May Contest Update

Today we're going back. Way back to Unpublished Island. First a little history lesson.

The Seekers are all contest winners and finalists who collided on the contest road. When we met in August of 2005, NONE of us were published. Our plan was to pray each other off Unpublished Island. We did! In 2011 the last Seeker left the island!

So the Contest Update isn't simply a fun feature of Seekerville. We know it's an important part of the journey!
 

 Published Contests


 Annual Published Maggie Awards. Deadline May 8.

Aspen Gold. Deadline June 1. 

Heart of Excellence Readers Choice Awards. Deadline June 8. Eligibility: Copyright 2013/Self-published works accepted. 50,000 min. length.

  Unpublished Contests

Golden Claddagh. Deadline May 10. Open to unpublished authors and published authors with unpublished  manuscripts. Entry consists of the first 30 pages.Your entry does not have to be Celtic based to enter.
 
FF&P
Angela James – Carina Press
Kerry Buckley – Carina Press
TBA

Historical
Laurie McLean – Forward Literary, Inc
Beth Miller – Writers House
Leis Pederson – Berkley Publishing

Contemporary
Julie Mianecki – Penguin Books
Alissa Davis – Carina Press
Elizabeth Bistrow – Penguin Books

Young Adult/New Adult
Nicole Fischer – Avon Press
TBA

 
The Molly. Deadline May 30. Entries are to be up to the first 25 pages (including prologue) PLUS up to 5 pages of a synopsis. (The synopsis is not judged, but is helpful in helping the judges score your entry.)

Contemporary: Sue Grimshaw – Editor At Large  Loveswept
Historical: Gwen Hayes, Editorial Director of Scandalous, Entangled
Paranormal/TimeTravel/Futuristic: R. Leis Pederson, Editor, Berkley Publishing Group
Young Adult: Patricia Riley, Managing Editor of Spencer Hill Press
Single Title/ Mainstream:  TBD 
Romantic Suspense: Nicole Fischer, HarperCollins
Unsinkable Heroine: Celina Summers, Editorial Director Musa Publishing
Heart of Molly (Member-Only Award): Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich Literary 



Emerald City Opener. Deadline May 31.Entry: Your novel’s opening hook – The Opener – is what attracts an editor or agent- enter the first seven pages of your manuscript.

 Final Round Judges: Agents & Editors attending the Emerald City Writers’ Conference October 17-19, 2014

Contemporary: Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary
Romantic Suspense: Eric Ruben of the Ruben Agency
Historical: Holly Ingraham of St Martin’s Press
Paranormal: Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary
Young Adult: Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
New Adult: Leis Pederson of Berkley




 Lone Star. Deadline June 8. Entry consists of the first 25 pages.Open to both unpublished and published authors. Unpublished may enter any category. Published may enter any category in which they’re not published, or in which they’ve not been contracted for five years.
 

 Contemporary Series: 
Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Editor:  Piya Campana, Harlequin
Epublisher Tara Gelsomino, Crimson Romance
 
 Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal:  
Editor Junessa Viloria, Random House
Editor Brenda Chin, ImaJinn Books
Epublisher Chris Keeslar, Boroughs Publishing Group
 
Historical / Regency: 
Agent Holly Lorincz,  MacGregor Literary Agency
Epublisher Allison Byers, The Wild Rose Press
Epublisher Debby Gilbert, Soul Mate Publishing
 
Inspirational:
Agent Kimberly Shumate, Living Word Literary Agency
Editor Raela Schoenherr, Bethany House Publishers
Epublisher Nicola Martinez, Pelican Book Group
 
Romance Novella:
Editor Lauren Plude, Grand Central Publishing
Epublisher Alycia Tornetta, Entangled
Epublisher Cindy Davis, The Wild Rose Press
 
Romantic Suspense:
Agent Jessica Alvarez, BookEnds, LLC
Editor Alicia Condon, Brava (Kensington)
Epublisher Char Chaffin, Soul Mate Publishing
 
Single Title:      
Agent Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, Foreword Literary Agency
Editor Katherine Pelz, Berkley Publishing Group (Penguin Group)
Epublisher Pat van Wie, BelleBooks
 
Young Adult:  
Agent Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency
Editor Niki Flowers,  BelleBooks Inc.
Editor Annie Stone, Harlequin 

Unpublished Maggies now open!  Deadline:  June 10, 2014 by 10 p.m. (EDT) Entry to consist of synopsis and prologue (if applicable) and first chapter(s). Total number of pages may not exceed 35 per entry.

