Monday, October 21, 2013

And the Winner is...

Voting closed this morning at 9 am...thus I'm pleased to now announce the winner of the first ever Query Critique and First Chapter Contest...The Swailing by Wendy Brant. Congrats Wendy!!!

Thank you so much everyone for participating. Over 500 people voted :) I hope to do this again sometime in the future.

Wendy, please email me your query and first chapter to my query email: chquery@mcintoshandotis.com

Also, finalists please feel free to query me as well! A special shout-out to Kathleen and Shaylene!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

And the finalists are...

Thank you everyone for participating today and posting your pitches! I have selected three entries completely at random. You'll find the finalist's entries below. Take a look and vote for your favorite using the poll at the bottom of the page. Polling is open until 9am Monday, October 21st.  1 vote per person please and anyone can vote, regardless if you entered the contest or not!

Congratulations finalists, Shaylene King, Wendy Brant and Kathleen S. Allen!!!

On a side note, I will be reviewing all the pitches and making requests. I will reply directly to your post, so keep an eye out tomorrow to see if your entry was requested :) 

Shaylene King
LIBERTY LANE AND THE ONE-GIRL REBELUTION
MG Humor
38,500 words

American Idol meets the Bible in this modern retelling of the book of Esther as re-imagned through quirky tweenager Libery Lane O'Shea. Instead of an ancient beauty pagent, it's a cut throat singing competition and Liberty must decide between standing for truth and losing or minding her own business and winning.

Wendy Brant
THE SWAILING
YA Dystopian Romance
90,000

Spunky but naïve Ember and her desperate but cute hired guide, Finn, embark on a quest across the no-longer-united United States to find Ember's missing family. Their challenges while traveling through regions of stubborn extremism teach them a whole lot about themselves, and certainly a little something about love.

Kathleen S. Allen
THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER
YA historical
62,000

When her pirate mother returns to claim her, seventeen year old servant, Jenny is not interested in being trained as a pirate. Jenny’s refusal triggers the destruction of her village, so Jenny has no choice but to either go with her mother or flee.

Which pitch is your pick?

Query and First Chapter Critique Contest starts now!

The contest is live! From 11am-6pm ET (8-3 PT) today (October 16th) I will be allowing entries. All you have to do is reply in the comments section with your name, the title, genre and word count of your project, along with a two line pitch (children's only please!). I will not be looking at anything that is sent outside of this time frame. One entry per person please!

See my last post for more details on the rest of the contest. I will be updating here and on Twitter. 

Good luck everyone!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Critique and First Chapter Contest is On!

All of you have patiently been waiting for the Critique Contest that was to happen after I reached 1,000 followers. I haven't gotten there yet, but the number isn't important. I just thought it'd be a fun milestone to start the contest. That said, let's just get the contest under way now!

Mark your calendars: Next Wednesday, October 16th is the day to get in your pitches. I will create a post that morning and from 11-6 ET (8-3 PT) will be allowing entries. All you have to do is reply to that blog post in the comments section with your name, the title, genre and word count of your project, along with a two line pitch (children's only please!). I will not be looking at anything that is sent outside of this time frame. One entry per person please!

I will pick three at random and have you guys vote for your favorite on the blog. I will leave this part open for a few days, so you'll have from Thursday, October 17 until Monday, October 21 to vote.

On Monday, October 21 I will contact and announce the winner and critique their query letter and first chapter.

Also, for everyone else, I will read through all the pitches so some requests may also come out of the contest :) Keep checking my blog for updates and I'll also keep everyone informed throughout the contest as well via Twitter.