Have questions about submitting to Pitch Wars or just want to know what it is? Start here!

Blog

Show me the voice! . . . contest with agent Natalie Fischer

Saturday, 5 March 2011  |  Posted by Brenda Drake
Today’s coffee is Starbuck’s Americano with nonfat steamed milk, which is fabulous, since I haven’t had creamer or milk in my coffee for like six weeks. I’m totally excited right now! Well, not just because of the coffee, but also because I’m announcing my next blog contest.

I’m humbled and honored to announce that the amazing Natalie Fischer, who is now agenting at The Bradford Literary Agency, has agreed to be the judge for my upcoming contest  
Show Me The Voice Blogfest Contest. Natalie has a wonderful blog, Adventures in Agentland go here to check it out. She posts some excellent advice for writers and some fun contests like a horrendously hilarious query contest, which I entered and failed miserably at creating a bad query. Thinking about it now, maybe that’s a good thing — failing at an awful query not losing, that is?

Natalie Fischer

You can read more about Natalie on her blog here or check out some awesome interviews with her here , herehere , or here , and if you haven’t stalked her enough, you can find her on twitter here.

Natalie is busy making the transition from her prior agency to The Bradford Literary Agency, so I was thrilled when she agreed to give up some of her time to judge this contest. She’s just that kind and wonderful and has great hair. Thanks, Natalie!

We            you!

Natalie is all about the voice and wants you to show it in your first 250 words of your finished manuscript. When critiquing each others’ entries, look for voice and please keep your comments nice and helpful, not snarky.

So here’s how we’re doing it:  Sign up on the linky below. On March 20 and 21, post the first 250 words of your finished manuscript (any genre) on your blog to get critiques from your followers and then hop around to the other participants’ sites and give critiques. Polish those 250 words and email them to me at *** with CONTEST in the subject line by 12:00AM (EST) on March 22 (This is my birthday, so while you all are scrambling around to get your entry in, I’ll be eating a hot Molten Chocolate Cake at Chili’s–all diets are off! Woot!).  

Format your entries like this example:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Brenda Drake
Title: Library Jumpers
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

I swallowed my breath mint the moment some hot guy across the reading room busted me staring at him. I completely froze, blinking, unable to pull my eyes away from him. He totally stood out in the conservative atmosphere of the library with his messy brown hair and tight leather gear. His intense gaze held me for several seconds before I shot my eyes at Afton. Submerged in a book on the Salem witch trials–a strand of her dark hair-weave all twisted around her finger–she hadn’t even noticed him. A gust of air came from his direction and rustled the pages of her book. I swung my eyes back to him. He was gone.

“What the . . .?” I blurted and stood to get a better view of the large reading room. The biography on Samuel Adams slipped from my hand and clunked onto the table.

“Shhh, Gia.” Afton glared over her book at me. “Hello? We’re in a library.”

We weren’t in just any library. We were in the Boston Athenaeum, an exclusive library with a pricey annual fee. Afton’s father got her a membership at the start of summer. It’s a good thing her ticket in allows tag-alongs, since my pop would never splurge like that, not when the public library is free.

“What’s wrong?” Afton asked.

My eyes flicked around the reading room searching for the guy. In the core of the room, a collection of antique furniture and sculptures surrounded large walnut tables with leather chairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My example is 253 words because I didn’t want to cut it off in the middle of a sentence. So if your 250 words ends in the middle of one, please go to the end of the sentence.

All entries submitted before the cut off time will be considered. The first round will be judged by a chosen panel of your peers (agented and unagented). We’ll pick the best 20 entries and post them on my blog by March 24. The 20 entries we pick will be judged by Natalie. The winners will be announced on or before Monday, March 28.

Bet you’re wondering what prizes Natalie is offering, right? Well, here they are:

1st place – a critique of the first 20 pages
2nd place – a critique of the first 10 pages
3rd place – a query critique

Don’t forget to SHOW ME THE VOICE!
 

Also, I still have a couple of gifts to give away to my followers for my Birthday Month Giveaway. Since I’m part Irish, I’ll be giving one editing prize away on St. Patrick’s day and the bigger prize on March 31st. So follow me for a chance to win!


What are you waiting for? Sign up now for the SHOW ME THE VOICE BLOGFEST CONTEST!

Filed: Misc

111 Comments
IMPORTANT!
We're thrilled at the different ways those in our Pitch Wars community are giving back—and we encourage them to do so. However, please keep in mind that Pitch Wars is not affiliated with any of these various contests, promotions, etc., including those of our mentors and mentees. Promoting any such opportunities via our social media channels doesn't imply endorsement or affiliation. We encourage you to do your research before participating.

Pitch Wars takes a stand. ANTI-BULLYING. Click here to review our policy

Pitch Wars 2021

Blog Archives

Blog Categories

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.