Single Title Romance
Esi Sogah-Senior Editor, Kensington Publishing

Contemporary Series Romance
Megan Long-Associate Editor, Harlequin Superromance

Inspirational Romance
Raela Schoenherr-Editor, Bethany House

Historical Romance
Katherine Pelz-Assistant Editor, Berkley

Paranormal Romance
Lauren McKenna-Executive Editor of Galley/Pocket

Young Adult
Holly Ingraham-Associate Editor, St. Martin’s

Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
Ellen Edwards-Executive Editor, NAL/Penguin

Erotic Romance
Kelli Collins-Senior Content Editor, Ellora’s Cave

 Indie & Other Contests

The Howies.Deadlines for all contest submissions, except for the Total Package, is July 31st at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The Total Package entries must be received by June 30th, 11:59 EDT.


I Heart Indie Contest. Deadline June 1.



Wow! Women on Writing Spring 2014 Flash Fiction Contest. Deadline:May 31.

Word Count:Maximum: 750, Minimum: 250 The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. We are open to all styles of writing, although we do encourage you to take a close look at our guest judge for the season (upper right hand corner) if you are serious about winning. We love creativity, originality, and light-hearted reads. That's not to say that our guest judge will feel the same... so go wild! Express yourself, and most of all, let's have some fun! Entries limited to a maximum of 300 stories. Please enter early to ensure inclusion. The winner not only gets cash and goodies but an agent read! The guest agent judge is Literary Agent Sally Apokedak.



Our May Contest Diva!

2014—Great Expectations, Inspy—First Place
2013—ACFW Genesis Finalist, Contemporary
2013—Category 5, Contemporary—First Place
2013—Duel on the Delta, Inspy—First Place
2012—ACFW Genesis Semifinalist, Women’s Fiction
2011—ACFW Genesis Finalist, Women’s Fiction
2007—ACFW Genesis Finalist, Romantic Suspense

In 2005 I entered the Genesis. What an amateur I was! Story One got bled all over by the wonderful Rose McCauley. I’ve never forgotten her because her critiques were right and she was so encouraging. Thank you, Rose!

When Story Two finaled in 2007, I was stunned. One final judge loved the entry; the other didn’t. I could not have gotten two more opposite scores. What could I do with that feedback?

Life pushed writing aside until 2011 when I entered the Genesis again. I made the semis and was thrilled—until I saw my scoresheets. Two judges didn’t like my entry, and one told me to scrap the plot and start over.

But this was the same story that finaled in ’07—and it was far better now. Here I was a semi-finalist—and so discouraged! Probably the last to make the cut, I began to doubt that I knew anything about writing. I was done with contests. It was too hard.

Then I finaled.

Two second-round judges replied to my thank you, one of them a big name. Her reply motivated me to keep going.

I entered the Genesis in 2012 but didn’t final. That was the year everyone and their pseudonym entered because it was the last year for partials.

So I entered 2013 not sure what to do. While on vacation, I read the Seekerville contest update, and it hit me like I’d never seen it before. Here were all these contests, most of them smaller than the revered Genesis. What if I entered Story Three in a bunch? I’d been getting such mixed feedback from one contest once a year. What if I got more eyes on my story? Maybe that would help me decipher the feedback.

Boy, did it.

Feedback from the Delta contest came as I made the Genesis semis. I applied feedback from both contests to my Genesis entry in case I finaled and entered that version in the Category 5.

Feedback from Category 5 came after I made the Genesis finals. I took that feedback and later the final Genesis feedback and revised my story again. In late 2013, I entered it in the Great Expectations contest.

What blew me away was that with each contest, my scores improved. With every single round of revisions.

For the first time I had feedback from more than three people. When one judge says something, it’s easy to dismiss it. But when three out of ten judges point something out, it’s an issue. The multiple contests helped me get honest perspective and pinpoint what was one person’s preference and what needed to be addressed.

Now I’m routinely getting excited feedback when people read my work. Like the toothpaste commercials, I can honestly say that nine out of ten readers love my opening chapters! I’ve learned so much from contests—technique, style, and confidence—and I know my opening chapters would not be where they are today if I hadn’t entered that first chapter in a handful of contests.

So go. Enter. Enter lots. Enter for the feedback, not the prestige. And who knows if the awards start filing in!

~~~~~

The prize vault is open...


One commenter will win a print copy of Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View. 

And FYI, you can still sign up for the May Seekerville Night Class, Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View with Jill Elizabeth Nelson. 

Let us know you want this prize in the comments.

Another commenter will win a copy of Ruth Logan Herne's Loving the Lawman in print or Kindle.

 Let us know you want your tiara or scepter thrown in for a chance!


That's it. Now go forth and contest!