Lately I've been seeing several interesting contests to get your writing out there with agents:
The Knight Agency is seeking their next client through this contest which takes place Monday March 7, from 12-1pm EST. They represent everything *EXCEPT*: screenplays, short story collections, poetry collections, essay collections, photography, film treatments, picture books (graphic novels accepted), childrens books (young adult and middle grade accepted), biographies, non-fiction historical treatments
Query Tracker is hosting this contest with agent Weronika Janczuk from D4EO agency. It ends 9am EST on Friday March 4th. This contest is for ADULT fiction only and she will be accepting: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller, and romance.
And for those of you not ready for agents or those who don't qualify, I've seen some 'get your writing in gear' activities you might want to participate in:
A little March Madness to set writing goals for yourself which includes check ins for encouragement and inspiration. I've been participating and it's been a motivation for me to accomplish my writing goals each day.
And Miss Snark's First Victim is hosting a round next week for a 'Drop the Needle' Critique where you can get 250 words in the middle of your novel critiqued (in a public forum, but it's anonymous). The theme is Revelations.
Good luck! Let me know if you participate in anything so I can root for you :-)
Showing posts with label Contests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contests. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A Blog, A Book, and A Contest
I've been meaning to tell you all about a blog I really like and a contest that made my eyes bug out of my head.
First: Allison Winn Scotch's blog Ask Allison. It is a wealth of information about the publishing industry from a writer's point of view. She covers everything you could ever want to know. And I have learned a lot from her blog.
Second: this upcoming contest. A guaranteed query and 1st chapter read by her agent, Elisabeth Weed. No worries about getting lost in slush. No feelings of if only they would read that first chapter, I know they would want my book! If you write adult fiction, particularly women's fiction, and you have a completed manuscript and you're ready to query, you are positively loony if you don't run out and buy Allison's new book The One That I Want and become eligible to enter this contest. Good luck!
First: Allison Winn Scotch's blog Ask Allison. It is a wealth of information about the publishing industry from a writer's point of view. She covers everything you could ever want to know. And I have learned a lot from her blog.
Second: this upcoming contest. A guaranteed query and 1st chapter read by her agent, Elisabeth Weed. No worries about getting lost in slush. No feelings of if only they would read that first chapter, I know they would want my book! If you write adult fiction, particularly women's fiction, and you have a completed manuscript and you're ready to query, you are positively loony if you don't run out and buy Allison's new book The One That I Want and become eligible to enter this contest. Good luck!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Surprise Query Critique
The week that I unplugged, I was the recipient (i.e. victim) of a surprise query critique (i.e. query killing).
A few weeks ago a literary agency was accepting queries for critique and agreed to post the critiques of 7 lucky queries on their blog. I entered the contest on a whim, sent my query out and a week or two later, I was surprised to read the blog and find that my poor, little query was featured!
I nearly hid under a desk.
All I can say is thank goodness it was anonymous. I'm not going to direct you to the post because I'm still embarrassed. But I will give you some query tips:
1. Don't have an awkward opening! My sentences were too wordy. Keep it short and attention grabbing.
2. Sell your character! Not just your plot! The letter did not share enough information about who my character is. I was all wrapped up in selling my plot, I didn't share enough about the person behind it.
3. Make exciting plot points...exciting! Apparently, my plot was considered dynamic, but the telling of it was flat and boring. Use dynamic sentences to explain dynamic adventures.
4. Don't bury your character's psychological struggle! I would imagine this is only relevant if you have a character-driven novel (as I do). Any trauma or struggle he or she may need to overcome should be highlighted upfront.
5. Don't capitalize genres! It's women's fiction. Not Women's Fiction. (Apparently I missed that grammar lesson)
6. Mention your word count! This is apparently the only thing I did right...
7. Mention if it's your first novel! Oh wait, I got that one right too. As if it wasn't painfully obvious based on my pathetic, sickly query.
