Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Now Accepting Entries
UPDATE: And that's a wrap! Our 25 entries are set; they'll go up first thing Wednesday morning. I've responded to every e-mail received as of 8:35 p.m. EDT. If you didn't get a confirmation from me, please e-mail me again and let me know.
I'm now accepting entries for the second round of "An Agent's Inbox"! (Actually, I started accepting entries about half an hour ago, but I overslept and forgot to get this post set up on Saturday. I'm embarrassed and totally apologize for the delay. If you sent your entry at or after 10:00 a.m. EDT, it still counts!) Here's a quick refresher:
The Rules
1. To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions: First, it must be COMPLETE, POLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the genres The Agent represents (which are listed at the bottom of this post).
2. IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN LAST MONTH’S “AN AGENT’S INBOX” CONTEST, please DO NOT participate in this one. I have a pretty good memory, and I will disqualify previous entries. If the entry slots don’t fill up by Tuesday, July 26, I may allow last month’s participants to enter, but I’m not going to make that decision right now.
3. All entries must include A QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.
4. THE ENTRY WINDOW OPENS AT 10:00 A.M. EDT (OR 7:00 A.M. PDT). Once the entry window opens, I'll accept the first 20 entries. I won't accept any entries sent before the entry window opens or after the first 20 slots fill up.
5. If your entry makes it in, I'll send you a confirmation e-mail with a post number. If your entry doesn't make it in, I'll still send you an e-mail, but it won't have a post number.
6. If your entry makes it in, YOU MUST COMMENT ON AT LEAST 3 OTHER ENTRIES.
The Prizes The Agent will select both the winners and the prizes. The Agent might pick 20 winners, or he or she might only pick one. The Agent might offer full requests, or he or she might only ask to see another page. It all depends on how good the entries are.
Please keep in mind that THIS CONTEST ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I've encouraged The Agent to treat the entries exactly as he or she would a normal batch of queries. Essentially, The Agent will be answering the question, "How much of the entry did you read, and if you didn't read it all, why did you stop?" I think this process will be instructive for all of us, but if you enter, you need to be prepared to hear exactly what The Agent thinks of your query and first page.
The Genres
YA Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
YA Science Fiction
YA Light Fantasy
YA Mystery
YA Horror
Adult Literary Fiction
Adult Magical Realism
Adult Horror
Adult Dark Mystery
To enter, please send an e-mail with YOUR QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com. And please, please, please remember to PASTE THESE ITEMS IN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL.
I'm now accepting entries for the second round of "An Agent's Inbox"! (Actually, I started accepting entries about half an hour ago, but I overslept and forgot to get this post set up on Saturday. I'm embarrassed and totally apologize for the delay. If you sent your entry at or after 10:00 a.m. EDT, it still counts!) Here's a quick refresher:
The Rules
1. To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions: First, it must be COMPLETE, POLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the genres The Agent represents (which are listed at the bottom of this post).
2. IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN LAST MONTH’S “AN AGENT’S INBOX” CONTEST, please DO NOT participate in this one. I have a pretty good memory, and I will disqualify previous entries. If the entry slots don’t fill up by Tuesday, July 26, I may allow last month’s participants to enter, but I’m not going to make that decision right now.
3. All entries must include A QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.
4. THE ENTRY WINDOW OPENS AT 10:00 A.M. EDT (OR 7:00 A.M. PDT). Once the entry window opens, I'll accept the first 20 entries. I won't accept any entries sent before the entry window opens or after the first 20 slots fill up.
5. If your entry makes it in, I'll send you a confirmation e-mail with a post number. If your entry doesn't make it in, I'll still send you an e-mail, but it won't have a post number.
6. If your entry makes it in, YOU MUST COMMENT ON AT LEAST 3 OTHER ENTRIES.
The Prizes The Agent will select both the winners and the prizes. The Agent might pick 20 winners, or he or she might only pick one. The Agent might offer full requests, or he or she might only ask to see another page. It all depends on how good the entries are.
Please keep in mind that THIS CONTEST ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I've encouraged The Agent to treat the entries exactly as he or she would a normal batch of queries. Essentially, The Agent will be answering the question, "How much of the entry did you read, and if you didn't read it all, why did you stop?" I think this process will be instructive for all of us, but if you enter, you need to be prepared to hear exactly what The Agent thinks of your query and first page.
The Genres
YA Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
YA Science Fiction
YA Light Fantasy
YA Mystery
YA Horror
Adult Literary Fiction
Adult Magical Realism
Adult Horror
Adult Dark Mystery
To enter, please send an e-mail with YOUR QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com. And please, please, please remember to PASTE THESE ITEMS IN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL.
