WE'RE 2 DAYS AWAY FROM SUBMISSIONS!
Are you ready?
I'm looking for ALL GENRES (except erotica and erotic romance).
I'm looking for MG, YA, and Adult* fiction. (7 of our 14 participating agents represent adult fiction.)
I'm looking for GOOD WRITING. It trumps everything. It even trumps a really lame logline.
I can't stress enough how important the writing is. There seems to be a perception out there that I somehow "favor" YA or science fiction or fantasy, because it's what I write. Um, no. I favor STRONG WRITING. I don't care what genre I'm reading--if the voice sings, I'm hooked.
(Also? Why would I choose a mediocre YA Fantasy submission over a breathtaking Adult Historical? I've got 14 agents to impress, right? :) )
The submission form is HERE.
Submissions will open at 8 am EDT on Thursday, September 8, and will remain open until 10 pm EDT. This should make it convenient for folks in any time zone to find a time to submit that isn't the middle of the night.
(It also ensures that I'm awake during the submission window, in case there are any issues.)
NOTE ON WORD COUNT:
I've set the word count at 305 (to allow for sentence endings -- PLEASE DON'T END YOUR SUBMISSION IN THE MIDDLE OF A SENTENCE.)
50 words are allotted for the logline. SHORTER IS BETTER.
The bot has no way to determine which part of your submission is the logline. So, yanno, if you enter a 150-word logline and a 150-word excerpt, it'll go through. But I won't be impressed. So please keep your logline and excerpt within their respective word count parameters.
Still have questions?
READ THIS ON THE BLOCK PRIMER, which also contains links to other helpful blog posts.
Need to know something that doesn't seem to be covered anywhere else? Ask your question here in the comment box! I'll be checking regularly.
Yay! Looking forward to seeing what you've got for me this year.
On your mark...get set...
*NA counts as Adult. There is an "NA" choice on the web form, so your entry will be displayed as such.
This is such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you so much for taking the time to organize and host it!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
DeleteSo the TOTAL submission cannot exceed 305 word, correct?
ReplyDeleteCorrect!
DeleteThe competition will be fierce! 20 out of 250. That's a buttload (is that one word or two, or is it hyphenated?) of prep work. That's is awesome of you to do. Good luck to everyone. (I may even enter myself...)
ReplyDeleteLOL Buttload vs. Butt-load -- Who knows??
DeleteI like you. Are you on Twitter? :))
I don't expect to get the full 250 entries. I cap it off there because I feel like that's the maximum I could handle in the time frame. (Watch. I've just jinxed myself.)
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DeleteI am (SouthpawPOV), but I'm terribly dull. Though I'm getting pretty awesome at retweeting.
DeleteJust a heads-up that I'll be submitting again and even though the title is the same, and the logline may be familiar, the piece has been substantially rewritten. I'd hate to be rejected out of hand (or even in hand). Thank you again for all the work you do for the writing community. May you be rewarded with a spot on the NYT bestseller's list.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads-up, Judy -- substantial rewrites are fine! :)
DeleteAnd thank you. I will hold that thought in my heart as I'm writing today.
since the submission is in September and announcement in November are we allowed to tweak are manuscripts in that time or do they have to go as of submission date? I have a few things I would like to change even though it went through cp's and betas already.
ReplyDeleteHi, Anon!
DeleteYou can tweak your manuscript, but NOT the first 250 pages. I will be choosing the winners based on what I read, so I expect the winning entries to look exactly as they looked the day I read them.
It's fine if you continue to work on the rest of your manuscript in the meantime, though. That's always a good thing!
...The first 250 words (not pages)?
DeleteLOL Sorry, yes. Words.
DeleteLOL Sorry, yes. Words.
DeleteI'm so excited for this! Thanks for doing this <3 <3 <3
ReplyDeleteI'm totally new to this type of submission. I clicked on the word "HERE" to get the submission form. Other than the title of the contest the page was blank. Is the form only available on Sept. 8 or is there something wrong with it?
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with it (I just clicked on it to double check). You should see a box that says ON THE BLOCK with "starts in 15 hours" beneath it, and to the right all the basic info about the contest.
DeleteIf you're only seeing a blank page, I suspect a browser error. Try using a different browser than whatever you're using right now. (Open MSFV in a new browser and then click on "HERE" to get to the submission page.)
Let me know if this works!
Browser problem: I had my computer tech try to open the submissions form too. He used 3 different browsers and got the same blank page. All his stuff is up to date (unlike mine) so I won't be submitting.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I've never gotten this complaint from anyone before. I will pass this along to my programmer, and he will hopefully be able to take a look at this.
DeleteMy other thought is a memory problem. If you don't have enough start-up memory on your computer, things are going to have trouble loading. (I tend to have continual memory problems on my MacBook Air - -it's frustrating.)
DeleteIt won't verify my email?
ReplyDeleteOpen it in a different browser and try again.
DeleteI tried that already and checked my spam :(
DeleteI did send you an email with my submission, though. Does that count if technical issues still continue? I clicked on the form link right at 8am to begin.
Deletell emails go directly to the bot; I can't accept them via email because the bot verifies each entry as payment is received.
DeleteI will let Michael know that you are having an issue. Please send me an email with all the information you've shared here, and I will forward it to him. Submissions are open until 10 pm EDT, so we have plenty of time to resolve this. :)
Send the email to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com.
Ok, all sent! I just don't want to miss being the first 250 submissions!
DeleteWe'll get you in! :)
DeleteI haven't received your email. Did you send it to my facelesswords address?
DeleteYes I did! I can resend.
DeleteYeah, maybe you'd better -- it's still not there.
Deletefacelesswords@gmail.com
Ok, I resent and received your response!
DeleteOh, THAT was you! LOL Okay, bit of a screen name communication problem there. Sorry about that! :) I've forwarded it to Michael.
DeleteIn the meantime, if you have a smart phone, maybe try entering from there? The problem is definitely on your end, so I'm thinking maybe if you try something different...
I just tried my work computer and no cigar :(
DeleteI'm wondering if it's a mac thing, because both home and work are macs. But let me try my phone (which is still Apple, but worth a shot).
Phone didn't work either :(
DeleteWill this disqualify me since I probably won't get it in the first 250?
Gah! I am stumped!
DeleteI'm on a Mac, too (is there really any other choice? ;) ), so it's not a Mac thing. I don't know what's going wrong!
Submissions are open all day, so we still have lots of time to figure this out. I'm so sorry!
Okay! Hopefully it's resolved soon; I'm in slight panic mode right now haha. Thanks for all your prompt replies/help!
DeleteI tried the link the new email you sent out, but still not working :(((((
DeleteIt worked fine on Mac desktop for me (just FYI).
DeleteI got to the review page but when I click on the "submit my entry" button, nothing happens except the buttons are no longer active. What's going on?
ReplyDeleteSo apparently I submitted it 3 times. I was waiting for the part where I needed to pay. I'm so confused. I apologize for submitting it 3 times, I thought something had failed on my end.
DeleteAlas, I didn't finish in time for the submission... but KUDOS to all of you who are entering! What a feat! Good luck to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI hope you offer this again, Authoress.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if my entry went through. It got a little confusing after I made the paypal payment.
My screen name is Rose.
Many thanks!!
Okay, so sorry! I just saw the confirmation email saying that it went through. My apologies if I've submitted twice.
ReplyDeleteNo worries! It's all automated; the bot disqualifies all unpaid entries.
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ReplyDelete