The Query Contest of Amazingness

(LiLa wrote this post. I have added some commentary for your amusement.) WriteOnCon is quickly approaching and we hope everyone is as excited as we are to dive in. We've have been completely blown away by all of the amazing content we've received from agents, editors and writers and we can't wait to share it with all of you! (I mean, seriously.)

In the meantime, one of our star panelists, über agent Joanna Volpe (squee!) of Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation, has generously offered to get this party started with a mega query critique contest. (Oh. My. Heck. I see "party" and "mega" and I'm there.)

Get. Excited. (Already am.)

Here's how it's going to work. (This is code for READ CAREFULLY.)

1. Joanna will select three queries to critique on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll post her critiques on the WriteOnCon blog and the Coffey. Tea. And. Literary. blog. These lucky writers will have the chance to revise their query and resubmit it to be considered for the big prizes to come. (Revise and resubmit. Frawesome.)

2. On Thursday August 11th Joanna will select one of her favorite queries to win a ten page critique from both Joanna AND their amazing assistant, Sara. A double-eyed critique! (Holy brown cows. But I think this should be quadruple-eyed critique. Just sayin'.)

3. On Friday August 12th Joanna will select the grande prize winner who will send their query + 20 pages + 2-page synopsis. The lucky winner will get a query critique, a 20-page critique from Joanna AND Sara, and a 10 minute phone convo to discuss the whole sellability of the project and the direction it's going in, plus to answer any questions from the critique. (editorial note: I almost fell out of my chair when I read the description of this prize. AMAZING!) ((I have fallen off my chair. And now I can't get up.))

To enter:
1. Post your query in the WriteOnCon forums here (you can post throughout the conference, but post now if you want to be considered for ALL of the prizes!)

2. Follow the AMAZING Coffey. Tea. And Literary. blog.

Please e-mail writeoncon(at)gmail.com with any questions. Happy querying!

(Dude, you guys! Isn't that awesome?! I hope you know how hard we've been WriteOnConning for you all. This conference is gonna rawk the house!!)

Okay, so go. Post in the forum. And have a great weekend!

One-Sentence Pitching

Okay, so the contest with Chris Richman is coming up. I know putting together one sentence that pitches your book is hard. Terrifying. Chocolate-worthy. Here're some posts that will hopefully help.

Sisters in Scribe did a great post here.

Mary Lindsey gave us some wisdom on the QT blog about the "elevator pitch."

Literary agent, Joanna Volpe, weighed in on pitches here.

Author Michelle McLean gave some insight on writing a logline (repubbed on the QT blog).

I blogged about the high-concept hook here.

Randy Ingermanson analyzes pitches here and here. (Thanks to Nicole for the linkage!)

And what would my pitch be for my YA dystopian novel, CONTROL ISSUES?

In a world where Thinkers brainwash the population and Rules are not meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces in her search for answers about her “dead” sister and not-so-missing father.

Hope something helps! What do you think? Can you craft a single sentence that describes your book? What do you say when people ask you what your book is about? That's your pitch. Make it into one sentence and get ready for the contest!

And so much for only blogging 3 days this week! Sheesh. At least I have nothing planned for Thursday...yet. *grins*

Winner, Winner!

Dude, you guys. Last week was quite the ride, right? I had a great time answering questions and seeing all the enthusiasm for the contest. I could blather on and on just to make your life painful, sort of like Bob Barker on The Price is Right, but I won't.

WINNERS:
Literary agent query critiques:

Kate Schafer (will be posted on her blog, Ask Daphne): EMILY ANN BENEDICT!!

Michelle Andelman: JAMIE HOPKINS!!

Mary Kole: TERRI TIFFANY!!

Michelle Wolfson: VR BARKOWSKI!!

Joanna Volpe: MERISSA MURRAY!!

Woot! Congrats guys! Please email me at elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com for instructions. DO NOT email the agents!

WINNERS:
Ebook From the Query to the Call:
GUINEVERE ROWELL
JOY WIEDER
LIVIA BLACKBURN
TAMIKA EASON
TIFFANY NEAL

Please email me using an email address you use all the time, as I'll be sending you a code to download the Ebook for free. elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com. And hey, if you didn't win, you can purchase your copy of From the Query to the Call for 25% off ($7.50) for the rest of this month. Every buyer gets a free query crititque from me. Discount code: 25percentoff

WINNERS:
Ginormous post-it notes:
CHRISTINA LEE
JENNY TONKS
JOHN SANKOVICH
SUSAN JAMES
KRISTEN YARD

Email me with your mailing address so I can get these out to you. elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com.


A big congrats to everyone! Thanks to the literary agents for their participation and for all of you for making this so much fun to do! Be sure to come back next month as I have something epic planned. EP. IC.

Happy Monday!

Pay It Forward Query Critique Contest

The day has arrived! Today could change your life. Okay, not really. But maybe next Monday.

Because I'm having a contest that starts today and ends on Sunday at 10 PM(MST). Winners will then be chosen and announced next Monday, February 22.

Here's what you can win: A query letter critique.

By whom?

By one of these top five literary agents!

1. Kate Testerman-Shafer of KT Literary (critique will be posted on her blog, Ask Daphne)
2. Michelle Andelman of Lynn C. Franklin Associates (my fabulous agent!)
3. Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency
4. Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency
5. Joanna Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation


Worth entering? You decide. But if you win, one of those agents will be helping you out with your query letter. And who better to do that than the people who read hundreds of them?

I mean, seriously.

In addition to that, FIVE more winners will win a free copy of my eBook, From the Query to the Call, which outlines in great detail how to write a query letter (and other things). All winners--as with all buyers--get a free query critique by me with this eBook.

As if that weren't enough, FIVE more winners will win a package of my all-time favorite writing tools: the super-sticky, super-size Post-it note. I love those things. They're 4x6-inches, so you can really take notes in the middle of the night and stick your scribbles to your laptop. (See photo below -- I missed the "post your workspace" day, so I just decided to include it here. Those Post-it's could be yours! And yes, I constantly work on two computers.)




HOW TO ENTER:
1. You must follow my blog.
2. You must follow Shelli Johannes-Wells' blog.
3. You must fill out the form below. (Lots of ways to earn extra entries--but none of them are required to enter, just follow both blogs, which will earn you 3 entries.)

***NOTE: Shelli is also running a big contest this week, because we're party animals! We're offering extra entries for following each other, but if you're interested in winning the prizes in her contest, you MUST ENTER HER CONTEST. She's having prizes every day with some grand prizes at the end of the week. Mine isn't like that. It's open from now until Sunday night, and then drawings will be held. (This will be my only post this week.)

In other words, if you enter here, you are NOT entered there. They are two separate contests that we're promoting together. Does that make sense? If not, shoot me an email: elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com.



My twitter. My facebook.

Good luck! And have a great week -- I'll be around, but not blogging.

Oh! And if you've made it this far, Shannon O'Donnell is having a contest on her blog. You can win my eBook and a query critique from me--or a $20 gift card! So go enter over there too, okay? Okay.