Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The MYSTERIES FOR DANIELLE SVETCOV Contest

Here it is -- the promised contest for MYSTERY WRITERS!

Danielle Svetcov of Levine Greenberg has decided to add MYSTERY to her current list. In order to give her a jumpstart, I've agreed to host a contest that showcases completed, query-ready manuscripts in this genre.  Ms. Svetcov is eager to see what you've got for her!

Here are the rules:

  • This contest is for ADULT and "VERY VERY SNAPPY" YA MYSTERY only.
  • Entrants must include A 1- to 2-SENTENCE LOGLINE*, followed by the first 250 words of your completed, query-ready manuscript.
  • Please enter via our webform HERE.
  • I will accept up to 30 entries, IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE RECEIVED.  (That is, this is NOT a lottery.)
  • Submissions will open WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, at 2:00 PM EDT, and will remain open until 8:00 PM EDT, or until 30 entries have been received.
  • Entries will post to the blog on THURSDAY for immediate critique.
  • Danielle Svetcov will be critiquing each entry.  If anything captures her interest, she will let me know, and I will forward her requests to all winners.
This is a shiny new venture, so please post your questions below!

* This is the same submission format as our Baker's Dozen Auctions.  See this post for information on crafting loglines.

**ETA:  The word count has been set at 355.  That's an extra 100 for your logline!

16 comments:

  1. What if we just entered this current SA contest. Can we still enter, or are we thinking Ms.Svetcov has already taken a look and would have mentioned it? And since she hasn't mentioned it she's not interested?
    Shelley (Who is feeling vulnerable)

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  2. Woo hoo! I'm off to spread the word!

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  3. Shelley -- I'm sure she's been poking around here already, since it was her idea to look here for new mysteries in the first place. More than that, though, is the fact that, if your entry was in the SA contest, nobody is going to want to critique the same thing twice. So it would be best to sit this one out. :)

    (Vulnerable is good, though--even though it can be terrifying!)

    Sarah -- Thanks!

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  4. Thank you, Authoress--I got great feedback.
    Shelley

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  5. Thank you, Authoress--I got great feedback.
    Shelley

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  6. Oh, Goodie!
    Love reading mysteries even though I don't write them. Can't wait to peek at the entries. :)

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  7. Oh shoot, I just thought of a question. I know you run a very G-rated site, which I appreciate, so if I'm using the scientific term for male genitalia in a non-erotic way, should I star it out? The sentence is:

    ...so I stuffed mashed potatoes in the tailpipe of his "I have a small p**** so I'm overcompensating" Beemer ragtop.

    Thanks, and THANKS!!! for another great opportunity!

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  8. LOL Anon -- What a funny question! :-)

    I always "*" swear words that are stronger than hell or damn, but I've never encountered genitalia words. I don't have a problem with the P word, but for the sake of more sensitive readers, I would certainly appreciate your p**** suggestion.

    Thanks for asking! :D

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  9. Thanks for the quick reply! You must get all kinds of funny questions, but I'm happy to be your first non-erotic genitalia "*" query!:)

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  10. I am concerned that while I got in for this submission (YAY!!), my formatting did not make it (BOO)...

    I was just copying and pasting from Word...

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  11. Yippee! I made it. Thanks, Authoress, for all you do for writers.
    Mandy

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  12. Will these just be up for 24 hours for critiquing?

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  13. Elsewhere -- They will post tomorrow morning and remain up for the life of the blog.

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  14. Thanks so much for this opportunity, Authoress! I have been reading your blog since January and have learned A TON from all the critiques here. You've got a great group of people who read and comment.

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  15. RE:A Mystery Writer~ My attempt to save time by copying and pasting from Word did not work perfectly either, at least not without some editing. I started at the exact starting time and made it in at lucky #13, so either I was very slow or others have figured out how to do it correctly. (This was also my maiden voyage with the new submission form, so I'm sure that accounted for some lost moments.)

    Congrats on making it in to you and all mystery entrants! Yay for our Authoress for yet another great venture! And thank you very much, Ms.Svetcov, for the wonderful opportunity!

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  16. Looking forward to reading through the entries! I'm always impressed by how active this blog is. I miss a day and already there's another contest. I'm learning a ton from everyone's writing and feedback. :)

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