I'm sorry about all the exclamation points. But, with the amount of agency blogs I read, I'm at the point where I feel every agent is yelling at me. I know they aren't. I imagine that they are really good people. Good people who read a lot of crap. So I don't blame them if they get ornery about the things they receive in their slush piles.
I feel fortunate that I got this query critiqued before I sent it out. They confirmed what I had long suspected: my manuscript would have been rejected. But guess what? It wasn't real! I have another shot! So, the experience is ridiculously valuable. Ridiculously. I told you that was my crutch word (no, I didn't use it in my query).
I urge all of you to try and enter these kinds of contests. I will try and post more of them here.
A few weeks ago a literary agency was accepting queries for critique and agreed to post the critiques of 7 lucky queries on their blog. I entered the contest on a whim, sent my query out and a week or two later, I was surprised to read the blog and find that my poor, little query was featured!
I nearly hid under a desk.
All I can say is thank goodness it was anonymous. I'm not going to direct you to the post because I'm still embarrassed. But I will give you some query tips:
1. Don't have an awkward opening! My sentences were too wordy. Keep it short and attention grabbing.
2. Sell your character! Not just your plot! The letter did not share enough information about who my character is. I was all wrapped up in selling my plot, I didn't share enough about the person behind it.
3. Make exciting plot points...exciting! Apparently, my plot was considered dynamic, but the telling of it was flat and boring. Use dynamic sentences to explain dynamic adventures.
4. Don't bury your character's psychological struggle! I would imagine this is only relevant if you have a character-driven novel (as I do). Any trauma or struggle he or she may need to overcome should be highlighted upfront.
5. Don't capitalize genres! It's women's fiction. Not Women's Fiction. (Apparently I missed that grammar lesson)
6. Mention your word count! This is apparently the only thing I did right...
7. Mention if it's your first novel! Oh wait, I got that one right too. As if it wasn't painfully obvious based on my pathetic, sickly query.
I'm sorry about all the exclamation points. But, with the amount of agency blogs I read, I'm at the point where I feel every agent is yelling at me. I know they aren't. I imagine that they are really good people. Good people who read a lot of crap. So I don't blame them if they get ornery about the things they receive in their slush piles.
I feel fortunate that I got this query critiqued before I sent it out. They confirmed what I had long suspected: my manuscript would have been rejected. But guess what? It wasn't real! I have another shot! So, the experience is ridiculously valuable. Ridiculously. I told you that was my crutch word (no, I didn't use it in my query).
I urge all of you to try and enter these kinds of contests. I will try and post more of them here.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Young Adult Novel Discovery Contest
Anyone writing a Young Adult novel should check out the YA Novel Discovery Contest:
Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its first Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents! If you've written a novel for young adults—or have an idea for one that you would like to write—we invite you to enter our contest. Simply submit only an enticing title along with the first 250 words from the opening of your original YA novel. There's no entry fee or purchase requirement.
Despite the fact that I'm not even finished with the first draft of my novel, I am seriously thinking about writing another one! Which is rather silly. But I'm doing it anyway. And because it's a YA novel, I'm toying with the idea of entering this contest. It would be very amusing for me (not to mention highly unlikely) to win it because it rewards you with a full manuscript critique. Being that I have no manuscript, it would be a rather difficult prize to redeem. lol. And yet, I am tempted anyway.
Good luck to those who enter! May you have a better idea of what you're doing than I do! ;-)
Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its first Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents! If you've written a novel for young adults—or have an idea for one that you would like to write—we invite you to enter our contest. Simply submit only an enticing title along with the first 250 words from the opening of your original YA novel. There's no entry fee or purchase requirement.
Despite the fact that I'm not even finished with the first draft of my novel, I am seriously thinking about writing another one! Which is rather silly. But I'm doing it anyway. And because it's a YA novel, I'm toying with the idea of entering this contest. It would be very amusing for me (not to mention highly unlikely) to win it because it rewards you with a full manuscript critique. Being that I have no manuscript, it would be a rather difficult prize to redeem. lol. And yet, I am tempted anyway.
Good luck to those who enter! May you have a better idea of what you're doing than I do! ;-)
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