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Monday, October 31, 2011

Submission Week Tidbits

November used to seem eons away!

At any rate, it's the big MG/YA submission week for the Baker's Dozen, and I want to clear up a few muddly things that came up during the adult submissions.

  • Once you have made your payment, YOUR ENTRY IS OFFICIAL.  The automated email you receive will contain your entry number, and your receipt from Paypal will verify that your fee has been processed.
  • Hotmail doesn't get along very well with my bot.  If you use hotmail, you might consider a different email client for the contest.  Like Gmail. 
  • You might want to add bot-no-reply(at)gmail.com to your address book, to avoid spam traps.
  • PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR LOGLINE. (Yes, it happened more than once.)
  • PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR EXCERPT.  (Um, yeah.)
  • YES, you may CUT AND PASTE in the web form.  You may also add italics. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE WEB FORM.
  • The total word count is 355 -- 100 for the logline, 250 for the excerpt, 5 to end a sentence.
  • No, your entry doesn't have to EXACTLY FIT those parameters.  It just needs to stay within the word count.
  • We didn't use up all 200 slots for the adult submissions.  If the YA/MG slots fill up really fast on Tuesday, I WILL ADD EXTRA SLOTS TO THE THURSDAY SUBMISSION WINDOW, up to the amount not used during the adult submissions.
  • In short, please don't rush through your submission.  I'm really trying to accommodate the admittedly larger number of MG/YA writers we have around here.  I love you all!
If something's niggling at you, leave a comment today and I will answer your question as quickly as I can.  

The agents have already started trash talking behind the scenes -- they're looking forward to this as much as we are!  I've fine-tuned the bidding rules this year, in the hope that the bidding process will run smoothly and fairly (last year, several manuscripts got bids for fulls very quickly, which was frustrating for some of the agents who didn't get a chance to bid).  I'll explain how it all works once we're closer to the actual auction.

Yay!  It's going to be a fun week.
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24 comments:

  1. TamaraOctober 31, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Exciting... terrifying... same difference :D

    What is it about hotmail that your bot doesn't like? Is it that the hotmail spam filter takes your emails? Or do the emails get eaten on your end? (om nom nom)

    ReplyDelete
  2. samsevernOctober 31, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    Good luck to all the MG n' YA entrants tomorrow! WRITERS RULE! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  3. RuthOctober 31, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    Squeak! :D (I have nothing useful to say or ask, but I know a lot of people that are entering. Don't mind me.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. TammyOctober 31, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    I have been looking forward to this contest since last year. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Leigh AnnOctober 31, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    Wow. I read this post and all I see is stress on your behalf. So I'd say you are SuperAuthoress for ending with "It's going to be a fun week!"

    Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Michael Di GesuOctober 31, 2011 at 1:05 PM

    Hi, Authoress,

    I am so excited about tomorrow. As for the web form, where do I find it? Will it be posted tomorrow? And at what time are submissions open?

    Sorry about all these questions. I did hop around first, but I couldn't easily find the answers...

    Thanks for all your wonderful work!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AuthoressOctober 31, 2011 at 1:06 PM

    Michael, the web form link will be posted again tomorrow. Subs are open 9-5 EDT (NYC time).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Michelle KrysOctober 31, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    Okay, I realize you just answered this question, but I just want to confirm so I don't automatically disqualify myself. If my logline is only 30-40 words, I can use that extra word count in my excerpt, just so long as the total word count is under 355? Thanks, Authoress!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jane VasarhelyiOctober 31, 2011 at 1:51 PM

    Authoress, I entered the adult contest. Just curious when you plan to announce those selected to go to the agents.

    I agree with the poster above. You've taken on a huge project. Can't imagine the stress -- but thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AuthoressOctober 31, 2011 at 1:57 PM

    Jane, see here:

    http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-bakers-dozen-business.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rachael HarrieOctober 31, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Hi Authoress,

    Can I confirm something - is submission for the Bakers' Dozen Auction ONLY by web form, or can we use email if we prefer? It's just that I've seen a couple of references to submitting by email as well, but it doesn't say so in the official "rules"/instructions.

    Thanks,

    Rach

    ReplyDelete
  12. bdellOctober 31, 2011 at 4:30 PM

    I'm feeling a little OCD here - my question is similar to Ramona Dark's. Just wanting to confirmation that a short logline allows for a longer excerpt as long as the total for both combined is not longer than 355 words?

    Gulp. Sorry to be redundant...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jodi MeadowsOctober 31, 2011 at 4:38 PM

    Ramona Dark - Just what it says in the post: you have 355 words to play with. If your logline is short, you can use the extra words on your excerpt.

    Rachel Harrie - For Authoress's stress levels, only the web form will be used. She'll post a link when it's live.

    bdell - Yes. If you have a short logline, you can use the extra words for your excerpt.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Michael Di GesuOctober 31, 2011 at 4:45 PM

    Thanks Authoress...

    I really appreciate the information.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousOctober 31, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Do you pay the entry fee before or after you submit, or does it matter? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  16. AuthoressOctober 31, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    The entry fee is part of the submission process. Your submission will not be accepted until after you've paid. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as you've completed the transaction.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dee WhiteOctober 31, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    Authoress, my internet is dodgy and I sometimes don't receive emails till 3 hours after they are sent. How long will I have to pay the submission fee?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  18. AuthoressOctober 31, 2011 at 6:17 PM

    As soon as you hit the submit button on the web form, it will tell you that you're not finished yet. There is a button to go to Paypal, so you will go there directly.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dee WhiteOctober 31, 2011 at 8:25 PM

    Thanks Authoress. It will be midnight here in Australia, but I will be ready:)

    Thanks so much for this fabulous opportunity for all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Cortney PearsonNovember 1, 2011 at 12:26 AM

    Looking forward to this! Thanks so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Write LifeNovember 1, 2011 at 12:42 AM

    Okay, so all the fear I had for the last six weeks, the will I, won't I moments are all gone and replaced with excitement. Gosh, I'm a late bloomer! I can't wait!
    : )

    ReplyDelete
  22. Danielle La PagliaNovember 1, 2011 at 1:21 AM

    Authoress, it amazes me how much time and energy you put into this to give other writers a chance. Thank you for all that you do.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Melinda WilliamsNovember 1, 2011 at 1:31 AM

    I'm so excited, I think I read this and any other post on this like ten times. No joke! Thanks for all your work and all the work of everyone else behind the scenes.

    This is gonna be a blast!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jane VasarhelyiNovember 1, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    Thank you, Authoress, for the link.

    ReplyDelete