Andrea Brown agent will judge contest!

That's right! Our query contest will be judged by an agent from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Does it get any better than that? Nope.

Agent will request 

a full manuscript

from the winner! 

So here are the details you've been waiting for. This contest is open to all writers, including previous winners. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to create a mind-blowing query that will knock the reader's socks off. We've studied the mechanics of queries in the past, so you know the drill. As mentioned earlier, there are prior posts on here that will give you a starting point. (Remember the Hero's Journey?) Plus, if you'd like to read some queries that just won a similar contest, agent Jason Yarn has posted his comments on Querytracker.

DO NOT SEND ANYTHING YET! ENTRIES RECEIVED BEFORE THE CONTEST OPENING WILL NOT BE INCLUDED. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW FOR SUBMITTING YOU ENTRY.

The following rules apply to this contest:
1. Your query must be for a completed YA or MG manuscript.
2. Maximum word count is 350.
3. Contest entries will open 9:00 a.m. Central Time Monday, April 12, 2010.
4. Contest entries will close at 9:00 a.m. Central Time Wednesday, April 14, 2010 or when 50 entries are received, whichever comes first.
5. Only one entry per person.

When the contest entry window opens, please do the following:
1. Email your entry to me at michaelvette@gmail.com.
2. Subject line should include QUERY CONTEST - YOUR NAME
3. You don't need to include a salutation.
4. Your email should begin with the TITLE and GENRE.
5. Paste your query below the title. (350 word maximum)
6. Include your name and email address at the bottom.

That's it! Meanwhile, if you'd like to post your query below for comments, feel free to do so. You can also visit Query Letter Hell at Absolutewrite and post it there for additional comments and suggestions between now and the time the entry window opens. If you don't know how to get there, leave a comment, and someone will give you directions. Try to get as much feedback as possible and polish, polish, polish.

Now, for the prizes!
Our Mystery Agent will select one winner and two runners up. The winner will be asked to submit their full manuscript to the agent for consideration. The two runners may submit their first 50 pages.Anything can happen from that point on.

Good luck to all. Feel free to post your query below if you'd like. Visit Absolutewrite.com for more help. And be sure to check back tomorrow for some related info that will be very exciting.

Great Contest — Fabulous prize!

You can tell from Max's expression that he's as shocked as I am by the results of our poll on the right sidebar. When we saw where it was heading, Max and I had a discussion. It didn't take long to figure it out — you don't like queries. It's obvious.

You. Don't. Like. Queries. In fact, with only four pitiful votes, the query letter is clearly your least favorite thing to write. It's apparent that the majority of you are leaning toward that 250-word snippet. So that's what we're going to do.

But not this time. What?

Not this time. This time we're going to do that thing you hate. That dreaded, despicable, hateful query letter. Come on, you're saying, why do we have to do that? We hate queries. You know we hate queries. I suck at queries. My dog ate my query.

I know you hate queries. Every writer I've spoken with hates queries. I'm guessing that even agents hate queries, sometimes. But they're a necessary part of landing an agent, getting published, and getting your wonderful writing out there and into the libraries and book stores where readers can get lost in your beautiful words and fall in love with you and your story.

But no matter how well you write a scene, how believable your dialogue is, how clearly detailed your visual elements are, you have to be able to use that ability to create a query letter that's going to pique an agent's interest enough for them to request a sample of that writing. That's why doing it well is so important, and that's why we're having the query contest. This post is simply an advance notice so you can create that query and polish it to perfection. Have others read it. Visit Absolutewrite.com and post it there for comments and suggestions, and revise it until it shines like a rare gem. There's time for that, but none to waste.

So stop groaning already. You haven't heard the good part yet. This is one very special query contest. This one might get you published. Although our previous contests have been helpful because of the reader comments and suggestions for improvement, we're not going to judge the queries ourselves this time. We hate queries, right? And since we hate them so much, we're going to have someone much more knowledgeable do that ominous task of judging. (I can hear your sighs of relief.) Now, get your faces right up to the monitor —  closer — because you don't want to miss this next part. Ready?

We're having a real literary agent judge them. But wait —it gets even better! This agent, herinafter referred to as the Mystery Agent, is from one of the most prestigious agencies in the country. If you haven't heard of this agency, you've been living in a cave with a lava lamp, drinking Ovaltine, and listening to an 8-track tape of James Brown and the Famous Flames Live at the Apollo Theater. Or something equally distant from the real world. Enough of your lame humor. Give us the details!

Sorry. That's all I can tell you at this point except that it's a done deal, and it's Game on! I will have the rest of the story tomorrow morning, so be sure to tune in to find out exactly what's going on. Same bat time. Same bat channel.

Now get to work on that winning query I know you can write. If you haven't read the two previous posts below, you might want to do that first. Both could provide a spark to ignite that bonfire of a query letter you're capable of writing. That's all for now, but check back tomorrow for the rest of the story.


Also, look for a special post this Saturday regarding something serendipitous. You're going to love it!

