Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

(Whew! I'm finally getting around to posting this - it has been a crazy week, so the list is rather short!)

Writerly News

Turning Rejections into Acceptances: Turn that query frown upside down!

YA Free Reads Alert: The YA Addict blog has posted that Egmont is allowing Michael Grant's Gone, Hunger and Lies to be read for free! (Through October 22nd.)

Your First Chapter: Author Stephenie Perkins' blog post about your first chapter is a good one. Check it out!

Star Crossed Series: Local YA author Bonnie Hearn Hill, author of the Star Crossed Series, has been interviewed at Sarah's blog, The Lovestruck Novice, and will be doing a book signing in Fresno October 23rd!

Contests

10 Smart Questions about the query process & 2011 Guide to Literary Agent Giveaway: The First Novels Club has none other than Chuck Sambuchino as their guest, and he asks (and answers) 10 Smart Questions about the Query Process and is offering a 2011 Guide to Literary Agents to one lucky winner! (Contest ends October 29th)

FREE MONEY: Tahereh is at it again - she's giving away free money to buy shiny new books! Yay!

Where the Truth Lies: Jessica at Confessions of a Bookaholic is giving away a free ARC of Where the Truth Lies. (Contest ends October 26th.)

Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

It's ten o'clock Wednesday night and I'm so behind with Thursdays with Snip it isn't remotely amusing. (I do have a very good reason, which includes not saving the blog post I started yesterday and therefore losing all of the links I was going to share, but whatevs. I won't bore you all with how that happened.) PLUS, I was a terrible blog friend, mentioned Forever's new cover and contest, then never brought it up again! (Bad me! Very bad me!)

So here are the links I could remember:

Contests:

The Forests for the Trees: Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner is giving away five copies of this wonderful book. You can read more about the contest on her blog. (Contest ends Saturday.)

The Never-Ending Scene Blogfest (manuscript/synopsis critique): Brenda Drake is having a cliffhanger contest - post a cliffhanger on your blog, and enter to win a manuscript/synopsis critique (and more) by Cassandra Marshall. Details here. (Entries need to be posted by 8:00 a.m. ET October 25th.)

Shiver/Linger contest: So here's the link to Maggie's blog, where she tells you how to win AWESOME Shiver and Linger stuff. (Contest ends October 19th.)

All White for Twilight: Speaking of awesome, Operation Awesome is holding a All White for Twilight contest to win The Twilight Series books (not available in the US!). According to their blog:

The white titles will only be published between October and Christmas 2010, replacing the usual black jackets. The titles will have crimson-edged pages and crimson back covers, with text confined to the spines.

Check out the contest and more info HERE. (Contest ends October 31st.)

Kidlit: Adventures in Publishing's interviews and contest: Check out the interviews and enter to win newly released books here. (Contest ends Friday, October 8th.)

Writerly News

When it's Not Hot, Passion Can Carry It : Agent Kristin Nelson shared some great thoughts on having passion for a project.

The Answers: Cristi Goddard had an inspirating post about figuring out all of those writerly answers.

Essentials in Women's Fiction: Lydia Sharp posted about how to keep your ideas original when you're writing about baby-making decisions.

Defeating Your Inner Critic: Carolyn Kaufman is on Query Tracker teaching us ways to defeat our inner critic. Check out Part 1: Track the Problem and Part 2: Put the Critic on the Stand

The Query Tracker blog's Publishing Pulse: Lots of great stuff in last Friday's post .

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

Contests

30 and under authors: Narrative Magazine is holding its annual Thirty and Below Contest.

THE DUFF and PERSONAL DEMONS: Author Lisa Deshrochers (Personal Demons) is giving both books away to one lucky winner on her blog! Enter here for a chance to win! (Contest ends September 24th.)

Hungry for Harper Teen contest: Great book giveaways going on at the Hungry for Harper Teen contest.

Critique/Mentorship Opportunity: Angela Ackerman at The Bookshelf Muse is throwing a contest as a thank you for reaching 1000 followers! Check it out here. (Contest ends Wednesday, September 29th.)

