First and foremost, I want you all to meet the genius behind our new, almost-ready automated submission system:
Michael Wulf
He's a long-time blog reader, aspiring author, and amazing geek. Er, programmer. And he's now officially my hero. Truth be told, he kept offering, over the course of several months, to automate the contests for me. I dragged my feet, I was reluctant to commit, I had other things going on that needed my attention. And, I mean, I didn't know this guy. What if he made my blog explode or something?
Anyway, he's awesome. Worked his butt off to get this accomplished. Easy to work with, answers questions without making me feel like a moron.
Yes, I do need to NOT feel like a moron.
In addition to acknowledging Michael for his hard work (and dedication! seriously!), I would like to publicly thank my wonderful team of fearless beta testers, who did everything they could to break things so we could end up with a nearly-flawless system.
So, THANK YOU to (in no particular order):
Elana Johnson
Sara J. Henry
Helene Boudreau
Lori Strongin
Tami Moore
Holly Bodger
Beth Revis
Jamie Harrington
Christine Nguyen
Jodi Meadows
Dave Hanks
Scott
I'm grateful for the time these folks have invested in this project. This new automated submission system is going to mean MORE contests and crits--simply because it does all the nitty-gritty work so I no longer have to!
Hooray!
Shout your thanks along with me. Because we're all going to benefit.
Miss Snark's First Victim
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Beta Testing Today!
Well, I'm just a TINY BIT excited. The shiny-new MSFV automated submissions system is going into major test mode today, thanks to my fearless team of volunteers. If all goes well, next week's Secret Agent contest will actually be...automated!
Think of it. No hand-responses to each entry. No cutting and pasting. No painful sending of "I'm sorry, we're full" emails.
No indeed. The program will do it all for me. All I have to do is set up the contest and check the posts for formatting.
The program will even auto-reject if you're over the word count. (May I just insert a small MUHAHAAA here?)
So stay tuned. I'll let you know how it goes. And you'll get a detailed explanation of how things work.
This is beyond cool. :)
Think of it. No hand-responses to each entry. No cutting and pasting. No painful sending of "I'm sorry, we're full" emails.
No indeed. The program will do it all for me. All I have to do is set up the contest and check the posts for formatting.
The program will even auto-reject if you're over the word count. (May I just insert a small MUHAHAAA here?)
So stay tuned. I'll let you know how it goes. And you'll get a detailed explanation of how things work.
This is beyond cool. :)
Monday, April 5, 2010
April's Secret Agent Contest
Yep, it's that time again! Submissions for our April contest will open a week from today.
Please note: Submissions are NOT OPEN right now. This is an early announcement to give everyone heads up. I've been receiving early submissions in increasing amounts! This contest will open on Monday, April 12.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
* Submissions will open at 12:00 pm EST.
* Submissions will be open for 24 hours or until 50 eligible entries have been received, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.
* Submissions received before the contest opens will be disqualified.
* 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 (October-March) 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 deleted.
* If you are PAST WINNER, please DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST. (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
Your submission for this contest should be formatted as follows:
SCREEN NAME
TITLE
GENRE
(Followed by the excerpt here.)
* No "chapter one," chapter titles, etc.
* You will receive a confirmation email with your post number. I don't always get through quickly. Don't resend.
* Submissions go to facelesswords(at)gmail.com. They DO NOT GO to my authoressmail address. Those of you who are subscribed to this blog via email will note the latter address as the "from." If you use this address for the contest, I WILL NOT SEE YOUR SUBMISSION.
This month's contest will include the following genres:
YA and MG
Yes, that's right. It's a kidlit contest. Anything but high fantasy. No picture books.
Questions below, please!
Please note: Submissions are NOT OPEN right now. This is an early announcement to give everyone heads up. I've been receiving early submissions in increasing amounts! This contest will open on Monday, April 12.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
* Submissions will open at 12:00 pm EST.
* Submissions will be open for 24 hours or until 50 eligible entries have been received, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.
* Submissions received before the contest opens will be disqualified.
* 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 (October-March) 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 deleted.
* If you are PAST WINNER, please DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST. (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
Your submission for this contest should be formatted as follows:
SCREEN NAME
TITLE
GENRE
(Followed by the excerpt here.)
* No "chapter one," chapter titles, etc.
* You will receive a confirmation email with your post number. I don't always get through quickly. Don't resend.
* Submissions go to facelesswords(at)gmail.com. They DO NOT GO to my authoressmail address. Those of you who are subscribed to this blog via email will note the latter address as the "from." If you use this address for the contest, I WILL NOT SEE YOUR SUBMISSION.
This month's contest will include the following genres:
YA and MG
Yes, that's right. It's a kidlit contest. Anything but high fantasy. No picture books.
Questions below, please!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Friday Fricassee
Happiest of First Aprilian Fridays! (No, I'm not TOO excited about spring.)
Admittedly, I'm wearied by the whole struggling-to-push-through process this week. The glorious sunshine and (finally) rising temperatures are perfectly timed, and rabidly welcomed.
That, and I'm so delightfully consumed by my WIP that I almost feel like one of *those* authors. You know. The kind of author I'm not.
(Except, I never--NEVER--forget to eat. I will obsess over an empty stomach before I obsess over finishing a chapter.)
So, it's Poetry Month. In honor of such--and of having written my Very First Kiss Scene this week--I offer you a poem by my younger self. And I would love if you'd share lots of fun things today, poetry or otherwise. You've all been amazing this week (when aren't you?), so let's kick back and have some fun. Revel in the amazing-ness of the group, as it were.
*Hem*
BOYS
by Authoress, age 8
Boys are rough, boys are tough,
Boys are never sissies,
But when they grow, they will know
Girls like lots of kisses.