Friday, July 22, 2011
"An Agent's Inbox" Contest Alert
THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR ENTRIES! I'M JUST GIVING YOU A HEADS-UP. THE CONTEST OPENS NEXT MONDAY, JULY 25.
For those of you who missed last month’s contest, here’s a brief introduction: "An Agent's Inbox" is exactly what it sounds like--next week, I'm turning the blog into an agent's inbox, a public one. We'll get to see 20 queries along with their first pages, and we'll get to hear what a bona fide agent thinks of each one.
The queries and first pages will be yours, of course. I'll accept your entries this Monday, July 25, and then I'll post them next Wednesday, July 27. The entrants and anyone else who wishes to review them may comment on them until the following Tuesday, August 2, when I'll announce the winners. Those winners will be chosen by The Agent, who will remain nameless for now, and he or she will offer whatever prizes he or she wishes.
The Rules
1. To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions: First, it must be COMPLETE, POLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the genres The Agent represents (which are listed at the bottom of this post).
2. IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN LAST MONTH’S “AN AGENT’S INBOX” CONTEST, please DO NOT participate in this one. I have a pretty good memory, and I will disqualify previous entries. If the entry slots don’t fill up by Tuesday, July 26, I may allow last month’s participants to enter, but I’m not going to make that decision right now.
3. All entries must include A QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.
4. THE ENTRY WINDOW OPENS AT 10:00 A.M. EDT (OR 7:00 A.M. PDT). (Note that this is significantly earlier than last month.) Once the entry window opens, I'll accept the first 20 entries. I won't accept any entries sent before the entry window opens or after the first 20 slots fill up.
5. If your entry makes it in, I'll send you a confirmation e-mail with a post number. If your entry doesn't make it in, I'll still send you an e-mail, but it won't have a post number.
6. If your entry makes it in, YOU MUST COMMENT ON AT LEAST 3 OTHER ENTRIES.
The Prizes The Agent will select both the winners and the prizes. The Agent might pick 20 winners, or he or she might only pick one. The Agent might offer full requests, or he or she might only ask to see another page. It all depends on how good the entries are.
Please keep in mind that THIS CONTEST ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I've encouraged The Agent to treat the entries exactly as he or she would a normal batch of queries. Essentially, The Agent will be answering the question, "How much of the entry did you read, and if you didn't read it all, why did you stop?" I think this process will be instructive for all of us, but if you enter, you need to be prepared to hear exactly what The Agent thinks of your query and first page.
So get those queries and first pages polished up, then meet us back here on Monday, July 25, at 10:00 a.m. EDT! At that time, you may send your entries to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com. Looking forward to it!
The Genres
YA Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
YA Science Fiction
YA Light Fantasy
YA Mystery
YA Horror
Adult Literary Fiction
Adult Magical Realism
Adult Horror
Adult Dark Mystery
(If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below...)
For those of you who missed last month’s contest, here’s a brief introduction: "An Agent's Inbox" is exactly what it sounds like--next week, I'm turning the blog into an agent's inbox, a public one. We'll get to see 20 queries along with their first pages, and we'll get to hear what a bona fide agent thinks of each one.
The queries and first pages will be yours, of course. I'll accept your entries this Monday, July 25, and then I'll post them next Wednesday, July 27. The entrants and anyone else who wishes to review them may comment on them until the following Tuesday, August 2, when I'll announce the winners. Those winners will be chosen by The Agent, who will remain nameless for now, and he or she will offer whatever prizes he or she wishes.
The Rules
1. To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions: First, it must be COMPLETE, POLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the genres The Agent represents (which are listed at the bottom of this post).
2. IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN LAST MONTH’S “AN AGENT’S INBOX” CONTEST, please DO NOT participate in this one. I have a pretty good memory, and I will disqualify previous entries. If the entry slots don’t fill up by Tuesday, July 26, I may allow last month’s participants to enter, but I’m not going to make that decision right now.
3. All entries must include A QUERY and THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.
4. THE ENTRY WINDOW OPENS AT 10:00 A.M. EDT (OR 7:00 A.M. PDT). (Note that this is significantly earlier than last month.) Once the entry window opens, I'll accept the first 20 entries. I won't accept any entries sent before the entry window opens or after the first 20 slots fill up.
5. If your entry makes it in, I'll send you a confirmation e-mail with a post number. If your entry doesn't make it in, I'll still send you an e-mail, but it won't have a post number.
6. If your entry makes it in, YOU MUST COMMENT ON AT LEAST 3 OTHER ENTRIES.
The Prizes The Agent will select both the winners and the prizes. The Agent might pick 20 winners, or he or she might only pick one. The Agent might offer full requests, or he or she might only ask to see another page. It all depends on how good the entries are.