Beautiful Darkness ARC: The Page Turners Blog is giving away a Beautiful Darkness ARC & swag. Check this link for the entry form. (Contest ends October 1st.)

Dear Lucky Agent contest (Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy writers): Looking for a crit on your first ten pages? Winner will receive a critique by Marisa A. Corvisiero. Check out the Dear Lucky Agent Contest for more info. (Contest ends October 6th.)

***

News

Speak Loudly - I'm sure by now most of you know about the uproar on the internet over the past few days regarding Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK. If you haven't, please check out the link and show your support!

Looking for an agent? Elizabeth Craig had a great post on thoughts and resources for that very thing!

Deliberate practice can make you a better writer - When do most writers ever practice? Check out this great post by guest blogger Barbara Baig on the Writer Beware blog.

Time Management, Creative Productivity, and Multitasking - Debbie Ridpath Ohi (better known as @inkyelbows) talks about those three very things on her post for the MiG Writers blog.

Gauging Your Story's Marketability - Lydia Sharp at The Sharp Angle had a great post regarding the marketability of your book and making your pitch stand out.

Essence of Setting - The Writers Alley tackles the question, "Is the choice of setting really that important?"

Jane Austen fans, unite! - If you're a fan of Jane Austen, check out the Austen Authors website (comprised of 24 Jane Austen literary fiction authors). They're hosting a launch extravaganza - including giveaways - now through October 6th. (One of them just happens to be my pal, Sharon Lathan! Hi, Sharon!)

Happy Thursday!

Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

Whew! There's been tons of buzz this week! Here's a few I thought I'd share!

News:

Requested Manuscripts -- Agent Sara Crowe give you a look into the requested manuscript phase on her blog, Crowe's Nest.

On Self Doubt -- Author and agent Mandy Hubbard shared her two cents on her blog with Self Doubt... getting it written instead of getting it right.

Rejection -- Need a rejection pick-me-up? Check out A Bestseller's Rejection Story on Dystel & Goderich Literary Management's blog.

How to Write & Sell Fantasy and Sci-Fi Webinar -- Agent Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary is offering a webinar on September 30th. Check out this link for more info.

When Dreams Become Expectations: My favorite of agent Nathan Bransford's posts this week. Check it out here.

Contests:

Amazing Amazingness & Query Critique -- writeoncon is throwing contests galore this week, including a live event and epic giveaway and query critique, here.

ARC, Query Critique, Bookmarks -- YA Author Kirstin Hubbard is throwing a great giveaway! For a chance to win an ARC of her upcoming book, Like Mandarin, a query critique, or signed booksmarks, click here.

Signed copies of Sisters Red or Audrey, Wait! book giveaways - Check it out at See Heather Write (giveaway ends Friday)

Free Books -- Chuck Sambuchino at Guide to Literary Agents is giving away three books - 1) How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack 2) 2011 Guide to Literary Agent 3) Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript here.

(There are many book giveaway contests going on in the blogosphere, good luck to those who enter!)

* Don't forget -- YALITCHAT's Query Kick-Around contest (ends September 30th).

Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

Happy Thursday, everyone! It's been a busy week, so though I don't have much to share this week (normally I'm all over the blogosphere and twitter looking for stuff), what I do have is, I think, pretty good! (Especially the contests!) So, on with the show...

Writerly News

Query Advice: The always insightful Nathan Bransford had a great post Tuesday on How to Deal with Contradictory Query Advice. Great read.

I Should Be Ashamed: As usual, Tahereh has posted something I lurve. If you haven't see the I Should Be Ashamed post yet, check it out here. (You YA writers out there will appreciate it, and those of you who aren't will probably like it too.) And you may as well read her How to Write a Novel post while you're at it. *So* great.

Contests

Free Edit Contest: Cassandra Marshall is holding a free edit contest. Check this link for more info. (Contest ends September 20th.)

