Submissions are now OPEN for our CRITIQUE PARTNER DATING SERVICE!

 Go HERE for instructions.

Please remember that our bot is currently not working, so all entries need to be emailed to me directly at facelesswords@gmail.com!

Here's to finding your (almost) perfect critique partner!!

It's Time For Our CRITIQUE PARTNER DATING SERVICE!

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I'm feeling "moved-in" enough to settle at my desk and roll out the Critique Partner Dating Service I've been promising you! Thank you for your patience.

Here's the disclaimer:  Finding good critique partners really is like finding good life partners.  Just because you both write fantasy or you've both been writing for exactly three years or your first names both begin with "N" doesn't mean you're going to be a good fit.  Relationship is a huge part of this, in addition to artistic vision and the ability to "get" each other's work.

So keep in mind that, as you seek people to swap work with, things may or may not work out, and that's okay.  What I'm offering you here is a springboard; a chance to get your name and your needs out there in the hope that you may click with someone.

Here's how it'll work (PLEASE READ THESE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY):

• Starting at 10:00 AM EDT on FRIDAY, MAY 28, I will accept your Dating Service Entry.  The submission window will remain open until 11:57 PM EDT on SUNDAY, MAY 30.
• IMPORTANT: Our bot is currently under the weather. SEND YOUR SUBMISSIONS DIRECTLY TO ME at facelesswords@gmail.com. Please put CRITIQUE PARTNER ENTRY in the subject line.
• Up to 100 entries will be accepted.  Even if we only get 2 entries, though, I will still post them.
• Please format your entry EXACTLY as outlined below, for ease of browsing.  Please note that the word count for these entries will be limited to 100.  (Yes, I'll be checking.)

WRITER: (Put your screen name OR your first name here; NOT a title. Full name NOT NECESSARY)

GENRE: (list ALL genres that you write)

EMAIL: (PLEASE use (at) instead of "@"!! Like this: Authoress(at)Chocolate.com)

(double space here)

I'm working on my {1st/2nd/47th} novel.

{And here's your "pitch about me" -- a sentence or two that will express who you are and what your goals/dreams are.}

• All entries will post on Thursday, June 3.  You may browse the entries and contact anyone who seems like a potential match.
• YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO CRITIQUE THE WORK OF SOMEBODY WHO CONTACTS YOU.  NEITHER IS ANYONE OBLIGATED TO CRITIQUE YOUR WORK SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU CONTACTED THEM.  This is simply a jumpstart to creating new friendships that could potentially become critique partnerships.
• I will remove the entries after one week.  Simply because I don't think it's wise to keep this information up for longer than that.

To clarify the above, here is a sample entry:

WRITER: Authoress

GENRE:  YA SFF

EMAIL: Authoressmail(at)gmail.com

I am working on my fourteenth novel.

I'm agented by the amazing Danielle Burby and my novels tend to be character-driven.  I'm a grammar nazi and my critiquing strengths lie in sentence structure, clarity, and dialogue. 

(You can write whatever you want about yourself.  Not to "sell" yourself, but to give a glimpse of who you are and where you're at in your journey.)

IMPORTANT: Because we are not using the bot for this event, I will have to format and post each entry by hand. THIS IS TIME-CONSUMING. Please (oh, please!) format your entries exactly as outlined above, and please don't use boldface or italics. Also, please type your entries directly into the email instead of copy-and-pasting them from somewhere else. 

Please ask your questions below!

Submissions Are Now Open

 

UPDATE: There is something wrong with the submission form! Please send your entries directly to me at jillian.boehme@gmail.com. I'm sorry!!

ANOTHER UPDATE: The guidelines page wouldn't load because I HAD THE WRONG URL. It's just a day over here, folks! I've fixed the update page link.

Submissions for our Are You Hooked? critique round are now open!

Submit your entry HERE.

Read the submission guidelines HERE.

Call For Submissions: ARE YOU HOOKED?

 This is the original critique format for Miss Snark's First Victim, and the format used for the Secret Agent Contests and legendary Baker's Dozen Contests (now retired).  We haven't done this for quite some time, so I'm keeping it small--a maximum of 10 entries this time.

Here are the submission instructions:

• Submission window: Friday, February 26, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm CST.
• Submit your entry HERE.
• Genres: All genres except erotica/erotic fiction are eligible, in all categories (age groups).
• No picture books or non-fiction. Narrative non-fiction is acceptable.
• Please submit: The first 250 words of your manuscript.
• This is a lottery. 10 entries will be chosen by the bot after submissions have closed.
• Please do not end your excerpt in the middle of a

The winning entries will post to the blog on Monday, March 1, and will be immediately available for public critique. If your excerpt is chosen for the contest, I request that you critique at least 3 other entries (pay it forward, always!). 

Please post your questions below!

