Wednesday, September 28, 2011

And We're Off!

The September round of "An Agent's Inbox" is now in full swing, with all 50 entries up and ready for your feedback. Remember, ENTRANTS, YOU MUST CRITIQUE AT LEAST 3 OTHER ENTRIES; everyone else, feel free to critique however many you'd like. You might look for those that haven't gotten as many comments, just so we spread the critiquing love around. And please, please, please keep the criticism constructive. We all want to know what's wrong with our writing, but it's always easier to accept--and incorporate--advice that's gently given.

I'll reveal The Agent's identity next Tuesday, October 4, along with his or her winners and prizes. Until then, have at it!

18 comments:

Cassie Mae said...

Yay! Good luck everyone!

Alex said...

So Good.

Hope everyone gets lots of input.

Kaitlin Adams said...

Work productivity just came to a halt. Time to read queries!

Roxanne said...

So fun! I hope I'm being helpful. These are really great! I feel like I'm not a good judge of MG, because I don't really read any middle grade fiction.

Leigh Ann said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leigh Ann said...

Oh my heck, everyone over here is so talented!

Thanks for putting together another INCREDIBLE contest, Krista!

*back to commenting*

Krista Van Dolzer said...

You guys are doing a great job! Thank you! These contests wouldn't work without all your wonderful input.

Keep an eye out for those entries that don't have as many comments. Even if you didn't particularly care for an entry, the writer will still want to know what parts of his or her query and first page tripped you up.

Dana said...

Nice job, Krista! This took a great deal of time. Your interest in encouraging other authors' writing is awesome! Thank you.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

You're welcome, Dana!

kaitlin said...

Krista, seriously, thank you so much for your hard work with all of this. You have no clue how much you've helped me! The insights here are amazing.

Rosalyn said...

I second Kaitlin's comment. This has been so incredibly helpful--not just the feedback on my post, but seeing how everyone else crafts their queries is inspiring.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Wonderful, kaitlin and draeves! That's what I was hoping people would get out of this contest - a behind-the-scenes peek at what an agent's inbox might look like and an idea of what works and why.

BBC said...

Good luck to all the contestants!

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed this! I like getting the glimpse of both the query and the pages. Usually it's either we see the writing, but have no idea what's going on, or else we get the pitch, but are left wondering what the writing is like.

I loved reading responses from "The Agent." VERY insightful.

Janice Sperry said...

This is fantastic. Like the previous commenter said, I love seeing both the query and the first few pages. Thanks for all your work putting this together!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks for stopping by, Mindy!

Kyle, I started "An Agent's Inbox" in large measure because I was tired of only seeing one side of the story on other contests around the blogosphere. It's a lot to ask an agent to read (which is why we usually work with smaller submission windows), but I've hoped the format would be insightful. Happy to hear it has been.

Janice, you're so welcome! Thanks for all your commenting!

Kayeleen Hamblin said...

50 entries this time? That's super ambitious! I love seeing what mystery agent has to say.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Kayeleen, it was either super ambitious or super crazy. I'm still trying to decide which... :)