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Monday, June 13, 2011

First Page Contest: Agent-Judged Blogfest

This week I'm skipping The Fool's Journey (it's okay, he's kind of tired from all that trekking and can use a little break, but he'll be back soon to take up where he left off). Instead, I want to share a fantastic opportunity with you—one that my wonderful Critique Sister, Heather, told me about.

Shelley Watters is generously hosting a first-page contest blogfest to celebrate her birthday on her blog. It looks terrific. Associate literary agent Victoria Marini, at the Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency, will read everyone's entries and select a winner who will get a full manuscript request from her, plus she will choose runners-up (she doesn't say how many) who will receive requests for partials.

To enter you must write in one of these genres:  YA, Middle Grade, memoir, pop-culture nonfiction, or women's commercial fiction. Details are all in Shelley's blog post.

But to give you a sneak peek, here's what Shelley says about the way to enter:

  1. Sign up on the link (on her June 7 blog post).
  2. On June 25th, post your title, genre, word count and the first 250 words on your blog for critique.
  3. From June 25th through June 26th, hop around to the other contestant's blogs and critique their first 250 words.
  4. On June 27th, come back to my blog and post your final entry on my dedicated contest entry blog post. Be sure to include:
    1. Your email address
    2. Title, genre, wordcount
    3. Your polished first page (250 words) Don't stop in the middle of a sentence.
    4. Where you follow me
    5. Where you spread the word
Thank you for doing this, Shelley. Glad to meet you, and I look forward getting to know your blog well. (And thank YOU, Heather, for telling me about this fun opportunity.)


I'm excited to take part in this contest. I love reading and critiquing first pages, and I love getting impressive feedback on my work, which, I've discovered to my delight, happens regularly in this blogging community. Hop on over to Shelley's blog and sign up! See you at the fest!

One last note:  We have some exciting news coming up on Friday here at Critique Sisters Corner. I'm not allowed to say more, but be sure to check back then! 

~Linda
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16 comments:

  1. StinaJune 13, 2011 at 6:24 AM

    I would love to enter this blogfest, but my ms isn't quite finished yet. I could do it with the expectation of not being selected. Hmmm. I'll have to think about that one.

    Thanks for the link. :D

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  2. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 6:36 AM

    Are you close enough to finished that you could get there within a month or so, Stina? It's tricky, of course, because you certainly want to have your ms. finished when an agent is interested, and there's no guarantee of built-in time, but if you're seriously close, this could be the perfect inspiration to get it done! (*Some of us* work best under pressure.)

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  3. Karlene PetittJune 13, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    Linda, This is a fantastic opportunity! I would love to enter with my up coming series...but not done yet either. I am going to tweet about this. Excellent! And... I can hardly wait to shout the exciting news on Friday!

    Looking forward to the fool next Monday too!

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  4. Kelly LymanJune 13, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    Thanks for sharing this. I'm definitly going to check it out! Hopefully I can get my first page ready by that time!

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  5. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    Thanks, Karlene, for tweeting. Shelley will appreciate that, too! (Lkg. fwd. to Friday!)

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  6. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 7:49 AM

    Go for it, Kelly! One of the best parts is, with people's feedback on the 25th and 26th, you can polish that first page to perfection.

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  7. Lydia KangJune 13, 2011 at 9:02 AM

    My Ms isn't ready yet either! I"m only in the outlining stage. What's going on Friday???? Do tell!

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  8. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 9:34 AM

    Can't Lydia, it's Karlene's surprise. :-)

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  9. HeatherJune 13, 2011 at 10:11 AM

    I'm so glad that you're entering Linda! I can hardly wait to read your entry. Best of luck to you!

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  10. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    Thanks, Heather. I'm always happy to accept luck! I wish you could enter this one, but I know your mss. are busy elsewhere right now. I'd love it if you'd check out my entry and give me your feedback, though—I don't think you've seen this version of my first page.

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  11. Lisa Gail GreenJune 13, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    Awww, Shelley's AWESOME like that. :D

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  12. Michael Di GesuJune 13, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    Shelly is awesome Linda. She just announced the winners of the last contest she had. Unfortunately the agent didn't like my work, BUT the next one might.

    I'll look forward to reading your first page.

    Michael

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  13. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    Good to know, LIsa, I figured! She seems terrific. Will you be there?

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  14. Linda GrayJune 13, 2011 at 8:00 PM

    Michael, this is exciting. I'm off to see if you entered. Can't wait to read your first page, too.

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  15. erica and christyJune 13, 2011 at 8:50 PM

    I did the last one, but her taste seemed to run towards paranormal/dystopian (good for the winners!!). I wasn't going to try again so soon, but this one runs on my birthday, so hmm....

    Also, we're conflicted as to whether we can both enter under the same id and if people would think we're lying about being two people. We're not, by the way - totally two separate people who have only met once!!
    erica

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  16. Linda GrayJune 14, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    You and Shelley share a birthday, Erica? Cool. Could be a sign, you'd better enter! I'm entering in the women's commercial fiction category, and Victoria lists that LAST in her preference list--maybe I should worry! But it's a great opportunity to get feedback from fellow writers on that first page, which makes the contest doubly attractive, don't you think?

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