Secret Agent Submissions One Week From Today

 Our Secret Agent is ready to dive in and read YOUR first pages! Are you ready?

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS ARE HERE.

Ask your questions below!

Secret Agent Submissions Now Open!

Please follow the submission instructions HERE.

Good luck!

Call for Submissions: Talking Heads

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Hello, writer pack!

It's been a while since we've had some in-house critique. Let's have another round of Talking Heads, where we focus on dialogue.

Let's face it--dialogue can be tricky. It needs to sound natural while still moving the plot forward or revealing important things about our characters.

The best check for natural-sounding dialogue, in my opinion, is reading it out loud (I highly recommend this!). But another check is to let other eyeballs read the ramblings of our characters.

So here you go! The details:

*Submissions will be open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM this Thursday, October 31.
*Submit an up-to-30-word lead-in plus 250 words of dialogue-rich story. (Look for a passage that is *more than 50 percent dialogue.)
*Submit HERE.
*This will be a lottery; the bot will choose 20 entries at random after the submission window has closed.
*Entries will post on Monday, November 4 for public critique.

PLEASE NOTE: The lead-in is important because it will help us to understand what's going on in your scene. If you want the most helpful feedback possible, please don't neglect to include this!

PITCH FOR THE WIN SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN

Submissions will be open until 7 pm EDT.

Details HERE.

Best of luck!

PITCH FOR THE WIN!

Hey, lovelies! I've got a new contest for you!

PITCH FOR THE WIN is just what it sounds like--you'll enter a pitch for your (completed) novel to see if it wins the attention of one of our participating published authors.

Here's how it will work:

1. Submissions will be on Monday, June 24, from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT.
2. To enter, submit the title, genre, and a pitch (75 words or fewer) HERE.
3. All genres will be accepted EXCEPT erotica and erotic romance.
4. The bot will choose 50 entries.
5. Once the entries post (on Wednesday the 26th), our community will begin to critique them. AT THE SAME TIME, our visiting authors will be reading and choosing their favorites.
6. The authors, in NBA lottery draft style, will each get to choose a pitch that grabbed their attention. The winning entrants will be invited to email their first 250 words for critique by the authors who chose them.
7. These critiques will be posted here for all to see (and learn from!).
8. Others may also weigh in on their critique of these winning entries.

I'll be announcing our authors this week, so stay tuned! Please ask your questions below--and spread the word! You've got a week to fine-tune your pitch.

Let the fun begin!

Critique Round: Drop the Needle

It's time to drop the needle and read excerpts from anywhere in your (completed or WIP) novel!

For those of you who are new to this term: "Drop the Needle" was an inhumane way for college music professors to test us to see if we knew the piece and composer. It's much harder to identify something you don't know well if you don't start at the beginning!

We're going to make things easier for our readers, though, by including a brief lead-in to each scene, to help ground us in the moment.

The focus of the scene: ANGER

Anger has so many forms--explosive, slow-and-burning, vindictive, righteous, stuffed-deep-inside. Show us a scene where your character is expressing ANGER.

Here are the submission guidelines:

*To enter, please use THE SUBMISSION FORM HERE.
*THIS WILL BE A LOTTERY (because last time submissions filled up pretty quickly): The submission window will be open from NOON to 7:00 PM EDT THIS FRIDAY, after which the bot will randomly select 25 entries.
*Send a 250-word scene that displays ANGER in one or more of your characters.
*IMPORTANT: Include a 30-40 word lead-in to set the scene for us.
*Only ONE ENTRY per person per contest. If you send more than one, your subsequent entry(ies) will be rejected.
*250 words is the maximum, not the requirement. Please do not stop in the middle of a
*Posts will go live on MONDAY (May 27) for public critique.

GO HERE to submit via our web form.

Ask your questions below! (Or on Twitter. I'll see them more quickly there.)

First 100 Critique Round--Submissions Are Open!

Read the submission guidelines HERE.

Enter your first 100 words HERE.

UPDATE: All 25 slots have now been filled. Thank you for your interest!

Call For Submissions: FIRST KISS Critique Round

You know I had to do it--because VALENTINE'S DAY!

Does your novel have a first kiss scene? Would you like some feedback on it? This is the critique session for you!

The details:

*The submission window for this critique round is NOON to SIX EST on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12.
*This contest is a lottery; at the close of submissions, the bot will choose 20 entries to post on the blog.
*Your first kiss scene may be from a novel in any genre EXCEPT erotica or erotic romance.
*Please note: the rating for this blog is PG-13. If your scene doesn't fit this parameter, it will be disqualified. (Final word is mine.)
*The First Kiss scenes will post for critique on--when else?--THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14.
*Enter HERE.
*IMPORTANT: Please format your entry as follows:

A brief lead-in to help set the scene and give it context. (40 words max)

Followed by your maximum-250-word first kiss scene.

