#BlogPitch Today!

Ready to enter your logline on Twitter?  Here's the how-to:

1.  Make sure you're following me on Twitter.
2.  Starting at noon EDT, you may tweet your 128-character-or-less logline to #BLOGPITCH any time within the 24-hour window.  (Note:  You only need to tweet once. That counts as your entry.)
3.  Make sure you include the hashtag #BLOGPITCH in your tweet.  IF YOU DON'T INCLUDE THE HASHTAG, I WON'T SEE YOUR ENTRY.
4.  All genres except erotica or erotic romance will be accepted.
5.  When the 24-hour period has closed, I will choose my 10 favorites, and will DM the winners.  THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER.  If you're not following me, I won't be able to DM you.
6.  The 10 winners will be invited to post their logline-plus-first-250 words ON THEIR OWN BLOGS.  Winners must send me the links to their blog posts by Sunday, July 6.   The links to these 10 winning entries will post on MISS SNARK'S FIRST VICTIM during our BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR on Wednesday, July 9.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER THINGS?

Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to visit the 10 winning blog posts and leave thoughtful critique.  Each critique you leave = 1 entry in a drawing for a 15-page line edit from AUTHORESS EDITS.  And yes, the authors of thew inning entries may also critique to be entered in the drawing.  All critiques posted by midnight on Friday, July 11 will be included in the drawing.

Capiche?

Okay, let's do this thing!  Happy tweeting.

Friday Fricassee

I'm back, but not really!

(Just pretend you don't see me.)

I wanted to give you an extra heads-up for our #BlogPitch contest, which will run on Monday.

Have you honed your Twitter logline?  I hope so!  If you

a.  follow me on Twitter
b.  have an active blog (posting at least once a week)
c.  have a clean manuscript (it can be "in process", but NO FIRST DRAFTS, please!)

you can play!

Here are the details:

1.  You must have a writing-related blog on which you post a minimum of once a week.
2.  You must have a CLEAN draft of a novel.  (In short -- no first drafts, please!)
3.  To enter, you will tweet your 128-character-or-fewer logline to #BLOGPITCH
4.  I will choose my 10 favorite loglines.
5.  The 10 winners will be invited to post their logline-plus-first-250-words ON THEIR OWN BLOGS.
6.  I will post the 10 links on BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR DAY.
7.  You can visit the winning blog posts and leave your critique.
8.  Each critique you leave = 1 entry in a drawing for a 15-page line edit from AUTHORESS EDITS.
9.  The authors of the winning entries may also critique to be entered in the drawing.

THE DATES:

TWITTER PORTION:

#BLOGPITCH entries to be tweeted from noon EDT on Monday, June 30 to noon EDT on Tuesday, July 1

Winners will be announced on Thursday, July 3.

Winners must send me the links to their blog posts by Sunday, July 6.

BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR:

Links to the 10 winning entries will post on my blog on Wednesday, July 9.  Critiquing may begin immediately.  All critiques posted by midnight on Friday, July 11 will be included in the drawing.

(Note:  All genres except erotica or erotic romance will be accepted.)

Farewell...Plus a FUN ANNOUNCEMENT!

First of all, I'm leaving for a much-anticipated vacation on Wednesday.  The blog will go dark (unless you decide to remain chatty in today's comment box, which would make me awfully happy!), and I will see you again toward the end of the month.

Once I'm back, we're going to do something BRAND NEW!  Here's what's in store:

Introducing our first BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR

Let's face it--I'm not the only one around here with a blog.  Here's a chance to get some solid critique on your opening page, PLUS get some traffic to your blog...PLUS be entered to win a free critique from me!

THE DETAILS:

1.  You must have a writing-related blog on which you post a minimum of once a week.
2.  You must have a CLEAN draft of a novel.  (In short -- no first drafts, please!)
3.  To enter, you will tweet your 128-character-or-fewer logline to #BLOGPITCH
4.  I will choose my 10 favorite loglines.
5.  The 10 winners will be invited to post their logline-plus-first-250-words ON THEIR OWN BLOGS.
6.  I will post the 10 links on BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR DAY.
7.  You can visit the winning blog posts and leave your critique.
8.  Each critique you leave = 1 entry in a drawing for a 15-page line edit from AUTHORESS EDITS.
9.  The authors of the winning entries may also critique to be entered in the drawing.

THE DATES:

TWITTER PORTION:

#BLOGPITCH entries to be tweeted from noon EDT on Monday, June 30 to noon EDT on Tuesday, July 1

Winners will be announced on Thursday, July 3.

Winners must send me the links to their blog posts by Sunday, July 6.

BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR:

Links to the 10 winning entries will post on my blog on Wednesday, July 9.  Critiquing may begin immediately.  All critiques posted by midnight on Friday, July 11 will be included in the drawing.

And that's the way we'll roll!