Please keep in mind that THIS CONTEST ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I've encouraged The Agent to treat the entries exactly as he or she would a normal batch of queries. Essentially, The Agent will be answering the question, "How much of the entry did you read, and if you didn't read it all, why did you stop?" I think this process will be instructive for all of us, but if you enter, you need to be prepared to hear exactly what The Agent thinks of your query and first page.
So get those queries and first pages polished up, then meet us back here on Monday, July 25, at 10:00 a.m. EDT! At that time, you may send your entries to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com. Looking forward to it!
The Genres
YA Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
YA Science Fiction
YA Light Fantasy
YA Mystery
YA Horror
Adult Literary Fiction
Adult Magical Realism
Adult Horror
Adult Dark Mystery
(If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below...)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Book Recommendation: THE SURVIVORS CLUB (Plus Nifty Subtitle) by Ben Sherwood
A journalist by trade, Mr. Sherwood drew on his investigative expertise to interview survivors of all shapes and sizes. Essentially, he asked them all one question: What does it take to survive? Their answers are as disparate as their experiences.
I loved how Mr. Sherwood addressed both the science and the stories of survival. And the stories are incredible. I’m still trying to decide which one’s my favorite. Is it the story of the young man who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and decided halfway down he didn’t want to die, or the story of the fighter pilot who punched out of his jet--which was traveling faster than the speed of sound--mere seconds before it slammed into the ocean? Hard to say. But Mr. Sherwood doesn’t stop there. As the subtitle implies (“The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life”), he also teaches you how to survive, say, hypothermia and which seats are safest on a plane. How useful.
If you like quirky, unexpected, unforgettable nonfiction along the lines of Malcolm Gladwell’s OUTLIERS or Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s FREAKONOMICS, you’ll love THE SURVIVORS CLUB. I highly recommend it.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
On Waiting
Waiting, I've decided, is as much a part of writing as writing is a part of writing. You wait for your subconscious to work out tricky plot points. You wait for beta readers to read through your manuscript. You wait to hear back on your queries, and if you're lucky enough to get a request, you wait to hear back on those. If you're lucky enough to land an agent, you wait to hear back from editors, and on and on and on. You wait and wait and wait, and some days are good, and others aren't so good, and after a while, even on the good days, you start to wonder if maybe, just maybe, you're starting to go a little crazy...
Or maybe that's just me:)
But in all seriousness, I've been thinking about this waiting for a few weeks now and had a few thoughts I wanted to share. Many of you know that I finished Bob's revision about six weeks ago, and since then, I've been--you guessed it--waiting. And the truth is, I didn't think I'd have to wait this long. You always hear these stories about writers who submit their revisions and have an offer within, like, twelve hours. Why don't we ever hear the stories about writers who wait...and wait...and wait before receiving any kind of response?
I suspect it's because those stories aren't as newsworthy. "Writer waits six months to receive an offer of representation" isn't nearly as exciting as "Writer wakes up to agents mud-wrestling in her front yard over her manuscript," and "Writer receives many compliments from agents, shelves project after eight months" never makes the front page (let alone the tenth). And yet having to wait isn't something to be ashamed of. In fact, I daresay waiting is the period of time in which we grow the most.
We often talk about how to cope with waiting (namely, get to work on your next project, spend time with your family, and GET TO WORK ON YOUR NEXT PROJECT), but we don't talk as much about how waiting refines us, how it shows us what we're made of. There's a big difference between waiting and waiting well, and the only way we ever learn how to do the latter is if things don't go the way we want them to (or at least not right away).
I still don't know exactly how to let our waiting change us, how to let it push us to become better people, but I do know we'll never become the people we can be without those opportunities. So I'm trying to look at it that way. I'm trying to see this waiting as a Krista-refining period of time. That way, if I ever achieve this crazy dream of landing an agent (and, fingers crossed, a book deal), I will have achieved even more.
Or maybe that's just me:)
But in all seriousness, I've been thinking about this waiting for a few weeks now and had a few thoughts I wanted to share. Many of you know that I finished Bob's revision about six weeks ago, and since then, I've been--you guessed it--waiting. And the truth is, I didn't think I'd have to wait this long. You always hear these stories about writers who submit their revisions and have an offer within, like, twelve hours. Why don't we ever hear the stories about writers who wait...and wait...and wait before receiving any kind of response?
I suspect it's because those stories aren't as newsworthy. "Writer waits six months to receive an offer of representation" isn't nearly as exciting as "Writer wakes up to agents mud-wrestling in her front yard over her manuscript," and "Writer receives many compliments from agents, shelves project after eight months" never makes the front page (let alone the tenth). And yet having to wait isn't something to be ashamed of. In fact, I daresay waiting is the period of time in which we grow the most.
