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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Info For Next Week's Secret Agent Contest

Submissions will open on Monday, May 11, at 9:00 am EDT. They will close on Tuesday, May 12, at 9:00 am EDT.

IMPORTANT: Since we're doing a lottery, the guidelines are different. Please read carefully:

*Send the following information in an email to facelesswords(at)gmail.com:

  • SCREEN NAME
  • TITLE
  • GENRE
That's all I need! All entries will receive a lottery number for the drawing. Once submissions close, I will draw 50 entries at random, and the winners will be notified via email. Winners will then be invited to submit your 250-word opening.

*This month's Secret Agent contest will include the following genres:

  • SF/F
  • Horror
  • Young Adult fiction (all genres)
  • Romance (historical and paranormal only)
If your novel does not fall into one of the above genres, please do not submit.

*Please remember that Secret Agent contests are open to authors of COMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS. This doesn't mean, "I finally finished my first draft yesterday, so, oh goody, I'm going to enter!"

No. Your manuscript should be in THE BEST POSSIBLE SHAPE. In fact, you should not consider entering a Secret Agent contest unless you feel that your manuscript is ready to be queried.

Because, yanno, the submissions to this contest are actually read by an agent. Think of it as a query in contest form.

*Please also remember that anyone who was a contestant in last month's Secret Agent contest MAY NOT ENTER THIS MONTH. I'm trusting you to make it easy on me by honoring this. I don't relish the thought of multiple administrative headaches behind the scenes next week.

Of course, I'll be sure to have some chocolate in hand, just in case.

Questions? Please pop them into the comment box. I'm going to try my best to make things run smoothly on Monday.
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14 comments:

  1. Amanda SunMay 5, 2009 at 11:11 AM

    Thank you so much for the opportunity! I think the lottery system is a great idea for those of us who couldn't make the 1-minute time slots that the last contest filled up in. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  2. NayuleskaMay 5, 2009 at 12:52 PM

    It's fun watching the competition mount! I should be in a position to comment on this one, instead of just lurking around every now and then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 5, 2009 at 1:10 PM

    If my MS is already under consideration by 2 agents, should I simply forgo Secret Agent contest? I've not submitted to any new agents will my ms is being considered and I'm thinking this would be something similar.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PeterMay 5, 2009 at 1:18 PM

    Anonymous...my thought is: how will you feel if the SA is one of the agents who already has your MS? How do you think they'll react? That would be my fear.

    Good luck with the 2 agents though, that's great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AuthoressMay 5, 2009 at 2:11 PM

    Anon--

    Having your MS under consideration by 2 agents should not keep you from entering the SA contest. The only time I'd counsel someone NOT to enter under these circumstances would be if someone had a MS on EXCLUSIVE with an agent. In that case, it would be tacky to display your work where another agent would be judging it.

    Other than that, if I were you, I would submit.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Screaming GuppyMay 5, 2009 at 2:20 PM

    Thanks again for all the work you put into this site, Authoress!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Elizabeth LundMay 5, 2009 at 2:53 PM

    I wonder if in the future, you'd consider a real query contest where contestants included a query letter and a one page excerpt. This way, we could get a response to our query letters as well as the first page. It would also provide readers and the SA with a bit more info on the work in question.

    I often feel I don't have enough info to really judge a submission and a query with a brief synopsis of a few sentences would really help.

    Just a thought.

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  8. Shelli (srjohannes)May 5, 2009 at 3:41 PM

    Thanks for doing this! i think the lottery is a great idea. (psssttt, number 24 :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cate KariaxiMay 5, 2009 at 3:54 PM

    Cool biz. :]

    I'm looking forward to reading and commenting again!

    Re/Drop the Needle... I couldn't figure out what to send else I would have. OTT emotions are bad. Aren't they? :]

    ReplyDelete
  10. RookMay 5, 2009 at 5:57 PM

    Ooohhh...I'm SO excited about the upcoming lottery!! FINALLY, a F/SF opening!

    Now, what kind of chocolate do you prefer, my dear? Are you particular about cacao content? I say 72% and up is a good starting point, myself.

    ...not that I'm thinking bribery on one of those lottery tickets...no way, no ma'am! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  11. SusanneMay 5, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    If only my mg fantasy were finished instead of my women's lit. Oh well, good luck to all of you and I hope the lottery system works well, causes less stress and gives everyone hope, and keeps Authoress sane. I'm looking forward to the entries and will start critting late Wednesday night.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Elana JohnsonMay 6, 2009 at 1:01 AM

    I can't wait to see how this works. I'm not going to enter of course. Unlike my MC, I actually do follow rules. ;)

    I just find this process interesting. I hope it works! Email me to let me know, 'kay? :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sina'i EnantiaMay 6, 2009 at 2:05 AM

    Oh, I wish my fantasy was ready to submit!

    Unfortunately, I've only finished the rough draft. I need to get into serious editing mode for it soon...

    Good luck to the entrants!

    ReplyDelete
  14. TonyKMay 6, 2009 at 8:39 AM

    Is a piece that received a "1,000 Words" crit eligible?

    ReplyDelete