Right?
So guess what! I'm going to open submissions for an Are You Hooked? round tomorrow to AGENTED AND/OR PUBLISHED AUTHORS ONLY. Here's your chance to get the opening page of your WIP critiqued. You know, the special something your agent hasn't seen yet. The project you woke up frothing over and started writing in the middle of the night. The Thing that keeps you busy while you wait to hear from your editor.
I want to see it!
So here's the scoop:
- Submissions will open at NOON EST on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23.
- This critique round is for agented and/or published authors only.
- The excerpt may be from a WIP or a completed manuscript.
- The excerpt MUST NOT BE from anything under consideration by a publishing house, or anything that your agent doesn't want you to share publicly.
- Your submission must include a brief logline and the first 250 words of your novel, in the following format (as always):
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)
(type your <100-word logline here)
(type your 250-word opening page here)
- Send your submission to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com.
- I will take up to 25 entries.
- Entries will post on Thursday morning.
Need you be published in the genre you're submitting for critique? (I have YA nonfiction books published, but not YA novels).
ReplyDeleteEither way, looking forward to it - should be all kinds of great stuff to read!
When you say published, does that mean writers who have had short stories published as well, or just books?
ReplyDeleteOops, should have clarified!
ReplyDeleteIf you are AGENTED, it doesn't matter if you've sold or not yet.
If you are UNAGENTED, then "published" means "published novelist." As in, if you are either seeking publication for a novel or seeking an agent for the representation of a novel, but you currently have neither, then you are not eligible for this contest.
"Published" includes self-published but DOES NOT INCLUDE vanity presses. (Think Author House.)
Awww, I actually qualify this time, but didn't see this in time. I'm at work and my new wip is in handwritten scribble at home. Oh well, looking forward to reading!
ReplyDeleteFoo. Guess I'm classed under the "if you are either seeking publication for a novel or seeking an agent for the representation of a novel, but you currently have neither" catagory. Have novel(s): not published.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to everyone who qualifies. :)
Sharla -- Submissions are going to be open for a while yet. We're just slightly over halfway full right now!
ReplyDeleteI know it must feel really great to have an agent but that doesn't give you a right to completely dismiss a group of your readers.
ReplyDelete"Oh, yeah, you not only write short stories, but you're getting paid for your work, but yanno, they're short so you you're not a published author."
You called yourself a professional simply because you are dedicated. I call myself a professional because I get paid. (And as far as I know, agents do pay attention to that.) I would have loved to get some feedback on my WIP, but that's not why I'm all fired up.
Everyday writers struggle and a lot of people who don't understand what we do. I read this blog because you seem to respect us. I find it completely disrespectful for one writer to dismiss the complisments of another just because
1. they don't understand it.
2. they think what they do is some how more real, and/or valid.
I bet your WIP gets in, which is fine. You've earned the right but so have I.
Getting paid for your work isn't easy, no matter how you slice it. Now go try to publish a few short stories. Hey, just right one and try to sell it. Now do this twenty more times , then come back and tell me you're not an author unless you've self-published something or have an agent.
Anonymous (it would be nice to see a name attached to something this important) --
ReplyDeletePerhaps my wording wasn't good, and I apologize if you have felt somehow "dismissed."
You are certainly not. I know how difficult it is to sell ANY writing, whether short story, novel, or magazine article.
The bottom line is, the focus of this blog --and certainly this specific critique round -- is, and always has been, the novel. As such, I choose to view potential entrants as either aspiring or published novelists. Whatever their other accomplishments may be, I've got to draw a line somehow when deciding parameters here. Otherwise, I'd be inundated with everything from "I've published a cookbook!" to "I write articles for a national publication!" to "I published a collection of poems twenty years ago!" All worthy accomplishments, all good. But not within the focus of this blog.
That's all, really. No one said "You're not an author if you haven't written a novel." In fact, if you've ever read some of my really-early posts here, you'll see that I'm a strong proponent of using the word "author" regardless of whether you're published or not, and regardless of WHAT it is you've written.
I admire anyone who has published a short story, a novella, a novel, or an entire bookshelf of annotated works.
Please do not confuse "defining the parameters of a critique round" with "dismissing the accomplishments of an author."
The latter could not be farther from the truth.