NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza

There is so much more to NaNoWriMo than 50,000 words. Here's yet another reason why it rocks: (from their blog The Office of Letters and Light)

February is Pitchapalooza!

The Book Doctors are back with the second-annual Pitchapalooza for Wrimos. Read on to get the lowdown from them on what this means, and how you can participate!

You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You’ve been congratulated. You felt the high. But here’s the 64-gigabyte question: What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious manuscript?

Agents Revealed!

This week, Ms. Snark revealed the agents for her annual Baker's Dozen Auction. And what a list it is! If you have a finished MS, you must get involved with this. It's an opportunity akin to a writer's conference without the travel and expense. I can't wait!!

The 2nd Annual Baker's Dozen All-Star Line-up!

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT

Our list is official, and I'm pleased to announce this year's sparkling array of agents.

The 2011 Baker's Dozen Agent Auction participating agents:

1. Jenny Bent (Bent Agency)
2. Laura Bradford (Bradford Literary)
3. Danielle Chiotti (Upstart Crow)
4. Sarah Davies (Greenhouse Literary)
5. Josh Getzler (Hannigan Salky Getzler)
6. Weronika Janczuk (Franklin and Siegal)
7. Melissa Jeglinski (Knight Agency)
8. Sarah LaPolla (Curtis Brown)
9. Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown)
10. Lauren MacLeod (Strothman Agency)
11. Victoria Marini (Gelfman Schneider)
12. Ammi-Joan Paquette (Erin Murphy)
13. Tamar Rydzinski (Laura Dail)
14. Kari Stuart (ICM Talent)
15. Danielle Svetcov (Levine Greenberg)
16. Michelle Wolfson (Wolfson Literary)

In addition to being on the auction block, all 60 entries will receive critique from an editor and a published author.

The Editors:

Gabrielle Harbowy of Dragon Moon Press, adult

Sarah Shumway of Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Collins), YA/MG

The Authors:

Nancy Bilyeau, author of THE CROWN, a historical thriller set in Tudor England, to be published by Simon and Schuster's Touchstone in January 2012, and six foreign countries. adult


Amanda Sun, author of INK WASH, the first in a YA paranormal series set in Japan, debuting in late 2012 by Harlequin Teen. YA/MG

And of course all the entries will also be open to critique by our entire blog community as well.

Let's have a huge round applause for this magnificent collection of talent and energy!


Next week is October break, which means a house full of kids and a sky full of autumn. Yes, we do have autumn here in Phoenix. It's that special time of year marked by the changing of colors of licence plates. So, stay tuned for something completely different.

¡Buen Provecho!

Submit for Crit: Ms. Snark's

This is only a (beta) test :)

If you're looking for feedback on your work, here's a call for some of your more dialogue heavy words (250 to be exact) courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Snark's First Victim. If you haven't checked out her blog, get over there now. Many a writer has been picked up by an agent here, so polish up your WIP. Submission open tomorrow (9/7) at 9am EST. Here's the skinny:

Call For Submissions: Beta Testing Round

Posted: 06 Sep 2011 05:55 AM PDT

Okay, this is going to be fun!  (No, I promise!)

Michael Extraordinaire wants to be sure that everything's running smoothly by the time the Baker's Dozen submissions open (next month!).  So we're running a live test right here on the blog.

Best part?  It's still going to be a real critique!  So please only enter work on which you would like to receive feedback.

FUN THING NUMBER ONE:  This round is going to be a LOTTERY!  That is, everyone who submits will receive a lottery number.  Once the submissions close, the bot will randomly choose the winners.  These winners are the ones whose entries will be included in the crit round.

FUN THING NUMBER TWO:  Our submission web form is ALIVE AND WELL! So for this round, you will have the option of using email or the web form, whichever works best for you.  (We need to test widely, so please don't feel compelled to only use the web form.)

FUN THING NUMBER THREE:  Plain text in emails is no longer necessary!  When you receive your lottery number, you will also receive a link to preview your entry.  So you'll get to see exactly what it will look like BEFORE it goes live.  (If your entry is chosen, naturally.)

FUN THING NUMBER FOUR:  Italics will work in the web form!  Instructions are included in the form.

SUBMISSION ADDRESSES:

Email:  authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com (same as always)
Web form: msfv.thoughtbin.org

With me so far?  Yay!!

Here are the submission guidelines:

1.  Submissions will open tomorrow at 9:00 am EDT and will close at 3:00 pm EDT.  All entries will receive a lottery number.
2.  At the close of the submission window, the bot will choose 10 winning entries.  All winning entries will receive email notification.  Winning numbers will also be posted on the blog.
3.  The crit:  Talking Heads!  Please submit a 250-word excerpt from your novel (completed or in progress) that is heavy on the dialogue.  Please include a BRIEF lead-in sentence to help drop us into the scene.  (You will be allowed 30 extra words for this.)

The format:

EMAIL:

SCREEN NAME: (type it here)
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)

(type your lead-in here IN ITALICS)

(type your 250-word excerpt here)

WEB FORM:

Follow the instructions on the web page.

So there it is. Go for it - you have nothing to lose and lots to gain. We'll talk more about the importance of critiquing, both giving and recieiving, another time. Until then...



¡Buen Provecho!

¡Andale!

Every month, Miss Snark’s First Victim (Writers Digest winner “101 Best Websites for Writers”) runs a Secret Agent contest. Each contest includes a maximum of 50 entries, which will be posted on the opening day of the contest and critiqued by her blog community and a Secret Agent whose identity will not be revealed until the contest closes. Click here for rules and submission guidelines. This month’s contest will open next Monday and is for the first 250 words of your completed Young Adult or Middle Grade manuscript, including science fiction/fantasy. Like mine. But I haven’t decided to enter. My MS is not agent ready, but it’s close.

I hit a major milestone last week. After two years – yes, years – I finally condensed my monstrous 167,000-word (think roughly 800 pages) novel down to a more manageable 85,000. Now to smooth out the rough edges. This will be the last edit, for good or for ill. The good news is that with all the leftovers, the next two books are already half written J

Buena suerte to all who enter. And for the rest of us, ¡Buen Provecho!