The first one, which is a scholarship to the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar in NYC (you can read all about the contest here), requires you to send in the first two pages of your ms. Pretty simple, right?
Contest number two states you must send in 20 pages of your ms (a little more details can be found here). The 20 pages can be taken from the beginning, the middle, it doesn't matter - pages from wherever the author chooses. Which at first I thought was really neat, because I have a few specific parts that are my favorite. (I am assuming this is normal, correct?)
The problem with the second contest is - the pages I would love to submit are areas in the story line that would totally and completely give away the plot. (And who wants to give away the plot of a story that is *hopefully* going to be published eventually?) If you had the option to spend money on just one movie ticket, and someone told you all about the highlights and best parts, and maybe even the ending of a specific movie, would you still go see it? I don't think I would. Most likely I'd pick a different movie to watch - one I would find entertaining and still suspenseful.
So that is my dilemma. Contest number one will just require polishing my first two pages, and making sure I'm done with the ms by September 4th-ish. Oh - and writing a darn good query letter. *insert butterflies in my stomach and most likely lots of hair pulling here*
But contest number two is the one I really want to enter - only I can't decide what to do about the whole page thing. Help.
2 comments:
Enter the second contest. At most, your pages would be seen by half a dozen people. But even if they were seen by a hundred, that's pretty small potatoes compared to the number of readers who would see it after publication. Plus, the more pages you submit, the more meaningful the comments from the judges will be.
Kari Lynn Dell
http://www.montanaforreal.blogspot.com
Hey, Jessica! I nominated you for an award on my blog! Hope it makes you smile!
I understand your dilemma. I have the same one, and opted for the bigger "prize"--a book contract--in place of the contest. I'd rather have my book published than win a contest that makes that prize impossible. Still, the waiting on this end kind of stinks. :0)
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