Your Query at 30,000 Feet

To continue our topic of yesterday, I wanted to offer you a little writing exercise that will incorporate the Hero's Journey and your query letter. As we know, query letters are one of the hardest projects to tackle. Many times we are so interested in giving the agent the entire plot that we include a lot of unnecessary information and actually fail to capture the real story. Getting mired in the minutia, trying to reveal all the sub-plots and all the characters and their relationships, isn't the direction your query needs to take. Your query may be more effective in getting an agent's attention if you step back and take a look at it from a 30,000-foot level.

So here's the exercise: Think about your story and condense it to four sentences. This isn't going to be easy, but it will help you condense the story to its bare essence, and it may prove valuable as a starting point when you write (rewrite?) your query. The sentences should include:

1. ORPHAN: Who is the main character and what happens to toss them into a new situation? Examples: With Dorothy it was the tornado that landed her in a whole new world. In The Hunger Games, it was the reaping that placed Katniss in a new situation. What happens in your story that changes the playing field?

2. WANDERER: What does your character do once their lives change? (Bilbo Baggins sets off on a journey to find the ring. Coraline goes through the door in search of her missing parents. Etc.)

3. WARRIOR: Who or what is the character fighting? What is at stake? How are they planning on changing the situation? What happens if they don't?

4. MARTYR: What does the character have to do to make things right. What sacrifice will they have to make in order to fix everything?

If you'd like to leave a comment with your four sentences, feel free to do so. Then others can comment as well and perhaps add some additional insight. Have fun!

New Contest Options

It's time for a new contest involving your writing skills. We have some options. We've studied a lot of different areas. So what shall we do? Obviously, I want to make this blog as valuable to as many readers as possible, so I'm asking for your input. If you look to the right >>>> you'll see a voting booth with three items listed: Query Letter, Opening Paragraph, and 250-word Snippet.

Just venture over that way and pick your poison, so to speak. Choose the item you'd like to submit, and we'll see where the chips fall. The one item with the most votes will be the one we select for the contest. Feel free to tell your writing friends on your email list, your Twitter buddies, and your Facebook pals about the contest so we can get as much input as possible.

And don't forget to enter Miss Snark's First Victim Secret Agent Contest next Monday.

Publishing Avenues

We're going to get back to the query critiquing shortly, but since there haven't been a great number of comments expressing interest so far, I may repost something new on that later this week. Meanwhile, I did get a couple of comments on an earlier post that indicated there might be some interest in another area - particularly e-publishing and print-on-demand services.

The internet has opened a whole new world of alternatives to traditional publishing. The Kindle product was one of the first to offer downloads of digital books for the reader. Since e-publishing has taken hold, others have joined the bandwagon including manufacturers of the digital reading devices (such as Apple) as well as a redesign of the publishing and distribution models that many major publishing houses are undergoing. Deals are being made and things are changing in the publishing world.

Also, for those who want an actual published hard-copy book produced, self-publishers have many alternatives from which to choose, including Lulu and CreateSpace, to name just a couple of the most popular. These are typically referred to as POD (print-on-demand) services which allow the user to make their creations available to the public with no up-front charges, and offer not only books but DVDs and CDs as well. Customers can place an order for your product on Amazon or other outlets and have the item produced and sent to them within a short time.

One of the most informative blogs on the net is that of Curtis Brown literary agent, Nathan Bransford. Hardly a week goes by that he doesn't post an update on what's happening in the e-book arena. If you'd like to stay informed, Nathan's blog is an excellent resource for timely and accurate data. You can subscribe by email and get a daily update.

Meanwhile, if you have ventured into this area as an alternative to traditional publishing, or you have any information you'd like to share about your own experiences in the e-book or POD world, our readers would love to hear it. Post a comment and let us know what you think, what you learned, what you know, or what you'd like to know about this new publishing medium that seems to be growing in popularity.

I'm listening.

How about a query critique session?

I know queries are hard. Believe me. I know this. I've written my share of them and struggled through the whole process. Queries. Are. Hard. So here's a thought. Let me know what you think of it. Since we've got so many talented writers that visit this site and offer their suggestions and comments, why don't we do a query critiquing session?

If there's a good response to this idea, based on the number of comments to this post, I'll set up a system whereby you can email me your query. I'll post them individually, and other readers can offer their impressions, suggestions, comments, critiques, etc., hopefully with the result of helping each of us improve that ever-so-important document we send out to the agents of choice. So, comment below and let me know if this would be of interest. I'm listening.

What's going on with your writing?

I'm curious what's going on with your writing efforts. Are you currently involved in coming up with a new idea? Are you plotting a new story? Are you in the middle of writing one? Do you have queries out to agents? Leave a comment and let us know where you are and what you're doing.

I'll start. I currently have Cannibal Island with an agent who was interested enough by the query to request it. I also have Skullhaven with another agent. I'm waiting to hear back from both of them. Naturally, I hope they both love what they're reading, but if so, that may present a dilemma. As far as I know, it's bad form for writers to have more than one agent. Have you ever had two agents offer you representation at the same time? What did you do to resolve it?

Okay. Your turn. Oh, and by the way, if you like this site, feel free to pass the link along on your social networks so we can get more input in the comments and more entries in our future contests. There are more wonderful writers out there that we could all learn from.