Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Call For Submissions: Name That Genre

We haven't had a NAME THAT GENRE round for well over a year, so let's have some fun!

(Note: The instructions below are DIFFERENT FROM NORMAL. Please read carefully!)

WILL YOUR READERS KNOW WHAT YOUR GENRE IS IN THE FIRST 150 WORDS OF YOUR STORY?

Think about it.  Settings can be created with the most subtle touch.  A mention of 3 moons in the night sky screams science fiction.  A woman spilling coffee on her blouse while waiting to meet the handsome new lawyer in the firm strongly suggests women's fiction.  Pa coming in from the fields because it's begun to hail hints that we're probably in 19th-century America.

Do your first 150 words paint the picture?  Want to find out?

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

1.  Use the web form to submit your first 150 words.  IMPORTANT:  Under "TITLE", TYPE "SECRET".  Do not share your title.  Choose your CATEGORY from the drop-down menu as normal (MG, YA, NA, Adult). Under "GENRE", TYPE "SECRET".

2.  Got that?  TITLE = SECRET.  GENRE = SECRET.

3.  All genres are welcomed EXCEPT erotica or erotic romance.

4.  Submission will open at noon EDT TOMORROW (Wednesday) and will close at 8 PM EDT.

5.  THIS WILL BE A LOTTERY.  The Bot will choose 40 entries to post on the blog.

6.  Winning entries will post on Thursday, September 1.

THE FEEDBACK PART:

1.  The first line of your feedback should be YOUR GENRE GUESS.  After you guess, you can leave any additional comments that you think may be helpful.  NOTE:  These comments should focus on THE WORLDBUILDING/SETTING OF EACH EXCERPT.   Full-blown critiques ARE NOT NECESSARY.

2.  Feedback/guessing may continue through the weekend.  THE ENTRY WITH THE MOST CORRECT GUESSES will receive a free 5-page critique from Authoress Edits (me).



Questions?  Post them below!

26 comments:

  1. I love this idea! Will definitely be entering :)

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  2. Is narrative nonfiction okay or only fiction?

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  3. That sounds like fun.

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  4. I assume this is separate from ON THE BLOCK... meaning, if we aren't entering OTB then we can enter this. Is that correct?

    Thank you! This sounds so fun!

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    Replies
    1. Completely separate. You can enter both; this is just an in-house contest with no agents involved. :)

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  5. Hi! I have a question. If your genre is a sub-type, like Paranormal Romance or Sci-fi Thriller, would that exact sub-genre need to be guessed for the guess to be counted as correct, or would a guess of say, Paranormal or Sci-fi, be sufficient?

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    1. Good question! It's at my discretion, but yeah, I usually accept partial answers as correct.

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  6. Hello. Is the contest open? Under the 'Here's how it works' from above, it states the contest will open at 12 p.m. EDT. I can't get in through the web form. It's telling me contest opens at 1. Thank you.

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    1. It's open now! I had the time entered wrong. >.<

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    2. Thanks so much. And thank you for hosting these wonderful forums for writers.

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  7. Does the form automatically get routed to your email? I'm having trouble getting past the "PREVIEW POST" button - and no, I'm not exceeding the allowable 155 words (though I am breaking your other rule of stopping in the middle of a...). *ducks and runs for cover*

    Thanks!

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  8. THE ENTRY WITH THE MOST CORRECT GUESSES -> How can we tell which are the correct guesses? Does the author need to come forth and say, yes, that's my genre? Or is it determined by the Authoress?

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    1. The author will be requested to post the genre after a certain time. Details will be posted tomorrow when the entries go up.

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  9. Never mind! I kept refreshing and a verification step popped up. I'm good to go now.

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  10. I am trying to enter and all I get when I enter my email address is "This email is not verified" and it is the email I have always used for your blog and contests.

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  11. Oh no. I entered twice by mistake because it seemed like nothing was happening when I pressed the submit my entry button. Am I going to be disqualified?

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Elizabeth, the bot will only accept one entry per person, so there's no way you could have entered twice. You're good to go!

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  13. Um...I got two confirmations with separate lottery numbers. :/

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    1. O___O

      Did you use 2 separate email addresses?

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    2. Oy. That's not supposed to happen! Thanks for letting me know. Would you mind forwarding me your 2 confirmation emails so that I can pass this along to my illustrious programmer?

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