So I messed up. As in, forgot to set the contest to "lottery".
That's why the bot shut things down once 50 entries were received.
NEVER FEAR! I've reopened the contest. But please note: THERE WILL NOT BE ANY LOTTERY NUMBERS. Because I goofed.
So I will be doing the lottery by hand. Submissions will remain open until 7 pm EDT as promised. After then, I will use a random number generator to choose the 50 winning entries.
It's the best I can do. I'm sorry! This is what happens when I change my mind midstream (originally it was NOT going to be a lottery).
Hang with me! We'll work it out.
Miss Snark's First Victim
Monday, July 8, 2013
Secret Agent Submissions Today
The submission window for the July Secret Agent Contest will be open from 2 to 7 pm EDT (NYC) today.
This is a LOTTERY; the bot will choose the winning entries after the window closes.
Guidelines HERE.
Good luck!
This is a LOTTERY; the bot will choose the winning entries after the window closes.
Guidelines HERE.
Good luck!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Introducing: The ADORABLE EDITORS Contest!
Back in April, we had so much fun with our Tiny Agent contest that Alison Weiss (Egmont USA) poked at me until I agreed to do something similar for editors.
Thanks to Alison, here it is!
THE ADORABLE EDITORS CONTEST
On TUESDAY, JULY 16, I will be posting the 5-and-under photographs of 8 editors. Each photo will appear in a separate post. Once the photos are up, the following will happen:
1. GUESS WHICH EDITOR IS WHICH
Do this by leaving a comment. BUT WAIT! It's more than just placing your guess. YOU WILL ALSO LEAVE THE TITLE, GENRE, and FIRST SENTENCE of your POLISHED NOVEL along with your guess.
So, your comment will look something like this:
Alison Weiss
Ghosts Are Scary/YA Horror: If it weren't for the bloody footprints, I'd have thought it was a dream.
You may leave a guess (along with your title/genre/sentence) under each of the 8 editor pictures.
THE PRIZE:
At the end of the contest, each editor will read through the comments under his or her picture and choose his or her FAVORITE FIRST SENTENCE. That author will be invited to submit the first 250 words to me. I will post the 8 (or fewer, if some editors choose the same entries) first pages on the blog the following week, and the editors who chose them will CRITIQUE THEM ON THE BLOG. (Each editor will critique the page that he or she chose.) All blog readers will also be invited to critique the pages.
THE MORE PRIZES:
Yes, there's more! If you don't want to enter your first sentence, YOU DON'T HAVE TO. Simply leave your guess (an editor's name) in the comment box. When the contest closes, ALL entries will be entered into a random drawing for PRIZES FROM THE EDITORS! (You guessed it--BOOKS!) You do not have to enter a first sentence to be entered into the drawing. You may enter once under each of the 8 photos.
2. VOTE FOR THE MOST ADORABLE EDITOR
This will be done via email. Once the photos are live, you may begin to email your votes to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING INTO THE BODY OF THE EMAIL. Simply put the post number in your subject line. This will make tallying the votes much easier.
The MOST ADORABLE EDITOR will win an exclusive (and maybe even juicy) interview on the blog. Nothing like picking the brain of an editor, yes?
I WILL POST THE NAMES OF OUR ADORABLE EDITORS AND THEIR PRIZES TOMORROW. In the meantime, post your questions below!
Thanks to Alison, here it is!
THE ADORABLE EDITORS CONTEST
On TUESDAY, JULY 16, I will be posting the 5-and-under photographs of 8 editors. Each photo will appear in a separate post. Once the photos are up, the following will happen:
1. GUESS WHICH EDITOR IS WHICH
Do this by leaving a comment. BUT WAIT! It's more than just placing your guess. YOU WILL ALSO LEAVE THE TITLE, GENRE, and FIRST SENTENCE of your POLISHED NOVEL along with your guess.
So, your comment will look something like this:
Alison Weiss
Ghosts Are Scary/YA Horror: If it weren't for the bloody footprints, I'd have thought it was a dream.
You may leave a guess (along with your title/genre/sentence) under each of the 8 editor pictures.
THE PRIZE:
At the end of the contest, each editor will read through the comments under his or her picture and choose his or her FAVORITE FIRST SENTENCE. That author will be invited to submit the first 250 words to me. I will post the 8 (or fewer, if some editors choose the same entries) first pages on the blog the following week, and the editors who chose them will CRITIQUE THEM ON THE BLOG. (Each editor will critique the page that he or she chose.) All blog readers will also be invited to critique the pages.
THE MORE PRIZES:
Yes, there's more! If you don't want to enter your first sentence, YOU DON'T HAVE TO. Simply leave your guess (an editor's name) in the comment box. When the contest closes, ALL entries will be entered into a random drawing for PRIZES FROM THE EDITORS! (You guessed it--BOOKS!) You do not have to enter a first sentence to be entered into the drawing. You may enter once under each of the 8 photos.
