t like a story about the unlikely winner, especially when the story tells on the nasty boys and girls who tried to stop the victory. Readers love a good windfall.

Funny. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Coming of age vibe that the kids’ll love (the sheep element). Adults will be charmed, then wait for the wolf.

It’s an amazing balance of truth and humor. Not a subject that would generally interest me, except for the way she pokes fun at a very intense subculture, without belittling all of the participants.

Let the bidding begin…..this LADY is the “IT” girl – with savvy, humor and mind to burn….this project is THE pageant movie and a dishy, fun, smart and poignant ride….alllll the ladies with deals (Drew Barrymore – are you listening?) should jump all over this book….it is a property and a joyride. Don’t dare dismiss it as an anacronistic “beauty contest” piffle…..this wry lady takes us to best of its intention – to have a smart, and vivacious ambassabor makin’ a big fat contribution in the world; touching and changing lives in the process. How we get there is in the capable hands of a masterful first timer……so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR – - – GO, BID, BUY, PRODUCE AND PUBLISH!!!!

This has “Sex in the City” written all over it. Funny, witty, smart, sexy (I assume, nothing in the first chapter though). And could easily be a film. Kate has more than one book in her I am sure. Here’s to the franchise!

The lid has never really been blown off this world by an insider, especially with both wit and affection. It took a brainy and beautful winner to do it with courage, insight and a bit of good-natured self deprecation thown in to “keep it real” Even feminists will want to read this story and students of women’s history as well. You can put down the mother of all pageants, but secretly who doesn’t wish they had the goods to compete. The honest ambiguous feelings of the protaganist are what keep the pages flying. This is a movie waiting to happen!

I WANT MORE!!!!!!! This looks like a book you can’t put down! How about a movie!?! It looks as if this takes the backstage chats with contestants – Pageant, Dancing With the Stars, etc. – to the mat!

Great writing from an extremely multi-talented author. She gives us an opportunity to see how the pageant world really works without destroying the myth. I can’t wait to see this in print!

I’m hooked after reading the teaser! A pageant participant who has the humility to see herself accurately, with deficiencies attributale to ordinary mortals, yet with the necessary smarts to see the big picture and the tenacity to trade time and combat for an opportunity to have a voice, to make a difference. Every cynic knows its about glory, about bragging rights and absolutely about scholarships and money later. So I want to read the book. Elhanan Umpstead

A classy, convincing proposal. Kate Shindle writes with wry humor and barbed wit, her opening chapter leaves you wanting more — and more. She knows her subject intimately, and one can only imagine the tales to follow, a good indicator of this book’s potential success.

This one sure is popular. I thought the first chapter was better than the prologue.

Beauty? Skin deep. This is Legally Bland. Good cure for insomnia.

97 percent? The price of this stock is inflated. Regardless of the merits of the book the only way anyone could be this certain that this book would make the short list is if they had a crystal ball. Also, every time the price dips it shoots back up again. It’s almost funny.

Come on people! I don’t think they are choosing the books based on who can create the most accounts and drive the stock price up the most!

futurebird—I love your artwork on your profile and want to see it in the marketplace which made me want to reply to your comment and tell you how I think art (literary or otherwise) becomes commerce…for whatever it’s worth.
First of all, do the math. Almost 26,000 shares have been traded on this property…more than double any other book. Media Predict tracks IP addresses so to create multiple accounts and repeat votes is not possible. The stock has consistently shot up and down because the subject fascinates and polarizes our culture. Right or wrong, America has a love/hate relationship w/pageants. This last year it seems, any pageant girl (even teen pageant girls) get endless media coverage for everything from bad behavior to a series of stupid (but harmless) sentences. After a look at the first pages of the only book ever written by an ex-Miss America… which cleverly looks at the inside world of pageants… it shouldn’t be terribly hard to predict that it should find a massive marketplace. And isn’t Media Predict trying to create a crystal ball?

“Like, for example, former Miss America Kate Shindle’s pageant roman a clef Crown Chasers. We remember reading it lo those six months and 21 days ago when we worked in book publishing! [Ed Note: Umm, but who’s counting? Eek.] Apparently, Christy Fletcher thinks that the using the site will mitigate publishers’ initial resistance to the book: "Some of my big successes were the books that were the most difficult to sell because they were going into places that people hadn’t gone before,” she tells the Times. Funny, “roman a clefs are over” was the reason most people we know originally rejected the book." http://gawker.com/news/project-perish/publisher-gins-up-lame-books-contest-262241.php

Hmmmmm. How would someone know that Media Predict tracks IP addresses to prevent cheating? How do you find out that bit of information, anyway? And how hard would it be to simply sign up from another PC? Yes, it does strike ME as funny that the price keeps coming back, and that “someone” keeps buying more even when the price hits the high 90s.

My understanding of the rules is that this is NOT a popularity contest. A good book with an 80 rating is more likely to get picked than a bad one, even if the price is in the high 90s. If you spend ($100-price) to short a share, you get $100 if it doesn’t sell. As for me, I’m shorting this one like crazy.

Miss America and then a Broadway Star?!?!? Plus a talented actor as a boyfriend? Kate’s a sure bet!

Gosh … you sound like “skip”. Almost word-for-word. Isn’t that odd?

Kate,

Barbara