Friday, March 16, 2012

Update on the Liz Norris Pay It Forward Debut novel contest!

The contest closed at midnight 3/16/12.  Only one person (so far!) entered after the deadline and had to be turned away.

Other interesting stats: 2 people  3! people had to withdraw because they received offers of representation after sending their entries. That was fun news!  Congratulations!

Almost everyone got it right: query in the body of the email, manuscript attached.  I was very glad to see that.

Only about half of you have ever read QueryShark and thus know not to put your address or mine at the top of an electronic query letter.  I was very sad to see that!



Here's a graph of how the entries rolled in:






We have 416 entries!

We've polished our spectacles, laid in a supply of coffee, bourbon and cupcakes, entered the 24-hour sushi delivery bar on speed dial, and we're

READY TO READ!

20 comments:

Feaky Snucker said...

Geez, that's a lot (Alot hee hee hee) of entries! Good luck to everyone who entered.

Rachel said...

Wow! That's a lot of reading ahead of you!

C. Michelle Jefferies said...

Curious . . .

"Address at top of query" meaning physical address, or a salutation? I'm guessing it's a physical address but not sure. I want to know for future query's if you don't mind.
Thanks, Michelle

Janet Reid said...

It's the address. Dear Snookums is the salutation.

Colin Smith said...

And I was SOOOO tempted to use "Dear Snookums"... :D

Michael Seese said...

It's funny how the mind works. I saw "Only one person (so far!) entered..." and I thought, "I was the ONLY ONE!?!?" Then I read the rest: "... after the deadline and had to be turned away."

Oh well.

As others have said, good luck to everyone.

Regina Castillo said...

Wow! Thank y'all so much for having the contest. It is such an awesome opportunity. Happy reading and I'll sit patiently with my fingers crossed.
Again, thanks and congratulations to Liz!

Regina Castillo said...

Wow! Thank y'all so much for having the contest. It is such an awesome opportunity. Happy reading and I'll sit patiently with my fingers crossed.
Again, thanks and congratulations to Liz!

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Tomorrow...may your cupcakes be green but not your sushi.

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

Good luck to all who entered! And good luck to those who will have to read through them all! Who knows, maybe you'll find all kinds of gems. :)

Anonymous said...

WOW! 416!!! That will require significant amounts of bourbon and sushi.

Joyce Tremel said...

Holy crap! 416! *faints*

Christine said...

Love that graph! I was curious how many entries you'd received, but to see it broken down by day was fun--who knew 3/8 would be such a prime day to enter?!

Enjoy the reading (and coffee, bourbon and cupcakes) and good luck to everyone who's participating.

Tara Tyler said...

writers love a deadline, dont we =)
happy trails!

Janet Johnson said...

Wow that is a lot of entries. Thank goodness for 24-hour sushi delivery!

Best of luck to everyone!

Marsha Sigman said...

Mine just wasn't ready to enter. I suppose it's for the best since it gives other people a shot without you being blinded by my brilliance. Yeah, I said it.

Good luck to everyone!

Shiela Calderón Blankemeier said...

Good luck, everyone! And congrats just on having something to enter.

Mike said...

It isn't midnight on 3/16/12 yet. Is it?

Leona said...

I'm with OTIN on this, It's not midnight on 3/16/12 yet on the East coast of USA... ?? confused why someone's already been turned away??

Jessa Russo said...

@Janet Johnson WHERE on earth do you live that you have 24 hour sushi delivery??? That sounds like a wonderful, magical place!