Happy Blog Birthday and the Dust It Off bloghop!

One year ago today I published my first post, Bienvenidos. Here we are, 2500 views, 64 posts, 57 followers and 12 months later. I've learned so much:


1. Bloghops/fests are fun and great way to meet others
2. Don't wait to get comments; give comments early and often
3. Blogging not only helps your discipline, writing, and networking, but is also the best tool to find the one thing that every writer needs to identify: your voice.


Thank you, dear bloggers, for hanging in there with me. Your views and comments mean the world!

And what birthday would be complete without a present? As my birthday gift to you, I will randomly select one lucky commenter to win a $10 e-certificate to your choice of either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. To enter, simply follow me and leave a comment below by midnight Sun 5/6. I will announce the winner Monday 5/7 on the last day of a very cool bloghop.

The DUST IT OFF Bloghop starts today. From Theresa Paolo:

We've all had those manuscripts that we poured our heart into, fell in love with the characters and still think of them at random, but unfortunately had to shelf. Now it's time for a little spring cleaning. Take out those manuscripts and Dust It Off!

The first day, May 3rd: We want you to post a 1-2 sentence pitch (Great way to practice pitches) about the shelved WIP.


The second day, May 5th: Post your favorite excerpt (300-350 words)


The third day, May 7th: Post what you learned from this WIP. You become a stronger, more rounded writer which each manuscript and we want to know what this particular work taught you.

She and co-host Cortney Pearson will be giving away great prizes, too! For all the info, check out DUST IT OFF. Go ahead and start today.

Now, for my logline.

Dusting off trunked manuscript. Cyber coughs ensue :)

From my first novel, HOW SNOW CAME TO THE DESERT:


Deep in the misty mountains of Oldest Mexico, sixteen-year-old Brisana's rare half-human blood awakens a thought-to-be extinct race of monstrous jaguar warriors. In order to protect the home she loves, she must figure out how her mythical Latino ancestors once defeated these monsters and whether or not a half-blood chica can, too.

Happy hopping and ¡Buen Provecho!

Logline Love

Writing is hard work, but to quote a friend, of the two, it's often more work than hard.

And nothing's harder than condensing 80,000+ words down to 100 words that include all the where's, what's, why's, who's, and how's: the logline. Except maybe the query, but that's another post for another time.

A logline is a one~two sentence description of your book, something you should be able to pitch while riding in an elevator with your dream agent. It could happen. Hey, we're writers - we dream big. The logline must have character, conflict, stakes, and a good hook to work. To see my latest attempt, take a look at the logline/elevator pitch tab at the top of my blog. Be gentle.

This week started the call for logline submissions over at Miss Snark's for critique. Don't worry if you missed it - there are two more rounds. But get over there and give a little logline love. Because the best way to improve editing your own work, is to edit someone else's:

Logline Critique, Round 1 I submitted mine to Ms. Snark's, but was not randomly chosen and posted for critique. But I will try again next week. Or even the week after that. Getting critiqued makes my tummy hurt. Writing hurts. But what great endevors don't? Good luck to all who enter and good eats! ¡Buen Provecho!

Action! Oops, I mean Auction! The only difference is U.

Get your manuscripts ready - it's almost time for Miss Snark's Second Annual Baker's Dozen Agent Auction. Yes, Auction. As in agents placing bids. On YOUR work! Here's the skinny:

The Second Annual BAKER'S DOZEN AGENT AUCTION Schedule

Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:28 AM PDT

Here it is, folks.  (Yes.  It was either force myself to get uber-organized, or curl up in a corner and pluck my eyelashes out.) Mark your calendars!

LOGLINE CRITIQUE ROUNDS


Each Baker's Dozen entry is required to have a logline.  We will have 3 critique rounds for those of you who would like feedback on your loglines prior to submitting.  These rounds will be run as lotteries.  Times TBA.

ROUND 1:  Tuesday, September 27
ROUND 2:  Tuesday, October 4
ROUND 3:  Tuesday, October 11

SUBMISSION DATES


ADULT ROUND 1: Tuesday, October 18 (100 entries)
ADULT ROUND 2:  Thursday, October 20 (100 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 1:  Tuesday, November 1 (150 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 2:  Thursday, November 3 (150 entries)

WINNER NOTIFICATION


25 adult category winners notified via email:  Monday, November 14
35 YA/MG category winners notified via email:  Monday, November 21

60 WINNING ENTRIES POSTED:  Friday, December 2


AUCTION GOES LIVE FOR AGENTS:  Tuesday, December 6 (for 24 hours)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• There will be an $8 entry fee for this contest.  Payment will not be required until after your submission goes through (so you're not, yanno, paying for nothing).
• A maximum of 500 entries (200 adult, 300 YA/MG) will be accepted.  Of these, 60 winners will be chosen (25 adult, 35 YA/MG).
• If the maximum number of adult entries isn't reached, the remainder will be added to the YA/MG entry maximum (because you know as well as I do that I'm going to be inundated with kidlit).
• The 60 winning entries will receive critique from editors, authors, and blog readers, in addition to being on the auction block for our participating agents.
• The (up to) 440 non-winning entries will be given the option to receive critique on participating blog sites after the auction has closed.
• A percentage of the fee is earmarked for a donation of YA/MG books to my local library (which, sadly, has one of the worst selections of YA/MG I've ever seen).  Given anonymously, of course. *grin*
• Currently, we have 14 agents who have given us a firm YES.  And 2 amazing editors.  Names of participating agents (and critiquing editors and authors) will be posted as soon as they are finalized.
• Just a reminder that there will be no Secret Agent contest in November.  October's SA will run as planned.  And, yes.  You may enter the October SA and still submit to the Baker's Dozen auction. Unless you win the SA contest, of course.

Whew!  Please let me know if I've forgotten anything.  (But please don't ask specific submission questions.  I'll be posting detailed submission instructions later.)

Spread the word.  Invite your friends.  And start working on your loglines!