SECRET AGENT CONTESTS
Our Secret Agent contests run once a month except for June and December. Submission guidelines are posted one week before the opening of each contest.
Each contest includes a maximum of 50 entries, which will be posted on the opening day of the contest and critiqued by our blog community and a Secret Agent whose identity will not be revealed until the contest closes.
(See the HALL OF FAME on the sidebar for a list of our past Secret Agents!)
BASIC CONTEST GUIDELINES:
- Submissions to the Secret Agent Contest are HERE. A maximum of 50 entries will be included.
- Submissions received before the contest opens will be rejected.
- Submissions are for COMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS ONLY. If you wouldn't want an agent to read the entire thing, DON'T SEND IT. If an "entire thing" doesn't exist, you shouldn't even be reading these rules.
- Manuscripts THAT HAVE BEEN IN A SECRET AGENT CONTEST DURING THE PAST SIX MONTHS will not be accepted.
- You may submit A DIFFERENT MANUSCRIPT if you've participated in any previous Secret Agent contests.
- Only ONE ENTRY per person per contest. If you send more than one, your subsequent entry(ies) will be rejected.
- The genres for each contest differ. They will be posted one week prior to each contest.
- If you are a PAST WINNER, please DO NOT ENTER. (Unless it's a different manuscript.)
- Submissions are for THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. Please do not stop in the middle of a
BAKER'S DOZEN AGENT AUCTION - RETIRED
Our first Baker's Dozen Agent Auction was held in December, 2010, and our fifth and final one took place in December 2014. See our SUCCESS STORIES to find authors who nabbed their agents during a Baker's Dozen! Also, reading the archives to learn what agents got excited about is a good exercise for any querying author.
ON THE BLOCK AGENT AUCTION - RETIRED
We held two On the Block auctions in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Check the archives to read these as well!
IN-HOUSE CRITIQUE SESSIONS
Throughout the year, I will host a variety of in-house critique sessions. Each session will have its own guidelines (e.g. completed manuscripts or WIPS, agented or non-agented authors, etc.), and the sessions will include but are not limited to:
- First 50 Words
- Talking Heads (focus on dialogue)
- Drop the Needle (excerpts from anywhere in the novel)
- First Kiss
- Loglines
Questions about any of the critique sessions or contests can be sent to Authoress at facelesswords(at)gmail.com.
Of course, if you ask me a question that I've already answered here, I will put your name on my no-chocolate list. What a terrible fate that would be.
