Monday, August 13, 2012

Now Accepting Entries

UPDATE: That's it! We're full! This is the fastest one of these rounds has ever filled up. I've responded to every e-mail sent before 10:40 a.m. EDT (or 7:40 a.m. PDT). Look for those entries to go up on Wednesday!

I'm now accepting entries for August's round of "An Agent's Inbox"! 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 APRIL’S ROUND OF “AN AGENT’S INBOX,” please DO NOT participate in this one UNLESS YOU HAVE A NEW MANUSCRIPT that meets the criteria listed above. I have a pretty good memory, and I will disqualify previous entries. If the entry slots don’t fill up by Tuesday, August 14, I may allow previous 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 Fiction (all subgenres)
Women’s Fiction
Adult Commercial Fiction
Adult Science Fiction
Adult Fantasy
Adult Cozy Mysteries
Adult Romance

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.

6 comments:

Kate Brauning said...

Okay, I entered! Hopefully it wasn't sent to early. The time stamp 9:00am (central time) so I hope I got in!

Colene Murphy said...

Sent! Whoo! Was a little late, but crossing my fingers. Thanks for another great contest!

Aldrea Alien said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aldrea Alien said...

Good luck to all who got through! ^_^

Suja said...

Best of luck to everyone who got in, and thanks, Krista, for the opportunity.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Kate, as it turned out, the only people who made it in were the ones with on-the-dot time stamps. I think I even had to turn away a couple of people away who entered in that first minute but toward the end of it. This round just filled up so fast!

Colene, I'm sorry if you didn't make it in! I've never had a round fill up as fast as this one did. Do come back next month and check out The Agent's genres. Hopefully, your manuscript will still fit!

Aldrea and Suja, thanks for your support. Good luck to both of you with your querying.