Teeth and Bones Editing Contest: The Novel Matters blog is hosting an aptly named teeth and bones editing contest, with the winner to receive a first chapter and synopsis edit by Bonnie Grove. Check this link out for the details. (Contest ends September 17th.)

* NEW: Signed copies of Lisa McMann's Wake, Fade and Gone: Late Bloomer Online is hosting a giveaway to win signed copies of Lisa McMann's Wake series. You can find the contest form here. (Contest ends September 12th)

Personal Demons prize package: Elena Johnson launched a book blog tour yesterday. Check out this link to learn how to be entered in the contest to win Personal Demons.

Decatur Book Festival Giveaway : Heather at See Heather Write is holding a contest and giving away two books -

SISTERS RED by Jackson Pearce or AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway

Thursdays with Snip - contests & news

Happy Thursday! As usual, feel free to add any contests or interesting news in the comments!

Writerly News (Ha ha, I switched the order on you this week!):

* Agents Who Blog - Lia Keyes has posted an awesome, insanely long list of Agents Who Blog, along with great query tips and even Pitch Workshop links (all in one post)! --> quick note... not all of the listed blogs have been updated recently.

* Twitter chat: TONIGHT, September 2nd at 7:00 CST, Kari Olsen of A Good Addiction will be holding a Twitter chat with at least six YA contemporary authors. Check out this link to find out the hashtag she will be using for the chat, along with names of specific authors. (And while you're over there, check out the contests listed at the top of her blog!)

* Operation Awesome: There's some awesomesauce (and a bit of Nutella) being spread over at Operation Awesome. Check it out. If you dare. To be aweseomed.

* If you haven't read Tahareh's Query like Shel Silverstein, you're missing out, my friends.

DL Hammond is on a quest - a quest to get followers from as many countries (and states) as possible. Check out this post to see if you could help him out.

* Check out Lydia Sharp's continuing On Queries, Part 2.

Contests

Query or One page critique:

Getting Past the Gatekeeper (deadline - this Friday at midnight).

YALITCHAT Query Kick-Around Contest (ends September 30th).

Books

* Enna Isilee is hosting a month long birthday bash on her blog, Squeaky Books. Twelve separate giveaways, twelve author interviews... this is one of those contests way too good to pass up! Check out the list of books being given away here.

* Grey Griffins Week Mega Giveaway: Shannon Whitney Messenger is giving away some great stuff this week. Check it out.

* Firelight: Win a signed finished copy of Sophie Jordan's Firelight at [Bloggers [[heart]] Books]. The interview with Will, the main character, and entry form is here.

* Win Books & Coffee: Shannon at Wringing out Words is hosting a contest for, well, a few reasons ! ;) Check out what's up for grabs (copied and pasted from her blog) below:

The grand Prize will be something that no true lover of books, whether it be writing or reading can do without. Coffee. Or, because of the postal system, a Starbucks Gift Certificate along with a copy of book one of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Guilty Pleasures.

Second place is two books from Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld Series, Bitten and Stolen.

Third Place is the first book in Jacqueline Carey’s series, Kushiel’s Dart.

A guest blog will be offered to places 4-6 on my blog, Wringing out Words. And if there are more than 6 people who enter this contest, I may find prizes for places 7-10. Thanks for checking it out and good luck!

Thursdays with Snip

Uh, whoops! Somehow I/Snip got sucked into editing all day, and a few minutes ago I realized I hadn't published today's post!

Contests

Caroline at Carol's prints is having yet *another* ARC giveaway, and this one is in the double digits! Check it out here.

Oh, Hello, CONTEST: Kierstin White's first YA novel, Paranormalcy, comes out next week. To celebrate, Kierstin's having a contest to win a signed copy of Paranormalcy or an ipod, amongst other things. Check out the contest here. It ends September 1oth.

Paranormalcy Party: Natalie Whipple is holding a contest for Kiersten White's book, Paranormalcy, as well. Take a picture of Paranormalcy "in the wild" and enter it to win a full (say it with me, people) manuscript critique. Enter here. Contest ends September 7th.