If you fail to include a lead-in and your entry is chosen, you'll still get to be part of the line-up; but please know that it is more difficult for people to effectively critique a scene out of context. PLEASE INCLUDE THE LEAD-IN!

Questions? Ask below!

Call For Submissions: Talking Heads

Hello, everyone!

Ready for some in-house critique? Let's have another round of Talking Heads, where we focus on dialogue.

Let's face it--dialogue can be tricky. It needs to sound natural while still moving the plot forward or revealing important things about our characters.

The best check for natural-sounding dialogue, in my opinion, is reading it out loud (I highly recommend this!). But another check is to let other eyeballs read the ramblings of our characters.

So here you go!  The details:

• Submissions will be open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM on Thursday, August 16 (tomorrow!).
• Submit an up-to-30-word lead-in plus 250 words of dialogue-rich story. (Look for a passage that is more than 50 percent dialogue.)
• Submit HERE.
• This will be a lottery; the bot will choose 20 entries at random after the submission window has closed.
• Entries will post on Monday, August 20 for public critique.

PLEASE NOTE: The lead-in is important because it will help us to understand what's going on in your scene. If you want the most helpful feedback possible, please don't neglect to include this!

Call For Submissions: GRAB MY HEART

Here it is, folks! Submissions will open at NOON EDT today.

Guidelines:

*All genres except erotica and erotic romance will be accepted (no PBs).
*Submit a pitch (approximately 50 words) and your first page (250 words). ENTRIES WITHOUT A PITCH WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
*Submit HERE.
*Submission window is 12:00 PM EDT to 8:00 PM EDT.
*The first 40 qualifying entries will be accepted (this is not a lottery).
*Winning entries will post on Wednesday for public critique.

Good luck, everyone!

Pitch Contest: Grab My Heart!

I promised some in-house critiques, so here's the first! I've sweetened it a bit, though, because THERE WILL BE SOME WINNERS.

Welcome to the GRAB MY HEART pitch contest, in which you will attempt to grab my heart with your pitch and the first page of your ready-to-query manuscript.

Here's how it'll work:

1. Submit a pitch and the first 250 words of your story in ANY GENRE except erotica or erotic romance. (Pictures books not included; I'm sorry.)

2.  I will take 40 entries, chosen by our lovable bot.

3. The 40 entries will post on the blog for public critique.

4.  From these 40, I will choose MY THREE FAVORITES.  Each of my favorites will receive a critique of their first 5 pages.  (Why 5? Because often that's how many pages agents request that you include in your query letter.)

So start fine-tuning your pitches--submissions will open THIS MONDAY, JULY 16!

(Ask your questions below!)

Secret Agent Submissions Now Open

Submission form HERE.

Submission guidelines HERE.

Please remember that this is a lottery.  After submissions close, the bot will choose 50 entries at random to be posted on the blog this Wednesday.

Good luck!

Call for Submissions: FIRST KISS

Hey, everyone!  Today's the day!  Submissions open at noon Eastern for our First Kiss critique session.

Guidelines:

• Send your 250-words-or-less FIRST KISS scene, preceded by a 50-words-or-less LEAD-IN.
• THE LEAD-IN IS IMPORTANT - it lets us know where we are in the story (*see below).
• All genres EXCEPT erotica or erotic romance will be included.
• Submit your entry HERE.
• Submissions will open on MONDAY, JANUARY 29 at NOON EST.
• Submissions will remain open until MIDNIGHT (12 hours).
• The bot will choose FIFTEEN ENTRIES at random to be posted on the blog.
• Winning entries will post for public critique on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1

*EXAMPLE OF LEAD-IN:

Tina and Blane have been trapped in the elevator for four hours.  He's been reading a novel in the corner while she's been trying to find a way out.  Finally, she can't take it any more.

And remember:

Authors PIPER DRAKE and HOLLY BODGER, who are both very good at (writing) kisses, will be on hand to offer their critique.  You don't want to miss this opportunity!

Call For Submissions--Drop the Needle

It's been a while, and also we've got new fellow writers (hey, there!) who may need to know what "drop the needle" means.

So.  Basically, it's a term from my days as a music major.  "Drop the needle" refers to a professor's literally dropping the needle of a record player anywhere on the album, so that it would start playing in the middle of piece.  The goal, of course, is for the student to recognize the piece (and only mean professors actually did this; decent ones started the pieces at the beginning of a movement).

Our version of Drop the Needle is to share an excerpt from the middle of your novel.  It's hard to drop folks into a story without any idea of what's going on, though, so an important part of this is to include a sentence or two that lets us know where we are and who your characters are.

For example:

Casey and Benevolence have just escaped from a refrigerated boxcar and are lying on the top of a moving train.  If they don't find some way to get off before the train arrives at its destination, they will be in big trouble.

