'Tis time to roll up our sleeves for another Secret Agent: Are You Hooked? contest, which will take place next week!
Here is the early information for my faithful readers.
1. The call for submissions will be posted on Monday, January 12. Submissions sent before this call is posted will be deleted (in the interest of fairness).
2. The submissions window will be open for 24 hours or the first 50 entries, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. Please note the reduction in entry number. We've never gotten up to 75, anyway, and as my blog readership continues to grow, I want to make sure I keep the submissions to a reasonable amount, for the sake of the agents (you all know how time consuming critiquing can be). So 50 it is.
3. Genre: This month's contest is for CHILDREN'S LITERATURE! This includes everything EXCEPT picture books and poetry. Have at it, kidlitters!
4. This contest is open to unagented authors of COMPLETED manuscripts, and includes the first page (250 words) of your novel.
5. Full submission guidelines will be included in the call for submissions. Please follow the guidelines, as it makes my life tremendously easier.
6. In the past, our Secret Agent contests have opened on Thursdays. I'm changing that to WEDNESDAY this month, to allow our Secret Agent (and everybody else) an extra day to complete the critiques. So you'll see the entries posted on the 14th.
Please post your questions in the comment box. I'm excited to begin Round Five!
Miss Snark's First Victim
Authoress:
ReplyDeleteThanks for snagging a Children's Literary agent! I've been waiting to submit a MG.
LMT
Just to be clear: does Children's Literature include YA? Please excuse me if this is a supremely stupid question ;)
ReplyDeleteNo such thing as a stupid question!
ReplyDeleteYes, YA is included in Children's Literature. Absolutely. :)
Woohoo! That's me!
ReplyDeleteExcellent...I love having new venues to offer up my YA work. 2009 is going to be great year for young readers, I feel it.
ReplyDelete*dances around*
ReplyDeleteYA! YA! It was a question I was going to ask....:)
Still dancing...but um realised I haven't quite finished my manuscript. Just 13 chapters away! Sigh. Still, should be finished for the next one (prays there will be another YA one).
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm going into hospital for colon cancer surgery tomorrow. I don't think I'll be up to posting by the 12th, if I'm even back home by then. Bad timing!
ReplyDeleteBut hopefully you'll do kidlit again before too much time passes.
Please?
Oh, this is cool.
ReplyDeleteSo is there a rule against posting the same page I posted last time? This is a different agent, right?
Yes, Sally, there is a rule, and this is it:
ReplyDeleteDo not post the same first page as you've posted in a previous contest UNLESS it has undergone SUBSTANTIAL REVISION.
Reason: It may be a new Secret Agent, but many (if not most) of the critters have read it before, and there's no use wasting time re-critting the same 250 words.
Capiche?
If everyone keeps submitting the identical page, folks are going to get...cranky. :)
We don't want that. Cos if Authoress gets cranky - no more SA contests! Sob!
ReplyDeleteAnd those of us who can't enter this time, want another chance :)
Ooooh! Mid-grade! I'm excited both to submit and read the entries. I love mid-grade.
ReplyDeleteYippee for YA. And Yippee for all the comments from the last contest that resulted in some big changes in my first 250 words. Looks like I can enter this time.
ReplyDeleteYa! And Sissy, don't you have anyone who can post for you? Just give them your first 250 and tell them to hit send.
ReplyDeleteI second that, Sissy.
ReplyDeleteI hearby waive the "5 crits per person" rule for you, as well. Have someone post your entry for you, and go and rest and recuperate.
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA! A kidlit agent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete*collapses in delight*
ReplyDeleteNo stress. I can handle this. I actually have one book I wrote to be YA, but I'm not sure if it is because the MC's age is ambiguous at best.
And it's not polished.
So unless I hustle over the next week, I think I'll be cheering on the sidelines.
Adding you to my google reader. I do NOT want to miss this!
ReplyDelete:-)
(Found you through the blueboards)
I promise to come crit. :) Especially since y'all were so good to me last contest.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that kidlit includes YA!
ReplyDeleteYour kindness, Authoress, overwhelms me. I will send my 250 words to my brother and ask him to submit for me, if you are positive that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI will leave comments if I'm able, but don't even know if I'll be back home by then.
Thank you (sniff). You're all lovely.
I'm not entering, but I love these contests because it shows the vast number of ideas out there.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sissy . . .I'll crit in your place if you want me to.
It's absolutely okay, Sissy. What are brothers for, if not to submit entries for their recuperating sisters? :)
ReplyDeleteKat, you are golden.
Hmmm. well, then I'll just have to write more books. heh heh I can enter this contest but then i'll have to quit because I only have two books finished!
ReplyDeleteI must hurry and finish my manuscript so I can enter one of these contests. Way too much fun!
ReplyDeleteAuthoress:
ReplyDeleteAre you going to have categories like teen chic lit, fantasy, romance, or will it just be YA verses MG?
Stina,
ReplyDeleteWhen you submit your entry, just call it whatever genre it fits into, e.g. "YA Fantasy" or "MG Adventure" or whatever it may be. If it's general fiction, then just call it "YA" or "MG."
I don't have anything that fits this category, but I'm going to be cheering for those who enter! What a great opportunity for YA and MG writers. Thanks Authoress!
ReplyDeleteDear Authoress
ReplyDeleteMy friend is planning to enter the contest on Monday. For me it's easy to post comments because I have a blog, but she doesn't. How does she get credit for her 5+ comments when she can only post anonymous comments? Does she have to register or something first?
Thanks!
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI have my blog set so that anyone can post. There are 4 choices under "Choose an identity":
1. Google/Blogger (for those who have accounts)
2. OpenID (for those who want to use their LJ, Wordpress, etc. accounts)
3. Name/URL
4. Anonymous
Your friend will want to choose option #3. He/She can use any screen name he/she desires. Adding a URL is not necessary. Voila! Non-anonymous, non-account-holding comments.
That's how our Secret Agents do it every month. :)
I'm excited! And I'm glad you're entering Sissy. And don't worry about comments. We'll all take care of you!
ReplyDeleteAs an aspiring published novelist, just want to say, you are all awesome!
ReplyDeleteYay! I have a MG and a YA . . . Now my only issue will be which one to submit. ;-)
ReplyDelete