A lot of careers have spent time in the reality TV show spotlight. For the most part, the competitions are structured the same: Feature a motley group of reasonably charismatic (or hilariously unpredictable) folks who want a chance at the big game. Offer prizes, create challenges, and award the winner a large pot of money.

Now it looks like authors—and prospective authors—are getting some time under the TV spotlights.

This week, New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander announced that he would be hosting a new show called America’s Next Great Author. And it’s about (wait for it) writers with a great book idea competing for a chance to win a grand prize.

It starts off much like American Idol, where ambitious writers are invited to pitch to a panel of judges in various American cities. The panels will be made up of publishing professionals who will then select a final six contestants to face a monthlong writer’s retreat filled with challenges and madcap adventures until a winner is chosen.

“It took me 23 yrs to create the kind of writerly life that I wanted, & I worked hard, and I loved every minute of it, & I think that writers who are good at, & committed to, their craft, maybe shouldn’t have to wait 23 yrs, & i can change that. WOOHOO!” tweeted Alexander.

According to Publishers Weekly’s “Publishing Gets the Reality Show Treatment with ‘America’s Next Great Author,’” the show will not only address writing the book in thirty days but also tackle some of the challenges authors face when they’ve published a book, such as marketing and promotion. The goal, Alexander told Publishers Weekly, is to try to make publishing accessible for would-be authors who might struggle with being accepted into mainstream publishing circles.

“The show is dedicated to including writers who aren’t normally given a seat at the table in mainstream publishing,” Alexander said in a statement. “Contestants don’t have to be graduates of an elite MFA program that basically guarantees an open door in the book business. The series will feature writers from communities and cultures all across America who bring their unique voices to readers in the world of literature.”

The show has a few challenges in store. For one, the notion of charismatic writers might seem a little . . . well, oxymoronic. Writers and authors aren’t traditionally considered charismatic, and those who are might not necessarily feel comfortable in the spotlight while having their work examined and critiqued for a national audience. Most of us can barely manage keeping our dignity in the privacy of our own homes.

This might bring audiences something they don’t expect: drama. Lots and lots of drama. Just because writers have a seemingly quiet job doesn’t mean most of us aren’t capable of great drama, hyperbole, and rather unattractive fits of temper. (And seriously, how many of us haven’t slouched off to the couch to hide under a cozy blanket and eat too many stale chocolate chip cookies because everything is crap, we’re crap, our writing is crap, and we should all just give up because life has no meaning anyway?)

“I get it,” Alexander told Publishers Weekly. “It’s writers writing books. That seems boring, right? But, as an author of 37 books, who has traveled on five continents promoting those books, who has written in coffee shops, parks, writing retreats, subways, lunch breaks, who has sold books at farmers’ markets, who has had his books banned, who has lost friendships over bookish drama, you got to see it to believe that it’s drama. The irony is, the stories are drama, so why wouldn’t the writers be?”

“Six charismatic finalists from vastly different places and backgrounds enter the Writer’s Retreat together for a month of live-wire challenges and spectacular storytelling,” reads the website. “These talented amateurs have to start their books from scratch on day one of the Retreat and finish by the end of the thirty days. The climactic finale will reveal who made it to the finish line to become AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT AUTHOR.”

Waaaait a minute. Thirty days to write a novel? That sounds awfully familiar. Oh, right, writers and authors do it every November as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). That has to be a coincidence. And one minute to pitch their novel to a panel of judges who won’t see their writing but will be gauging their viability based simply on the pitch? That sounds a lot like #PitMad.

Authors on Twitter are already warning any ambitious would-be authors to temper their expectations. “Listen, I teach an actual class called Novel in a Year, and basically the first thing I tell them is that of COURSE we don’t mean that literally; you’re not gonna write and revise your first novel in one year,” tweeted award-winning author Rebecca Makkai. “Just wanna put that out there alongside this.”

This begs the question of whether the show is truly looking for the next great author or instead looking for the idea of the next great novel. After all, the greatest authors likely didn’t waltz up to a publisher, pitch an awesome story idea (“It’s about a guy who’s obsessed with a white whale”), and wait for the green light. Writing is a skill, and as anyone who has participated in #PitMad knows, the pitch isn’t necessarily an indication that the book will be successful or even readable. It just means the authors have a great idea and most importantly know how to pitch well—something that potential authors might not be brilliant at.

Imagine how American Idol would have played out if contestants had to pitch their singing, and no one was assessing the voice until the show’s final.

One of the big complaints from Book Twitter is that so far, the prize money seems low. Participants only have the chance to win $2,500—an abysmal jackpot compared to other competition-style reality shows that offer regular prizes of $5,000 to $10,000 during the competition and a grand prize of anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. That said, this might simply be the prize offered to the lucky finalists before they go on to compete for an even bigger prize—or potentially none at all, once again relying on “exposure” to replace actual cash.

The biggest question about the show might be about the rights. Sharing your amazing book idea on television might be an incredible opportunity. But do you still own that idea? And what happens when someone else decides to play off that idea and do it better?

All that said, the show does present some interesting fodder for thought. For one, it might start illuminating some of the processes of publishing that would-be authors aren’t exposed to. It could also lay out more realistic expectations in terms of how easy (or hard) it is to write a book, let alone a good one, in thirty days.

But it’s sure to be a ride. For now, we’ll all wait to tune in and see how this plot plays out.

Hannah Guy lives in Toronto and is a professional writer and copywriter who specializes in books, books, and more books. Follow her on Twitter at @hannorg.