I'm sure you saw this in Monday's "winners" post, but it bears singling out:
Overall I was very pleased with the quality of these submissions, which was much better than what I generally find in my query pile.
A direct quote from our Secret Agent, Cameron McClure. Who works with, yanno, Donald Maass.
(I'd say The Donald Maass, but then you might think I was a fangirl or something.)
Folks! Ms. McClure's praise of this month's submissions is not to be taken lightly. Nor is it the first of its kind. Other Secret Agents have made similar comments. I've got agents (and, increasingly, editors) lurking about the blog. They wouldn't lurk if they didn't think it was worth their time.
YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.
Actually, I believe you are doing more than one thing right. The first thing you're doing is PUTTING YOUR WORK OUT HERE FOR CRITIQUE and then TAKING THE ADVICE YOU'RE GIVEN AND MAKING YOUR WORK STRONGER.
That's probably number one.
But you're also doing important things like following contest directions. Making sure your work is polished before you submit. Not submitting the wrong genre (okay, some of you have tried that once or twice). Graciously thanking the Secret Agents even when they've critiqued your submission to bits.
ALL THE SAME STUFF THAT'S IMPORTANT WHEN YOU ARE SUBMITTING QUERIES TO AGENTS.
Keep on doing what you're doing! People notice. AGENTS notice. (Those terms are not mutually exclusive. I swear.)
I'm proud of you. I'm excited for you.
I'll stop gushing now before I sound ridiculous.
BRAVO!
"...I'm proud of you. I'm excited for you..."
ReplyDeleteBack atcha, Hon.
:)
And none of us would have the oppertunity to do it right if it wasn't for you and this blog! :) It's been so helpful to me, as a complete novice in the world of querying, to have a resource like this - so mega thanks!
ReplyDeleteJust wanna say that I entered this SA contest for the first time and I laughed at myself at my thoughts on the comments.
ReplyDeleteMy response was textbook; at first, I thought "who the heck do they think they are?" Then after 20 minutes, I re-read them and thought "Well, maybe I could do one of those things." Then after 2 hours I re-read them and instantly pictured how the vast majority of the comments could work and make my opening SO MUCH BETTER.
And I wanted to give a cyber-hug to all those people who left commentary. It is so helpful and I'm grateful to you all. Especially to the Authoress who started it all for us and is so selfless and ...(she said it!) maternal. Wishing YOU ALL the best of luck. Onward!
That's why, Authoress, you have such a rocking blog. It's also made me very conscious (paranoid) of my first 250 words. :D
ReplyDeleteOh, go ahead and sound ridiculous ;)
ReplyDeleteWriter's need to hear it, more than a thousand times, that they what they write is worth reading.
Anything you can do to help silence the inner writer demons that we all have - the ones that say we suck, our writing stinks, we'll never get published (yeah, those pesky little devils) - is something worth repeating and getting all mushy, gushy about!
~ Lia Mack
I agree wholeheartedly, Authoress.
ReplyDeleteKudos to everyone who entered.
And, Authoress, of course thanks for all you do.
Amy
Awww. I love this blog. So encouraging!
ReplyDeleteHi Authoress,
ReplyDeletebeen away some time and then lurking some time, but wanted to let you know that you can take pride in these achievements yourself. It takes a quality blog to attract a quality audience. Kudo's to you.