Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Ms. Smith's Winner and Runner-up

I know you're dying to know, so I won't keep you in suspense. Ms. Smith's winner is #21 APART AT THE SEAMS, which wins a 50-page critique (as well as the possibility of a full request)! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com for details on how to submit your partial to Ms. Smith.

Also, Ms. Smith's runner-up is #16 POTHOLES ON THE ROAD TO NIRVANA, and she'd love for you to query her formally at query(at)dunhamlit(dot)com.

In addition, if Ms. Smith recognized your entry from her query inbox, she didn't consider it to win the prize. However, you might still get a request at some point in the near future, so don't give up just yet!

Last but not least, you should know that another agent was reading along and expressed interest in a few entries, so I'll contact those writers later today to let them know how to submit their materials!

As always, thank you, thank you, thank you for entering, critiquing, and just reading along. These contests require everyone's best, and I appreciate the time and effort you put in. And of course, the biggest thank-you to Ms. Smith for agreeing to judge a round and leaving such insightful comments. Without you, the stakes wouldn't have been nearly as high, and we're all about high stakes. We are writers, after all:)

Until next month!

14 comments:

Bridget Smith said...

Thank you for having me, Krista! This was such a great contest - such strong entries. Thanks for entering, everyone, and I hope you find my comments informative!

Susan Oloier said...

Krista, thank you so much for holding this contest. It was extremely enlightening and helpful.
Good luck to everyone who entered!

Janelle W. said...

Wow! Just returned from a morning of errand-running to find this wonderful news!

Krista, thanks for organizing this--and for all the helpful information you've provided over the years with your amazing website.

Ms. Smith, thank you for taking the time to judge this contest and for the awesome prize! I am SO excited. I'm going to put my first 50 into a .doc and then I'll send them along.

Janelle W. said...

Er, actually, I'll email Krista first for instructions on how to send those pages, as the directions state. : )

Niki Moss said...

Thank you again, Krista, for this wonderful opportunity!

And thank you, Ms. Smith, for the wonderful feedback. I am elated with the invitation to formally submit! I'll visit your website for specific guidelines, and then revisit my query to see if I can incorporate your suggestions. I had intentionally stopped at the moment Jason and J.D.'s worlds collide because that is the moment of one of the big twists in the story, and so, to say too much about it would be spoilerific. I'll see what I can come up with though, and then get it to you as soon as possible. Thank you again for the invitation.

Best of luck to all the entrants. What a creative bunch of stories! I look forward to reading many of them in the next few years. :)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

My pleasure, Bridget! Maybe we'll have to have you back for an interview sometime:)

You're welcome, Susan! And even though I never got around to leaving a comment, HAUNTED was one of my favorite entries this month.

Congratulations, Janelle! Just doing what I can:)

Ooh, Niki, you've definitely piqued my interest with those tidbits (or piqued my interest MORE, I should say). Good luck to you and POTHOLES!

Unknown said...

Thank you Krista for having this contest! And thanks to everyone who commented--it gave me some much-needed direction.

Bridget--your comments were definitely helpful, and they gave me hope! Thank you for taking the time to do this. :)

Meradeth Houston said...

Thanks so much for putting this together! It's always so interesting to see and learn what works :) Congrats to the winners!

Niki Moss said...

Thank you, Krista!

Megan Reyes said...

Yes, this was a lot of fun. I was entertained AND I learned a lot... what a treat!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post comments. I know I really enjoyed reading everyone's entries... it was almost like speed dating. But with books. And not as awkward.

Krista, you are fantastic for doing this, and SUPER congrats to my Nor Cal buddy Janelle! :D

Unknown said...

Thank you Krista for hosting this contest. I enjoyed reading other queries and enteries. I learned so much.

Thank you Ms. Smith for your bringing your time and talent into the contest. I found your comments not only to my post, but to all the others very useful.

Happy Reading. Happy writing.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

You're welcome, Anne! I'm glad you found the feedback helpful.

Thanks for playing along, Meradeth! These contests really wouldn't work without all of you.

*tips hat to Niki*

No problem, Megan! It does take a little time, but I enjoy it:)

You're very welcome, Karen. Thanks for entering! I think it's fantastic that you and your son write stories together.

Susan Oloier said...

Awww. you're so sweet, Krista. Thank you for the wonderful compliment. It made my day!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Susan, I only say what I mean:)