It's time to announce a HUGE agent-judged competition that's so big it's going to need two blogs to contain all the awesome. No prizes for guessing that my co-host is Michelle Krys. So if you don't follow her already, then you'll be wanting to (also, what is wrong with you?)
As you can see, we're calling it Christmas in July!
And here's the tagline:
30 pitches, 10 agents, 1 week.
Yep, we'll be choosing 15 entries each to post on our blogs. The entries will be up for a whole week, and there will be ten, yes 10 agents dropping by to make requests!
This is where it gets even more exciting.
Because there are 10 agents (did I mention that?) there's a wide scope for genre here. Which means that we'll be accepting Children's picture books, MG and YA (all genres), and Adult submissions of ALL GENRES (except erotica)!!
You'll need a query letter and the first 500 words of a completed manuscript to enter.
You don't have to follow my blog to enter, but I'd like it if you did. I'd also like it if you'd check out my previous post. It's about a great book!
More details on the submission window and what we'd like to do with the entries before they go live to follow in the next post, which will be on the 25th June. In the meantime, we're using the hashtag #XmasinJuly to talk about it, hook up on Twitter and TELL EVERYONE : D
OMG, this will be awesome! I'll be there! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am RIDICULOUSLY excited! Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteMe too!
Delete*eats sugar*
*runs around*
Sounds great!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great opportunity! Thanks, ladies :)
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! This sounds awesome! Will you be listing the agents before submission time? Because i would feel bad if i entered and got picked only to find out some of those agents already have my MS. I don't want to take a spot from someone else, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, we'll be listing the agents a week before the submission date so everyone has time to decide if they want to enter and perfect their submission :)
DeleteSounds great. Will look out for more details.
ReplyDeleteSounds great but what about writers of picture books/early readers. Would love to submit a ms for this genre. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteJean, I'm sorry, it was remiss of me to leave you guys out - especially as there's no need! I've checked my list of agents and four of the ten are looking for picture books (on of them even has them on her wishlist). So enter away, and I'll edit the main post to reflect this.
DeleteThanks.
Thank you ever so much. I will look forward to entering :-)
DeleteThis is great! But how will this work for picture books? If my PB is exactly 500 words (or, worse, if it's 550 words) does that mean the entire ms will be posted (or everything but the last 50 words)? I'm just trying to decide whether to enter my PB or MG and which will make more sense for this kind of contest. Thanks for hosting this!
DeleteI think if it's under 600 words, you could just submit the whole thing, and if Michelle or I want to choose it as one of our fifteen, we could discuss with you what the best format and word count would be to put it at best advantage when the entries go live.
DeleteWe both have young children, and although we don't write picture books, we both still read a lot of them (and I've been doing so for the last seventeen years - so I'm an excellent layman reader of pb's!!)
It's entirely up to you which you choose to enter - just don't feel that we can't accomadate whatever will be best for your pb :)
Another fantastic opportunity here, Ruth! So who are the agents?
ReplyDeleteDetails will follow. But it's a great list! : D
DeleteI am your 300th follower!!! Whew hoo!! I should at least get a balloon.ha
ReplyDeleteThe contest sounds great!
*sounds cannons*
Delete*drapes the floor with red velvet*
*bakes cakes*
Merry Hot Christmas, this is a totally awesome contest. Hope you are deluged with entries!!
ReplyDeleteAhh, so exciting! Count me in.
ReplyDeleteThis looks awesome, Good luck everyone.
ReplyDeleteHey don't look at me, I'm not ready yet. :-)
Eeek! I love Christmas ( : And agents. And Blog contests!
ReplyDeleteBut not queries. Although I suppose I can look past that fact for this blog contest of awesome-ness! Haha!
Also, I am now following you. On account of Michelle said you were awesome, so I figured that means I should probably put you on my blog stalking list. So... HELLO!! *waves* Nice to meet you!
*blush* It's all true : D
DeleteAnd don't worry too much about the query. When you read next week's post, you'll see why : D
This is great! I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI'm in, I'm so very in! :)
This is AWESOME. Thanks so much!! I'm sooo excited; I love contests :) And this one sounds like a big one!
ReplyDeleteWill there be UK agents, or just US ones?
ReplyDeleteMy last contest had two UK agents, so we've tried to change it up this time. There's only one UK agent in this contest, but she's a good one!
DeleteAlso, US agents will take on UK or rest-of-the-world clients (although I can certainly understand it if you're in the UK and want a UK agent).
One is enough! Thank you for the reply. It sounds brilliant.
DeleteOooooooh. *salivates over awesome contest* Thank you for coming up with this!!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an exciting opportunity - thank you. Can't wait to see more details.
ReplyDeleteCan we enter the same book we entered for your last agent judged contest if it didn't make it through to the agent?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Yep :) There were a lot of entries that had a 'maybe' label on them from me, and I had to think of the agents involved at the time. This is a whole different arena. So if you entered and didn't get chosen, or entered and I did pick you but the agents didn't, then feel free to submit again!
DeleteSounds exciting. I was needing something this summer to get me motivated. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLois
P.S. I'm your newest follower.
Welcome, Lois!
DeleteThanks for doing this. Do we need to just have a Query and 500 words
ReplyDeleteavailable or do we actually enter them?
That's what you'll need to submit during the submission window. It's what we'll use to choose which 30 entries we want to work with, and it's what we'll post on our blogs for the agents to see.
DeleteDetails about the submissions will go up on Monday (25th)
:)
So from what I gather, we will enter our query and first 500 words and you will pick which 30 entries get entered?
ReplyDeleteThat's right. Michelle and I will each choose our top fifteen and they'll be posted on our blogs.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for having such a great contest! I know we're all really excited.
DeleteP.s. Any tips? haha
Are we supposed to enter on both blogs? Or pick just one?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Submission guidelines will be posted on Monday 25th June. It will be an email address that both Michelle and I have access to :)
DeleteThis is such a supportive and wonderful thing for you to do! Very excited and looking forward to details. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome!
DeleteWith respect to the first 500 words, is it the first 500 words of the book (inclusive of prologue), or the first 500 words beginning with chapter 1?
ReplyDeleteThat's entirely up to you. If you believe your book needs a prologue and it's an essential part of the story, then send that. Ask yourself what you'd send to an agent if this was their submission guideline. What do you want us to see?
DeleteThanks for including PBs Ruth. That is fantastic news for me. It is generous of you, Michelle and all the agents.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blog Anniversary.
Chitra Soundar
www.chitrasoundar.com
I'm so bummed I didn't know of this sooner. Great idea, by the way.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Jennifer
There will be other competitions :D
DeleteWhen does this start? I'm assuming it hasn't started since I don't see a list of agent names. I hope it's not too late to enter!
ReplyDelete- Brian
When does this start? I'm assuming it hasn't started since I don't see a list of agent names. I hope it's not too late to enter!
ReplyDelete- Brian
I'm following you Ruth. Thanks so much for this. I see there's only one UK agent.Are UK agents not into contests? This question has been bugging me for quite a long time.Would love to know.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth! This is the announcement for last year's contest, but we'll be making an announcement about this year's Christmas in July on the 1st July.
DeleteI think that UK agents are into contests, but since my co-host is Canadian and most of our blog followers are in the US, we tend to cater to that by asking US agents to take part.
I'm English and have a UK agent myself so I can understand where you're coming from. But on the other hand I have friends from lots of different places who are repped by US agents and it certainly isn't a problem.
Sounds like an awesome contest - thank you!
ReplyDelete