And after your delightful lead-in, you'll share 250 words for public critique.

Capiche?

This week's Drop the Needle round will focus on SEXUAL TENSION.

(Ooooooooo!)

Now -- LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY, PLEASE!  Sexual tension DOES NOT EQUAL "sex scene".  It doesn't even necessarily involve kissing or anything overtly romantic.  The best sort of sexual tension is that which makes our readers long for these two characters to get together.  And a long, slow burn will keep our readers engaged until it finally happens.

Fingers accidentally brushing.

A glance held a second too long.

A heartbeat that hitches when someone enters the room.

You get the idea.

So send me a scene in which you're trying to build sexual tension between characters who are destined to be together.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

• Submissions will open TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14 (tomorrow) at NOON EST, and will end at 8:00 PM EST.
• THIS WILL BE A LOTTERY.  The bot will randomly choose 10 entries after submissions have closed.  These 10 entries will post to the blog on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16 for public critique.
• Your entry must include a brief lead-in and your 250-word excerpt (total max word count 310).
• Submit your entry HERE.
• All genres except erotica and erotic romance will be accepted.

Post your questions below!

Early Info: Submissions for the Write Her Bio Contest!

Here it is--a chance to let your creativity shine!

You don't know my name or anything about my personal life, aside from what I've chosen to share on the blog over the years.  Take what you know--and use your writerly imagination for the rest--and come up with a brief author bio for me.  Think about what you might read on a jacket flap or on an author's web site or blog--a few sentences that make it sound like you actually know everything about me.

The approach is your choice!  You can be humorous, go for something completely wacky, or do your best to try to get as close as possible to the truth.

Example:

Henrietta Toothsome spends most of her time spelunking in abandoned mines on her 4000-acre property in South Dakota.  When above ground, she enjoys writing stories while watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.  She has won three local awards for her short stories, as well as a blue ribbon for the largest spaghetti squash at last year's Harvest Fair.  Her husband and three grown children live in the basement.

(Okay, not really.  I'll be more impressed if you write something that's actually believable.)

Here are the guidelines*:

• Submissions will open at noon EDT on Friday, October 20, and will close at noon EDT on Monday, October 23.
• Your "authoress bio" should be no more than 120 words in length.
• Come up with a FULL NAME for me!
• Please go HERE to submit your entry.
• This is not a lottery; I will read all the entries and choose my favorites.
• Two winners will each receive a Barnes and Noble e-gift card!

Any questions?  Please leave them in the comment box below!

*Those of you who actually do know me are not eligible for this contest. You know who you are. :)

Call For Submissions: QUERY QUAGMIRE

You asked for it -- you're getting it!

Over the years, I've stayed away from query critiques, for the reasons stated in this post from 2009, with the notable exception of the 2009 Query Contest with Jodi Meadows.  (If you'll click on that link and look at the list of winners from that contest, you'll notice one of them is #15, A LONG WAY HOME.  That is none other than an early, pre-published, pre-agented version of Beth Revis's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.  True story!  But I digress.)

I've had numerous requests, though, so I've finally decided to go with it, mostly because I have a WONDERFUL AGENT WHO IS WILLING AND EAGER TO TAKE PART.

Here's how it works:

1.  On Thursday, September 7, at noon EDT, submissions will open for your ONE-PAGE QUERY LETTER (single-spaced) plus the first 250 words of your manuscript (double-spaced).  THE FOLLOWING GENRES WILL BE ACCEPTED:

• YA -- all genres
• MG -- all genres
• Women's Fiction
• Mystery

SUMBIT YOUR ENTRY HERE.

2. The submission window will remain open for 24 hours.  I WILL ACCEPT ALL SUBMISSIONS THAT COME IN DURING THIS TIME.  THERE WILL BE NO LOTTERY.

3.  From these submissions, I will choose FIVE queries that I think will capture my agent's interest.

4.  I will post the 5 winning queries on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19.  At this time, the entries will be open to public critique, and my lovely agent will be reading and critiquing each one, to let the author know why she would or would not want to read more.  

5.  Note:  YOUR MANUSCRIPT MUST BE COMPLETE AND QUERY-READY.  No incomplete manuscripts.  No first drafts.

6.  This contest is open to non-agented writers only.

This is an excellent learning opportunity for all aspiring authors, even if you don't have an entry in the contest!  It's always a blessing to get a peek inside an agent's head during the querying process.  I'm hoping that, by vetting the entries ahead of time, I will come up with 5 plausible query-reading scenarios, so that the agent feedback received isn't "I don't represent this genre", but will actually be more specific and helpful.

All-righty, then!  Polish your queries and proofread your first pages.   And if you have any questions, leave them in the comment box below, or accost me on Twitter!