Holly Cupula has an interview with Beth Kephart, author of Dangerous Neighbors, on her blog, and Beth is giving away a copy of her book. Check out the interview and how to enter the contest here.

Harper Perennial has a few goodreads giveaways going on. Check them out here.

Writerly News

Carolyn Kaufman had a neat post on QueryTracker yesterday about Controlling the Weather in Your Manuscript.

Lydia Sharp at The Sharp Angle blog is posting about *insert nail biting here* queries. Check out yesterday's post, titled On Queries, Part 1.

Nathan Bransford's post on Tuesday discussed The Package of Services Publishers Provide Authors and How This is Changing. Good read.

Happy Thursday to all of you on the west coast, and to you eastern coasters - it's officially Friday already!

Thursdays with Snip - This week's contests and writing tips

I've been informed by Snippy (my alter ego) that she would like to take on the responsibility of the Thursday blog posts. At first I was going to argue about it, but then I realized what a wonderful idea it was. I mean wow! Talk about a lot less pressure! No more worrying about typos, no stressing not finding enough interesting info. And if somehow I forget to do a post one week, it won't be my problem. No one will think *I* let the ball drop, they'll just blame Snip! (I can't believe how smart I am. It's amazing. Really it is.)

So here we go. Hope you enjoy Snippy Snuffulapakins' new column, Thursdays with Snip. (In which Snip shares contests going on in the blogosphere, and interesting writerly tidbits.)

Mega-Epic-Contest-of-Awesome: Shannon Whitney Messenger is holding a contest to give away 5 ARCs. It ends Sunday, August 22nd. Check it out here.

300's contest: While Lydia King is away on vacation, she's holding a contest. Enter to win a set of French-milled soaps, a unique New York City style coffee cup (being from California, I'm just going to take her word for it), or $15 Barnes and Noble gift card. (I'm thinking she needs to go on vacation more often!) Check out the 300's contest here.

A giveaway that's French-ish: *Snip is saying the following announcement in a French accent. She is also eating french fries and french toast*

In honour of BEDISHOA, Steph-y is geeving away zee ver-y last ARC of her debut YA novel, Anna and the French Kiss. (Okay forget the accent. She's terrible at this.) This book doesn't come out until December, so head on over to her blog and take a look at the contest.

Hearts on a String: Darlene at Peeking Between the Pages is giving away Hearts on a String by Kris Radish. Read her review and contest info here.

Saradise ARC Extravaganza - Sara at Babbling Flow is giving away nine ARCs on her blog. Check back with her on Monday to see extra ways to enter.

Free money: No seriously. Tahareh has gone marbles, and I am celebrating (is that wrong?). She's offering $100 on her blog. Have you already thought of the books you could buy with your winnings? I know I have. Check out the contest here. Start thinking of your favorite fictional character - you have until Sunday to enter.

And now for Snip's favorite writerly tidbits:

How to Write a Novel, by Nathan Bransford, has tons of helpful information. Definitely one of those you're going to want to bookmark for referencing later.

The Big 10 issue by Writer's Digest was great. My favorite issue so far. You can download it here. I really enjoyed the 10 Expert's Take on the Writer's Rulebook article. Good points of view on whether or not to follow the "rules".

100 top YA novels for 2010: I came across Persnikety Snark, an Australian blog, last night (or this morning, I guess I should say), and after feeling a little dejected that I hadn't gotten to vote (voting took place in April and May), I propped Henry on my pillow and had a nice time reading the list. Also, my Borders wish list just grew a little longer, which is obviously a wonderful thing. And, if I happen to win Tahareh's contest... *stares into space*

Creating queries couldn't be easier (*laughs at her own joke*) after you read this actually very detailed and helpful article, How to Write a Query Letter, by Ann C. Crispin from Writer Beware.

Happy Thursday, everybody!

**This just in - Nathan Bransford's post for today is How to Write a Query Letter! So between the two insightful posts I mentioned today, and the many other agent/writer/editor blogs out there chalk full of helpful hints, we should all have agents within the next few days or so! *yay*