Sunday Is the Last Day for Contest Submissions

January 30, 2010 in Site Stuff | 21 comments

Alright. It’s down to the wire. Today is the LAST DAY for Kidlit Contest submissions. You can find the contest page, with entry instructions, by clicking here. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. tonight, Pacific time. Seriously. My email time stamps, so all entries that arrive after that will be deleted unread.

So far, there have been over 400 entries. I usually take a week to judge a contest but seeing how I’m at a conference right now, have another conference in two weeks, have lots of manuscript requests out and, you know, the usual client business to attend to, it might actually take me a bit longer to judge because of the overwhelming response.

I’ll keep you all updated and thank you so very much for your entries. Winners will be announced as soon as possible, but definitely by the end of February.

Thank you again, and see you at the SDSU Writers Conference if you happen to be here this weekend!

ETA: WHOOPS! Yes, this post was set for Sunday, the 31st, not Saturday, the 30th. Sorry all!

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  1. Jackee’s avatar

    Jackee on January 30, 2010 at 7:47 am

    Good luck to everyone!

  2. Rachel’s avatar

    Rachel on January 30, 2010 at 8:21 am

    Wow, 400 entries! What a great response. Thanks for doing this, I know we are all pretty hyped.

  3. mary’s avatar

    mary on January 30, 2010 at 10:24 am

    Oh, I wish I could enter, Mary! I am so close to having a finished manuscript (just under the 60,000 word count, with perhaps 10,000 words to go). But I’m not actually finished, so I can’t enter. Will you be doing another contest like this one soon?

    I am here from jongibbs’s livejournal, btw.

  4. Stina’s avatar

    Stina on January 30, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    Wow, you will be busy. I guess everyone did a great job promoting it. :D

  5. Piper’s avatar

    Piper on January 30, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    I thought tomorrow was the last day? Is this another post hijacked by your auto-poster? :)

    Thanks again for giving writers so much of your time.

    P

  6. Helen’s avatar

    Helen on January 30, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    Eeep! Thanks for the reminder! And thanks for the contest.

  7. Catherine Denton’s avatar

    Catherine Denton on January 30, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    Thank you for giving this opportunity.

  8. Jen Steffen’s avatar

    Jen Steffen on January 30, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    I’m looking forward to the results, (even if I’m not among them.) I was just wondering where am I supposed to read and comment? I’ve looked all over your site and haven’t found that spot yet. However you have it listed as a requirement for entering.

  9. Jessica Capelle’s avatar

    Jessica Capelle on January 30, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    I was wondering the same thing too Piper, since the original post says tomorrow by 11:59pm. Guess I’m going to hustle to get mine prepared tonight!

    Thanks for the contest Mary!

  10. Jessica’s avatar

    Jessica on January 30, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    Thanks for clarifying that today, which is Sunday morning as I post this
    is the last day. Whew!

  11. Jeanette@Bliss’s avatar

    Jeanette@Bliss on January 30, 2010 at 11:51 pm

    Whew, you scared me. I thought I’d have to hurry and submit really quickly. Now I can collect myself and enter tomorrow. I just found your blog from others who have entered the contest and I’m excited to be a part of it. Thanks for the work you do on this blog and for having this contest. So fun.

  12. Cheri Williams’s avatar

    Cheri Williams on January 31, 2010 at 12:21 am

    Wow! What a great response. I’m sure the results will be well worth the wait!

  13. Naomi Canale’s avatar

    Naomi Canale on January 31, 2010 at 2:12 am

    Wow, you now have a big book to read! That’s amazing, 400 entries.

    Thanks Mary and good luck everyone.

  14. Brian Higginson’s avatar

    Brian Higginson on January 31, 2010 at 7:30 am

    Like Jen Steffen I’m looking forward to the results. It would be frascintating to read the winners and at least some of the comment. It’s such a great learning exercise for writers. Maybe the scariest thing is reading the first 500 words of your novel out of context and saying - does this hook the reader. I guess that’s what makes a great writer - where the first 500 words grips the reader so hard they just have to carry on. After all, that’s how most of us choose a book isn’t it? Look at the cover (I know, you shuldn’t judge a book,….) read the blurb, then skim the first couple of hundred words. Do I want to spend time in this world with this character solving this problem? No? Put it back, there’s thousands more where that came from. Scary thought, but one that focuses the mind.

  15. C.J. Cannino’s avatar

    C.J. Cannino on January 31, 2010 at 9:15 am

    Hey Mary:
    Thanks for sharing your blog, it’s fabulous! It was great meeting you yesterday, you’re so funny! Your sense of humor was a total bright spot in room of mostly dark agents. I’m the wierdo with the black hat who wrote you the handwritten note after the workshop… don’t worry I’m not a stalker author! I want to subit my MG novel but it’s nothing like the stuff you read yesterday. Should I anyway?

  16. Anola Pickett’s avatar

    Anola Pickett on January 31, 2010 at 11:16 am

    This contest is a wonderful opportunity for writers, proven by the fact that you’ve received 400 entries and probably more will come in today. Thanks for offering this contest, Mary!

  17. Danyelle Leafty’s avatar

    Danyelle Leafty on January 31, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    Thank you, and good luck to everyone!

  18. Shevi’s avatar

    Shevi on January 31, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    I submitted four contest entries in the last hours, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. Wouldn’t be surprised if the final number is over 500.

    Hope you find something that speaks to you, Mary, something that moves you, makes you laugh or cry or both, something that makes you can’t wait to share it with editors and the rest of the world. I hope it’s one of mine, but even if it isn’t, I wish the winners and all those who entered this contest much success.

  19. Shevi’s avatar

    Shevi on January 31, 2010 at 11:51 pm

    I’m starting to worry my entries, or some of them, might be time stamped after midnight since I sent them after midnight on the east coast. I know that’s well before midnight PST, but…I just don’t know if it’ll be time stamped that way.

  20. Michaele Stoughton’s avatar

    Michaele Stoughton on February 1, 2010 at 5:30 am

    I’ve been worrying the same thing as Shevi. I hope the time stamp between east coast and west coast isn’t a problem. *fingers crossed*

  21. Stina’s avatar

    Stina on February 1, 2010 at 6:08 am

    You should be fine, Shevi and Michaele. My old crit partner used to live in China. She would email me something and it’d be time stamped according to my time. But when I replied to hers, the time in the message she sent me would be a day a head of me.