*curtsies*
Admittedly, I'm wearied by the whole struggling-to-push-through process this week. The glorious sunshine and (finally) rising temperatures are perfectly timed, and rabidly welcomed.
That, and I'm so delightfully consumed by my WIP that I almost feel like one of *those* authors. You know. The kind of author I'm not.
(Except, I never--NEVER--forget to eat. I will obsess over an empty stomach before I obsess over finishing a chapter.)
So, it's Poetry Month. In honor of such--and of having written my Very First Kiss Scene this week--I offer you a poem by my younger self. And I would love if you'd share lots of fun things today, poetry or otherwise. You've all been amazing this week (when aren't you?), so let's kick back and have some fun. Revel in the amazing-ness of the group, as it were.
*Hem*
BOYS
by Authoress, age 8
Boys are rough, boys are tough,
Boys are never sissies,
But when they grow, they will know
Girls like lots of kisses.
*curtsies*
Thursday, April 1, 2010
And Now...Getting REALLY Naked
So yesterday was all about encouragement. As in, never allow negative critiques to squash your dreams. Press on. Ne'er say die. That sort of thing.
Today, I offer a different sort of encouragement. The kind that comes from...baring myself.
Here it is: Post #176 is mine.
*grand pause while you peek*
Did you notice all the "not hookeds" under my excerpt?
And yeah, I wrinkle my nose whenever I read one. But then I get over it.
Sure, I can justify. Can't we all? It's a first draft. It's a "book two", so both characters are already well known by the audience.
And yes, of COURSE there are buckets of water along the perimeter of the bonfire. The dorm matron would never allow a bonfire without taking precautions!
But, yanno, that's exactly the sort of thing WE SHOULD NEVER DO in response to critique.
Never justify.
Never explain.
Never whine.
Now, if a critter asks SPECIFICALLY for you to clarify something, then by all means, knock yourself out. Otherwise, be quiet.
Be very, very quiet.
I know a loud voice in your head is SCREAMING to express what your critters have obviously missed. I am gently advising you to silence that voice. Read the critiques, learn to smile at misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
Because you know what? The same thing is going to happen with agents when they request your partial or full. Trust me. I know.
I recently received a rejection on a requested partial. A SUPER nice rejection, by the way--personal, kind, filled with all sorts of feedback. (Disclaimer: This is not the norm!) But in the end? I scratched my head at some of the things this agent said about my work. It was so...off. The reality was that she simply didn't "get" my novel. It didn't resonate. No sparks. And that's okay.
How do I know it was a "this isn't resonating" versus a "your writing sucks"? Because of my collective other experiences with this work. It's important to weigh things not only against our own judgment, but against any patterns we see forming in responses from others. For example: are 90% of the agents saying they don't like your protagonist's voice? You've got a problem! Has only ONE agent out of ten said she doesn't like your protagonist's voice? Most likely not a problem for you; only for the agent. That's when you know to let it go, walk away smiling.
So, am I going to ignore all the comments on my excerpt that say, "Nope, not hooked"? No. I will weigh everything. But since this is from a first draft, I'm going to weigh everything with an extra large grain of salt. Because...well, it's a first draft, right? 'Nuff said.
And yes, I threw mine in as a last minute thing. After all those posts? One more didn't seem like it would kill me. I don't get to "play" much around here, after all.
So there you have it. Authoress dealing with not hooking some of her beloved readers. I'm so over it. And I still love you.
Today, I offer a different sort of encouragement. The kind that comes from...baring myself.
Here it is: Post #176 is mine.
*grand pause while you peek*
Did you notice all the "not hookeds" under my excerpt?
And yeah, I wrinkle my nose whenever I read one. But then I get over it.
Sure, I can justify. Can't we all? It's a first draft. It's a "book two", so both characters are already well known by the audience.
And yes, of COURSE there are buckets of water along the perimeter of the bonfire. The dorm matron would never allow a bonfire without taking precautions!
But, yanno, that's exactly the sort of thing WE SHOULD NEVER DO in response to critique.
Never justify.
Never explain.
Never whine.
Now, if a critter asks SPECIFICALLY for you to clarify something, then by all means, knock yourself out. Otherwise, be quiet.
Be very, very quiet.
I know a loud voice in your head is SCREAMING to express what your critters have obviously missed. I am gently advising you to silence that voice. Read the critiques, learn to smile at misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
Because you know what? The same thing is going to happen with agents when they request your partial or full. Trust me. I know.
I recently received a rejection on a requested partial. A SUPER nice rejection, by the way--personal, kind, filled with all sorts of feedback. (Disclaimer: This is not the norm!) But in the end? I scratched my head at some of the things this agent said about my work. It was so...off. The reality was that she simply didn't "get" my novel. It didn't resonate. No sparks. And that's okay.
How do I know it was a "this isn't resonating" versus a "your writing sucks"? Because of my collective other experiences with this work. It's important to weigh things not only against our own judgment, but against any patterns we see forming in responses from others. For example: are 90% of the agents saying they don't like your protagonist's voice? You've got a problem! Has only ONE agent out of ten said she doesn't like your protagonist's voice? Most likely not a problem for you; only for the agent. That's when you know to let it go, walk away smiling.
So, am I going to ignore all the comments on my excerpt that say, "Nope, not hooked"? No. I will weigh everything. But since this is from a first draft, I'm going to weigh everything with an extra large grain of salt. Because...well, it's a first draft, right? 'Nuff said.
And yes, I threw mine in as a last minute thing. After all those posts? One more didn't seem like it would kill me. I don't get to "play" much around here, after all.
So there you have it. Authoress dealing with not hooking some of her beloved readers. I'm so over it. And I still love you.
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