Last Day for Query Contest Entries

October 31, 2009 in Site Stuff | 5 comments

Hear ye, hear ye! You better be scared this Halloween because it’s the last day you can enter my Query Contest! If you’ve been under a pumpkin all month, I’m giving away a 30-page (or full picturebook mss.) critique to the best picturebook, MG or YA query.

I’ve gotten loads of entries so far and glanced at a few… they look great! The deadline is the witching hour (midnight) tonight, October 31st, Pacific time. You can find out all about how to enter on my Kidlit Contest page!

Once I close the contest for submissions, I will take a few days to read all the entries. Since I’ve gotten so many, I think I’m going to do the following:

Grand Prize Winner: 30 page critique
First Place: 20 page critique
Second Place: 10 page critique
Third Place: 5 page critique
Honorable Mention(s): A critique of the first paragraph of your novel (or the first 3 sentences of your picturebook) up to 500 words.

Winners will be announced here starting on November 4th with a post a day. Starting with the Honorable Mentions (November 4th) then going to 3rd place (November 5th), 2nd place (November 6th), 1st place (November 9th) and finally, the Grand Prize Winner (November 10th). Each post will analyze the winning queries so that you all can see what the components of a successful query are.

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  1. ChristaCarol’s avatar

    ChristaCarol on October 31, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Wow, Mary, you’ve out done yourself! I’m impressed and we’re all so fortunate. Thank You!

  2. Brandi’s avatar

    Brandi on October 31, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    This truly was a great contest. I hope the winners realize just how lucky they are. I’d sell a darn kidney to win a critique from you — and I hate needles! lol.

    Thanks again. This was a great experience!

  3. Karen Collum’s avatar

    Karen Collum on October 31, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    Oooooh, I can’t wait!! Thanks so much for expanding the ‘prize pool’ as well. It’s going to be great to get a glimpse of what the successful queries are like. I’m really looking forward to it.

  4. Ashley Cooper’s avatar

    Ashley Cooper on November 1, 2009 at 8:47 am

    I can’t wait to read the queries and critiques. I think it will be very helpful for future query writing. Thanks Mary.

  5. Patricia Puddle’s avatar

    Patricia Puddle on November 3, 2009 at 5:45 am

    Ooooh, goody, goody, gumdrops. I can’t wait either.

    What an exciting contest. Thanks for the opertunity, Mary.