Monday, September 17, 2012

In Which I Contest

Man I've been doing a lot of contests lately. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Especially since I've taken a short hiatus on querying while I finish up another round of revisions.

But they just seem so fun and everyone's involved and I always like to be involved in things when it seems like everyone else is and having fun. I can't help it. I like being part of the group.




I figured my chances for Pitch Madness were slim, since I'm not great at writing pitches. I'm not bad, I'm just no comparison to those peeps who are ah-mazing at it. So I didn't make it to the next round in that one, which was expected.

But both GUTGAA and Come and Get It rely on the query and first 250 words. And I'm much better at query writing. I made it to the second round of CAGI (I was #72) and our entries will be posted starting today for browsing agents. So that's exciting! Of course, there's always a chance I won't get any requests and I'm okay with that.

GUTGAA round 2 winners won't be announced until later this week, I think. I feel like I have a good chance, but again, it all depends on the judges personal tastes and who else you're up against. Either way, it's been fun and I'm glad I participated.

What about you? Have you been participating in any contests?

11 comments:

EliasM said...

Good post, Sis. Contests are fun to watch, from a reasonable distance. And while I HATE participating, there is SOOOOOO much to learn from them. Brenda Drake's Twitter pitch contest gave me a concise one sentence pitch to take with me for one-on-one agent pimping. That's just one example but it's Monday and I'm sure other folks have their own growth moments. Again, good stuff.

Maria Zannini said...

I've done very few contests in my published life, but I like the challenge--and the winning. :)

That's how my first book was picked up by a publisher. And I didn't even want to enter the contest. A friend of mine had to twist my arm. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably still be unpublished.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations on making the second round!

Anne Gallagher said...

No contests for me but good on you. #72 is fantastic! I owe you an email. Soon.

Southpaw said...

It's great you are getting out there.

I've always been curious about the posting of you work on online. Don't most agent say it's a no-no - but then they ask you to do it in these contests. I'm confused. Are contests considered the exception?

Stina said...

I was going to participate in GUTGAA but changed my mind. Most of the ones who might been interested in my query had already rejected it.

There was another contest too, but I was only interested in one agent, so I queried her directly (and got a request).

LD Masterson said...

Good luck in the next round.

I don't do a lot of contests. Not sure why since I enjoy them when I do.

Unknown said...

I think I'll have to get into a few contests to get my writing a little more regularly (i.e. more than not at all!)


Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom

Hart Johnson said...

You have FOMS, don't you? (fear of missing something) I wish you a ton of luck! I tried to enter, but work got busy and I walked home without pressing send, so it didn't get there on time.

Christine Rains said...

Congrats and good luck! I'm excited for you. I haven't had much time for contests. Trying to just find time to write these days!

Anonymous said...

It seems like every time I blink there's a new contest. They're addictive! Most of the time I don't really want to participate but then I think, "what if" ... and clicky click I submit my query/pitch/pages whatever. Sigh.

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