Monday, July 6, 2009

Submission Guidelines for Next Week's SECRET AGENT Contest

Submissions will open on Monday, July 13, at 9:00 am EDT. They will close on Tuesday, July 14, at 9:00 am EDT.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT SEND YOUR 250 WORDS. The 50 entries for the contest will be chosen via random drawing. At this time, please send ONLY THE FOLLOWING 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:
  • Adult literary fiction
  • Adult narrative nonfiction
  • Middle Grade fiction (NO SF/F)
  • YA fiction (Dystopian SF included; otherwise, NO SF/F)
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.

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.


*Please also remember that anyone who was a contestant in May's Secret Agent contest MAY NOT ENTER THIS MONTH.


Questions? Please pop them into the comment box.

12 comments:

  1. Awesome. Just made an outlook event to remind me to submit first thing Monday morning. Will retweet this to all my writer pals.

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  2. Mine's a YA urban fantasy. Is that eligible for the contest?

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  3. I'm guessing this SA will be light on entries, lol! Practically every writer I know is writing MG or YA urban fantasy, which according to the list of genres is not allowed. Well, less work for the SA then. :) I'm still looking forward to reading entries.

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  4. I wanted to enter but I guess my YA fantasy doesn't fit in. I'll be reading up on everyone else who enters. Good luck!

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  5. Alyssa, no, I'm sorry. The Secret Agent only wants to see DYSTOPIC YA; no urban fantasy.

    There's a glut, you see.

    Karen, you're not kidding! Excluding fantasy is like excluding 3/4th of my readership. And myself! LOL

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  6. That's interesting that the Secret Agent was that specific about the fantasy stuff.

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  7. Authoress, what about if we entered in April and/or have been chosen before? Is it fair for me to enter again? Let me know; I won't die or anything. Well, maybe...

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  8. Elana dear...

    Here are the SA guidelines:

    http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2000/01/what-are-secret-agent-contests.html

    Winners may not submit the SAME manuscript in a future contest. But submitting a different manuscript is perfectly fine.

    Now, please don't die on me...I'm holding out for a first-run signed copy!! =)

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  9. Thanks Authoress. Yeah, it's the same one, so I won't enter. The April SA didn't go for it, and I have about a million queries out. Maybe that will be the cause of my death? Waiting. Le sigh.

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  10. From the language "YA fiction (Dystopian SF included; otherwise, NO SF/F)," it looks as though the agent wants to see YA fiction, including Dystopian SF but otherwise no SF/F. BUT, from the comments it seems as though the only YA the agent wants to see is Dystopian SF.

    So, not to trouble you or anything, dear Authoress ... but which is it, woman? :oP

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  11. Thanks for letting me know. Oh, well, maybe next time. I'll at least look forward to reading and commenting. Good luck everyone!

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  12. Hey, Authoress!

    Is memoir considered narrative nonfiction for this contest? I always get varying responses regarding that question in general. Thanks in advance.

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