We often talk about how to cope with waiting (namely, get to work on your next project, spend time with your family, and GET TO WORK ON YOUR NEXT PROJECT), but we don't talk as much about how waiting refines us, how it shows us what we're made of. There's a big difference between waiting and waiting well, and the only way we ever learn how to do the latter is if things don't go the way we want them to (or at least not right away).
I still don't know exactly how to let our waiting change us, how to let it push us to become better people, but I do know we'll never become the people we can be without those opportunities. So I'm trying to look at it that way. I'm trying to see this waiting as a Krista-refining period of time. That way, if I ever achieve this crazy dream of landing an agent (and, fingers crossed, a book deal), I will have achieved even more.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
"An Agent's Inbox" Contest Debriefing
I think the inaugural round of "An Agent's Inbox" went pretty well, but since I'm always looking to improve (and since Round Two will start in just a couple of weeks), I really want your feedback. What went well, what didn't go so well, and what suggestions do you have?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
"An Agent's Inbox" Contest Winners
I let Ms. Motter pick as many winners--and as many prizes--as she wanted, and this is what she picked.
Best query: #1 PARTITION
PARTITION wins a 10-page critique.
Best page: #12 LEGACY
LEGACY wins a query critique.
Ms. Motter would also like to see the first 100 pages from PARTITION and LEGACY. She'd also like to see the first 20 pages of #7 AIR PIRATES, #17 DUO, and #19 REMAINDERS, all of which had "intriguing premises and promising pages," as Ms. Motter put it.
Congratulations, winners! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com for details on how to submit your pages to Ms. Motter.
And to everyone else who entered and/or critiqued, thank you so much for your participation. This contest wouldn't have worked without you. I honestly can't tell you how grateful I am for your support.
The next round of "An Agent's Inbox" will start July 25, so make sure to drop by then!
Best query: #1 PARTITION
PARTITION wins a 10-page critique.
Best page: #12 LEGACY
LEGACY wins a query critique.
Ms. Motter would also like to see the first 100 pages from PARTITION and LEGACY. She'd also like to see the first 20 pages of #7 AIR PIRATES, #17 DUO, and #19 REMAINDERS, all of which had "intriguing premises and promising pages," as Ms. Motter put it.
Congratulations, winners! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com for details on how to submit your pages to Ms. Motter.
And to everyone else who entered and/or critiqued, thank you so much for your participation. This contest wouldn't have worked without you. I honestly can't tell you how grateful I am for your support.
The next round of "An Agent's Inbox" will start July 25, so make sure to drop by then!
The Agent = Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management
This month's agent was Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management! You can find Ms. Motter in a bunch of places around the Internet, so if you're looking for more information on The Agent, check out these useful sites:
My interview with Ms. Motter
Ms. Motter's blog
Ms. Motter's Twitter page
Also, she graciously agreed to answer a few more questions for the purposes of this reveal post, so here they are. (Some of them, as you will see, are much more relevant than others... :) )
KV: What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
VM: Cocoa marble fudge!
KV: What's the coolest place you've ever been?
VM: Sign Forest, Yukon, Canada.
KV: Well, of course I had to Google "Sign Forest, Yukon, Canada" to see what was so cool about it, and I found this nifty collection of photographs on Tabblo. I can definitely see what's so cool about it:) All right, back to the questions!
What's the coolest place you still want to visit?
VM: Some place with a really old castle and a morbid history.
KV: What query-writing suggestions do you have?
VM: Practice query writing--basically summarizing something you know really well--by writing them for books you've read, or for your friend's manuscript, then compare to back cover blurbs. This is great practice for verbal pitching too.
KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?
VM: You're in the right place, on the right path, keep working hard! But remember to have fun too!!
And there you have it! Winners coming up in a few hours...
My interview with Ms. Motter
Ms. Motter's blog
Ms. Motter's Twitter page
Also, she graciously agreed to answer a few more questions for the purposes of this reveal post, so here they are. (Some of them, as you will see, are much more relevant than others... :) )
KV: What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
VM: Cocoa marble fudge!
KV: What's the coolest place you've ever been?
VM: Sign Forest, Yukon, Canada.
KV: Well, of course I had to Google "Sign Forest, Yukon, Canada" to see what was so cool about it, and I found this nifty collection of photographs on Tabblo. I can definitely see what's so cool about it:) All right, back to the questions!
What's the coolest place you still want to visit?
VM: Some place with a really old castle and a morbid history.
KV: What query-writing suggestions do you have?
VM: Practice query writing--basically summarizing something you know really well--by writing them for books you've read, or for your friend's manuscript, then compare to back cover blurbs. This is great practice for verbal pitching too.
KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?
VM: You're in the right place, on the right path, keep working hard! But remember to have fun too!!
And there you have it! Winners coming up in a few hours...
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