So, while I'm gone, WORK ON YOUR TWITTER-FRIENDLY LOGLINES!

(Note:  All genres except erotica or erotic romance will be accepted.)

Questions?  Leave them below!  I'm still around for a couple more days.

Also?  Spread the word!  This is a fun way to support each other and grow our community of writers.

I'll see you all when I get back!

Friday Fricassee

Happy June!

Last Friday, you had some good things to say about the right motivations for killing off a character.

Here's a great blog post on the subject by our own Petre Pan.  In fact, I've kept the tab open all week so that her words of wisdom would be available to me as I write.  (I'm still in the thick of it, making changes that will potentially lead to Character B's death instead of Character A.  What odd lives we lead, right?)

Thank you, Petre dear!

So it's been a while since we've chatted about how to PLAN a novel.  (As in, are you a plotter or a pantser?)  You long-timers have watched me morph from an unabashed pantser to an I-will-never-write-a-novel-without-a-beat-sheet-again diehard.  What is your approach?

Mind you, I'm not looking for "there is a right way to do this".  I expounded on that a few years ago.  It's important to find a writing process that works for us.  And I believe it's also important to be open to change and growth, instead of digging our heels in and whining, "No! I'm doing it THIS way!"

Share your process!  This is how we learn from each other.  And if you're in a stuck place in your current WIP, maybe a glimpse of the way someone else plots will inspire you and lead to un-stuckness.

As always, looking forward to your comments!

Another MSFV Indirect Success Story!

In the author's own words, with permission:

A Kinda Sorta MSFV Success Story

by Elise Cyr

Four years ago, give or take, I entered my very first Miss Snark’s First Victim contest with my medieval romance Siege of the Heart. As the comments—good and bad—filtered in, I had my first real critique experience. A humbling moment where I realized my words had to stand on their own, regardless of my intentions, hopes or dreams.

It was an eye-opening experience, and a formative one. At the time, I didn’t have beta readers or a crit group or any real support system beyond my husband. But MSFV was there to help me figure out if I was on the right track. I didn’t get any requests but that didn’t matter. The feedback and going through the critique process proved to be more valuable. In the months that followed, I found critique partners online and joined a local writing group—things I had been too afraid to do before.

And I kept writing. I kept revising. And eventually, I was ready to send my work out again. I started querying in 2011, into 2012. Got enough feedback in my rejections to know I was close. Enough full requests to know my writing, my ideas, didn’t suck. Meanwhile the market for non-Regency historicals had tightened up. I didn’t know what to do.

That’s when I started looking into small presses, publishers who would hopefully take a chance on my story in a niche sub-genre. My gamble paid off and I signed with Lyrical Press in April 2013. It was digital-first, and at the time I told myself that was okay. It wasn’t the trade paperback traditional path I had originally envisioned, but my story would get out there. That was the important part, right? Then a few months later, Kensington purchased Lyrical, and I was suddenly a Kensington author. While I firmly believe there’s nothing wrong with going the small press route, the pull of a larger publisher is hard to deny. And in the coming weeks, my book will be available in print form. POD, but at least I’ll be able to hold my book in my hands.

So if my journey tells you anything, I hope it is the following:

Take advantage of the opportunities available to you. Things like MSFV and other online communities. The people willing to read and respond to your words are worth their weight in gold, so treat them well. Also consider professional organizations. Looking back, I wish I had joined my local RWA chapter years before I actually did, but I was scared.

Contests like MSFV are part of a larger process of critique and revision. In other words, be open to the process, not the prize. I’m amazed by the generosity of Authoress and the other commenters to make these critique opportunities available to writers at all different levels. And you can learn just as much from seeing a critique of someone else’s work.

Don’t stop believing in your work. It may take time (ahem, four years for me) to hone your craft and refine your work, but the experience is well worth it. At the same time, Remember that you are not your manuscript. Love it, nurture it, but be able to see it for what it is, and what it needs to become.

Publishing with a small press may feel like a consolation prize when you are aiming for the Big Five after all your hard work. But remember why you started writing for publication in the first place—to share your words with others. And sometimes, things work out for the best, regardless of which path you take.

So, keep writing, keep subbing, keep dreaming. Your words are worth it!

Elise Cyr

Editing Services: One Opening For June

I'll be leaving for vacation in a week and a half, but I have created time for myself this week to take on one Premiere Critique.  (I didn't offer one last month, so if you've been waiting, here ya go!)

The Premiere Critique:

• detailed line edit of your first 75 pages
• editorial letter
• one-week turnaround
• $260, half up front (via Paypal)

If you would like to hire me for this service, email me at authoressedits(at)gmail.com.  I will fill the slot on a first come, first served basis.

I will be accepting more 3-page edits again in July.  And I continue to accept my basic 30-page edits, which have a 1- to 2-month turnaround.