Agents, place your bids directly in the comment boxes of the excerpts you'd like to win.
Readers, feel free to continue critting during the 24-hour auction window.
Good luck, everyone!
Miss Snark's First Victim
Miss Snark's First Victim
This has been a wonderful diversion today!It's great fun to read some of the agents fights...er...bids. Congratulations to all the writers who are getting requests. Great job Authoress!!! :D
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the Authoress for this successful event, to the agents with MSs in hand, and to the authors (the real winners).
ReplyDeleteCan I just say again that this is the coolest thing EVER! So exciting. Congrats to all of the entrants.
ReplyDeleteAuthoress, I don't know what your future plans are, but please consider doing this again. Having an annual Baker's Dozen would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that even though I didn't make it in (this time, lol) this is officially the best contest ever. I'm loving the witty banter the agents are dishing out with their bids. So awesome!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all the entrants. My fingers are crossed for you.
ReplyDeleteI am going to cry if nobody bids on my novel at all. Seriously? Is it that awful? :*(
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I know you know this, but keep your chin up. Think of it this way: Authoress and Jodi both thought your concept and first page were great. Even if none of these agents bid on it, I'm sure other agents will when you query them. Lots of other agents in the shark pool - I mean, fish in the sea:)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-
ReplyDeleteGah! I'm not getting any bites, either. But I got a lot of terrific comments--both in helpful crits and encouraging words. There's room for improvement. It's all good. Disappointing, but, still a great learning experience. And like Krista said, the sea is enormous. :)
*hugs*
Anonymous and Anonymous's Echo-
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you two feel any better, both of my bids came from agents who rejected my manuscript LESS THAN A MONTH AGO... Which probably means you are only a couple revisions away from catching someone's eye!
Anonymous Friend, did you greatly change your opening? Did you use the same title? Just curious. :) I'm in the same boat as Anonymous and Anonymous's Echo. *hugs* Thanks for sharing, though, it is encouraging!
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest, I entered the secret agent contest a month ago and listened to everyone's suggestions (I felt like there were a lot of good and bad ones... you have to use your best judgement because it's YOUR story... listen to your heart). Then I made those changes (not changing my title) - more along the lines of removing passive voice, changing a wonky description or two, and elaborating a couple sentences that confused a few people... not an overhaul at all.
ReplyDeleteMaybe when I queried the agents they didn't give me as much focus as this contest, maybe they left it to their interns, or maybe the revisions really did work! (I have a really unique title and MC name, it would be a stretch to say they didn't at least recognize my pitch)
So, don't just pass up on the suggestions people made, take it to heart, do the hard thing and re-write it. I wish you luck (and myself a little too, lol)
Authoress-
ReplyDeleteWhen you post the results, could you please ask the agents how they would like their bids submitted to them?
Thanks again for everything!
Fear not; all authors with winning bids will receive instructions. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering, Anonymous Friend! I'm going to work on a different MS tonight and let the one I entered in the auction sit for a little before working on that one some more. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAuthoress, this is, hands down, the coolest contest ever. You never cease to amaze me with your willingness to bring writers and agents together...and you ask nothing in return. What a wonder you are!!!!
ReplyDeleteThose 41 writers must be so excited to have such an opportunity. It's just astounding.
Just plain awesome.
To all the Anonymouses-
ReplyDeleteMy first bid was also from an agent who rejected me a month or so ago. If you're interested in seeing the changes I made, I was post #28 for the September Secret Agent and #34 for the Baker's Dozen. My changes weren't crazy huge but I tried to take advantage of the feedback.
It's also really about taste. It really seemed like the agent's on this panel were looking for similar things, they said as much in some of the comments. This is only 13 agents, there's hundreds more out there.
I know it's easy to say cheer up and keep trying, but the only way to guarantee failure is to give up. Authoress, herself, is an object example. She's unpublished like the rest of us, but actively helping other people achieve her dream. I don't know how she does it, because I doubt that I could. If she can keep smiling then so can the rest of us.
Good luck to you all.
Wow! What a crazy ride! Kudos to the lovely Authoress and her Baker's Dozen agents! Cheers to all the authors who entered.
ReplyDeleteDear Authoress, I am also one of those sad authors whose story didn't get a single bid. Trying hard not to be discouraged. Just want to say thank you so much for such an amazing opportunity and for the extraordinary work and time you and Jodie put in here. Sheer generosity. Enormous generosity. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnd to all those whose hearts are thumping with delight at the bids on your manuscripts, a hearty congratulations! I look forward to reading the rest of your stories in print. :)