Coming Up On MSFV

I'm feeling all sorts of organized, so I thought I'd run down the rest of the year on the blog for you. It helps if you know what's going on ahead of time, right?  So here you go:

• Our Secret Agent contests will continue to run through August, September, and October.  The guidelines, as always, will be posted one week before the opening of submissions. (Not announcing the dates ahead of time allows me to give Secret Agents grace if something comes up and they have to shift by a week or something. It's never happened, but I don't want to paint myself into corners.)

• I have decided to cancel November's Secret Agent contest in favor of allowing more time to prepare for the Baker's Dozen Agent Auction.  (This was a hard call. I hate change. Canceling November's SA = change. But I'm over it now.)

• Submissions for the Baker's Dozen are going to happen earlier in November.  I'm planning on accepting more entries this year, so I'm going to need WAY more time for slush-reading.

• Instead of normal in-house crits in October and early November, we're going to have some logline practice rounds, like we did last year.  (For the uninitiated: the Baker's Dozen entries include a log line followed by your opening page. A strong log line serves as a hook for hungry agents.)

• If you have no idea what a Baker's Dozen Agent Auction is, look here. PLEASE NOTE: This is LAST YEAR'S ANNOUNCEMENT. The genres reflect LAST YEAR'S AGENTS. This year's genres will be announced in the official Baker's Dozen call for submissions.

• There will be a nominal fee for entering this year's Baker's Dozen.  Nominal, as in, tiny. It was a wonderful experience, but it was also a huge time-sucker. Huge. That, and I want to ensure the Best Possible Quality of entries for the delightful agents who will place bids.

• I will post EVERYTHING you need to know about the Baker's Dozen Auction in early September. So please don't ask questions yet. I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a silent row, and they're still quacking.

That's all for now! It's been a good year so far, with lots of success stories and opportunities for writerly growth.  And it's going to get even better as we move toward our second annual Baker's Dozen. I am SO excited about this!

Spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, your blog: The Baker's Dozen is something no aspiring author will want to miss--even if it's just to watch, read, and learn. Because we all know how valuable that is!  And if you're not already following me on Twitter, make sure you DO IT NOW. Because I'll be tweeting a lot about the agent auction, and it's often the fastest way to get information.

One more thing, for agented authors: If your agent was not a part of the auction last year and you think he/she might like an invitation, please send his/her name and email address to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. 

That's all for now.  Happy August!