Thursday, November 8, 2012

YA/MG Submissions Today

Hang onto your hats!  Though, in all honesty, I don't expect the 22-minute deluge we experienced on Tuesday.  I think it's safe to say that all 150 slots will not fill up today.  If they did, it would certainly be a record.  (It would also mean a minimum of six 2- to 3-hour sessions with Jodi, just to get through them.  So it's a good thing we really like each other.)

Okay, folks--here it is, one final time:

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
  • YA/MG submissions will be open on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
  • Send your LOGLINE and the first 250 words of your COMPLETED AND POLISHED MANUSCRIPT. 
  • The word count is set at 310.  This allows for a maximum of 60 words for your logline.  (Most loglines are shorter than this.)
  • To submit, GO HERE and follow the directions. Be sure to check your word count and preview your entry before hitting "submit."
  • YES, you may submit your entry if you were in any Secret Agent contests this year.
  • NO, you MAY NOT submit if you were one of last year's 60 Baker's Dozen entrants...UNLESS it is a DIFFERENT MANUSCRIPT.
  • YES, you MAY submit a YA or MG manuscript this week if you have already submitted in the adult category.
  • All entrants must pay an $10 entry fee. You will be asked to pay before your entry is completed. You do not need a Paypal account to pay the fee (you should be given the option to use a credit card), though it's certainly easier when you do have an account.
  • Please do not enter if you are already agented.
  • Please notify me if you receive an offer of representation prior to the announcement of winners. Also, please understand that the entry fee is non-refundable.
  • By entering this contest, you are giving implicit permission to have your work posted and publicly critiqued.
  • All non-winning entries will be given the option for public critique at a later date.  Details to be announced.
SOME EXTRA THOUGHTS:
  • When you are getting ready to cut and paste your entry into the submission form, it might be a good idea to make sure you are pasting FROM A PLAIN-TEXT DOCUMENT.  Certain goofy HTML tags (that you can't see) tend to mess up the formatting, sometimes to the point of making the text of your entry disappear (don't worry; I found all the missing ones in the database...but I'd rather not have to go looking for them!).  
  • If you do not have a Paypal account, and you find that Paypal does not offer you the "pay with card" option, it is likely that you have, at some point, registered for a Paypal account--and Paypal remembers.  (Creepy, that.)  Try clearing your cookies or using a different browser or...something.  I don't pretend to understand this.  I only know that Paypal can be a bit quirky.
  • It doesn't matter if your Paypal account uses a different email address than you used for your entry--the Authoress Bot doesn't care!  Your payment will be automatically credited to your entry, and all will be well.
  • YES, you will receive a confirmation email!  Look for it.  It contains a link to pay for your entry, which is your back-up in case you ran into difficulty while trying to pay from the web form.  The bot will mark your entry at "processing" until payment is received, and it will know who you are when you pay.
Pop your last-minute questions below!

30 comments:

  1. Do we need to worry about spacing between paragraphs? I'm entering two breaks between each one, but the preview's only showing one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Did you cut/paste your text from a plain text doc? That may make a difference.

    You should single-space the paragraphs and double-space between them, like you see on the blog.

    But don't worry if it looks funky; Jodi and I ignore formatting during slush reading, and I always fix formatting for all winning entries.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooh, it seems to be an issue with my Chrome browser. Copied/pasted the same block into internet explorer and it's showing the right spacing. So excited to submit!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wanted to add my thanks for making this happen.

    And my bet is that you'll fill the next 150 spots in 36 minutes flat :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Was going to pass on this contest but... alas, I have entered! My first ever Miss Snark contest. I've been lurking for a couple years.

    Thanks for putting this together. Good luck everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I saw my number in my cnfirmation email after a minute, I think you might fill all the slots after all!

    Thanks for putting all of this together again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Er, confirmation email.

    Too much jumpiness while waiting for the countdown; my fingers haven't recovered!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Up to #73 already? I think you may fill up again...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you so much for running this wonderful contest!

    And I agree with the others--all the slots will definitely fill up. I started entering my info at 9 am and I'm number 76!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It was at 92 last check. O____O

    Nat -- that is very valuable information; gonna pass that on to Michael. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm in! Thank you for doing this! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry! I wanted to pay with a credit card and ran into trouble. So I tried again. That didn't work either. Please help.
    Thanks,
    Manju

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh dear. I had a problem with my entry. I submitted my entry but it wouldn't take my payment. I then did a donation for $10 with a note on what the donation was for. I tried submitting again under my other email address and it worked and took my payment. Please delete my second entry. I don't want to take up an extra spot in the contest. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hmm. I have an email from paypal that tells me payment has been received, but no confirmation from the blog. Should I worry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had the same thing! Good to know it wasn't just me :)

      Delete
  16. Manju -- email me.

    Brooke -- I can't delete entries; it's all automated. No worries; I still don't think all 150 will fill.

    Yat-Yee -- No, you shouldn't! Check your spam folder. But even if it's not there, a confirmation from Paypal means the Bot accepted your entry.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Brooke, I wasn't thinking. Your first attempt didn't go through because you didn't complete the payment. So you only have 1 entry, after all.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you soooo much for having this awesome contest!

    At 9:00 I took a three second breath and hit send. The slot is filling up fast. I came in at #31.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks! Appreciate your quick answer.

    ReplyDelete
  20. My logline was actually 61 words, but my total comes in at 266. Is that okay or should I bow out? I have a number already and am completely happy to donate $10 to the "cause" regardless.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anon -- That's fine. The bot can't tell the difference, and I'm not policing that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Cool. Thanks so much. Good luck with the slush!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks! I was stressing out! Is there a way to update my entry with my other email address?

    ReplyDelete
  24. No, not really. Your confirmation email and any communications from me will go to whatever email address you entered.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Up to #113 ~ :) Thanks, Authoress for such a great opportunity!! Spaced this off this morning until an hour and twenty minutes after the window opened...eek! Lucky for me the slots didn't fill up quite as fast this morning. Best of luck to everyone entering!!! Looking forward to reading the top 60 ~ :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. If we are in a hurry to get in for the contest and notice an error after submitting, is there any chance to fix it, or do we just hope for the best?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks so much Authoress for this opportunity! A little off topic, but has anyone noticed getting spam from "zulily" after submitting? I go from zero spam for my email account to 5 in two days...

    ReplyDelete
  28. Uh oh! I sent in my entry right when the window opened and have been waiting all day and never got a confirmation email. Should I be worried? I paid and got the confirmation from paypal.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oops never mind. I checked my spam folder and there it was! Thanks authoress for putting on such an amazing contest. Good luck everyone!

    ReplyDelete