2. VOTE FOR THE MOST ADORABLE EDITOR
This will be done via email. Once the photos are live, you may begin to email your votes to me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING INTO THE BODY OF THE EMAIL. Simply put the post number in your subject line. This will make tallying the votes much easier.
The MOST ADORABLE EDITOR will win an exclusive (and maybe even juicy) interview on the blog. Nothing like picking the brain of an editor, yes?
I WILL POST THE NAMES OF OUR ADORABLE EDITORS AND THEIR PRIZES TOMORROW. In the meantime, post your questions below!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Authoress Edits--July Special
Call this an experiment, if you will. I've stayed away, for the most part, from query critiques on the blog (because I'm not a fan of the crowd-critted query). But throwing in a personal query critique as a bonus for new clients for a week seems like a good way for me to offer something query-related without actually charging for it. A gift, really.
So here's the deal:
If you sign up for a critique between now and July 8 (by midnight EDT), I'll throw in a critique of your query letter.
That's it, really. All new clients who send in their down payment and chapters by the deadline will receive the query critique free of charge.
Here is the AUTHORESS EDITS FACEBOOK PAGE for more info.
Or simply email me at authoress.edits(at)gmail.com.
(Reminder: There is a 3-month waiting period after you've sent your materials. I continue to try to close this gap to 2 months, but I'm not there yet.)
So here's the deal:
If you sign up for a critique between now and July 8 (by midnight EDT), I'll throw in a critique of your query letter.
That's it, really. All new clients who send in their down payment and chapters by the deadline will receive the query critique free of charge.
Here is the AUTHORESS EDITS FACEBOOK PAGE for more info.
Or simply email me at authoress.edits(at)gmail.com.
(Reminder: There is a 3-month waiting period after you've sent your materials. I continue to try to close this gap to 2 months, but I'm not there yet.)
Monday, July 1, 2013
July Secret Agent Early Info
Please note: This is NOT the call for submissions! The contest will open next Monday, July 8.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES (please read carefully):
*There are TWO WAYS to enter: a) via email to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com OR via web form at msfv.thoughbin.org
* THIS WILL BE A LOTTERY: The submission window will be open from 2:00 to 7:00 PM EDT. The bot will then choose 50 entries at random.
* 2 alternates will also be accepted, for a total of 52 entries.
* PLEASE NOTE: You are responsible for figuring out your own time zone. "Time Zone differences" are NOT a reason for not getting your entry in.
* 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 (January-June) 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.
* If you WON A CONTEST WITHIN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (i.e., offered any kind of prize from a Secret Agent), please DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST. (Unless it's a different manuscript.)
* Submissions are for THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. The word count is set at 255 to accomodate appropriate endings. Please do not stop in the middle of a
GO HERE to submit via our web form.
If you choose to submit via email, your submission for this contest should be formatted EXACTLY as follows:
SCREEN NAME: Your Screen Name Here
TITLE: Your Title Here
GENRE: Your Genre Here
(Followed by the excerpt here.)
* No "chapter one," chapter titles, etc.
* You will receive a confirmation email with your lottery number.
* Submissions go to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com. They DO NOT GO to my facelesswords address. Or any other address.
*It doesn't matter what you put in the subject line. The only thing you MUST NOT do is to use "RE:" The bot will think you are attempting to respond to an email, and will reject you.
As always, there is no fee to enter the Secret Agent contest.
This month's contest will include the following genres:
Young Adult (all genres)
Middle Grade (all genres)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES (please read carefully):
*There are TWO WAYS to enter: a) via email to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com OR via web form at msfv.thoughbin.org
* THIS WILL BE A LOTTERY: The submission window will be open from 2:00 to 7:00 PM EDT. The bot will then choose 50 entries at random.
* 2 alternates will also be accepted, for a total of 52 entries.
* PLEASE NOTE: You are responsible for figuring out your own time zone. "Time Zone differences" are NOT a reason for not getting your entry in.
* 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 (January-June) 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.
* If you WON A CONTEST WITHIN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (i.e., offered any kind of prize from a Secret Agent), please DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST. (Unless it's a different manuscript.)
* Submissions are for THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. The word count is set at 255 to accomodate appropriate endings. Please do not stop in the middle of a
GO HERE to submit via our web form.
If you choose to submit via email, your submission for this contest should be formatted EXACTLY as follows:
SCREEN NAME: Your Screen Name Here
TITLE: Your Title Here
GENRE: Your Genre Here
(Followed by the excerpt here.)
* No "chapter one," chapter titles, etc.
* You will receive a confirmation email with your lottery number.
* Submissions go to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com. They DO NOT GO to my facelesswords address. Or any other address.
*It doesn't matter what you put in the subject line. The only thing you MUST NOT do is to use "RE:" The bot will think you are attempting to respond to an email, and will reject you.
As always, there is no fee to enter the Secret Agent contest.
This month's contest will include the following genres:
Young Adult (all genres)
Middle Grade (all genres)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)