Query Letter Giveaway!

Okay, so that sounds weird, I know. Like, why would you want to give away your query letter? That's so lame. (Although at times, I wished I could slice my query letter into tiny bits...)

Anyway, since I am feeling all thankful and grateful for a great many things, I've decided to do a pay-it-forward query letter critique giveaway.

Meaning, I have very few things to offer, but I know how to critique a query letter. So if you'd like to have a chance to have me critique yours before this new year starts and you send it out, enter to win!

All you have to do is fill out the form. I will contact you tomorrow. That's right, people! This contest is open for one day only! And there will be 10 winners. (ETA: You can redeem your critique at any time. Now. Later. Whatever.)

So enter away!

FORM HERE.

How awesome this is and/or birthday wishes (that's right! I will be older on Sunday) in the comments. *wink*

Pay It Forward with Partials!

Okay, today is the day you've been waiting your entire life for. Don't think so? Trust me, it is.

Because today, I, along with 4 fantastically amazing writers are doing a Pay It Forward with Partials event! In order to get your partial upgraded to a full, you need to have those first chapters sharp and strong. And we want to help you do that. So today, you could win one of 5 25-page critiques!

Meet the critiquers:

Lisa & Laura Roecker: Ever since Lisa and Laura were born, they've wanted to be conjoined twins, you know, like that Matt Damon movie. So they decided to do it virtually. Thus, LiLa was born, and the sisters actually got surgically joined at the hip in 2009. For realz. What? You think they're two different people? I beg to differ. And with a killer debut called THE LIAR SOCIETY, I think we all know who's right. (Me.)

Shannon Messenger: After her morning hang gliding routine (she launches from the double-Os on the Hollywood sign), Shannon spends her time memorizing all things Harry Potter, deep sea fishing, and inventing new hashtags for Twitter. #truefact But she's looking for a SUB for that so she can be freed up to zip through her next novel. All interested in the position can inquire at her blog.

Sarah Wylie: Born to Brownies (the creature, not the delicious snack cake), Sarah grew up in the wild. Because of this, she has a special place in her heart for Mowgli, living in tree houses, and only using three squares of toilet paper each day. She secretly wishes she could star in "Days of our Lives" (I mean, who doesn't?), the long-running soap opera on NBC. Instead, she wrote an amazing YA novel, ALL THESE LIVES, due out in the Spring of 2012.

P.J. Hoover: Native of "the land down under," P.J. enjoys all things vegemite, surfing, and pink (of course). She cornered the market on telekinesis, and regularly reads people's minds to find out what they're having for dinner. You might check out THE EMERALD TABLET, THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD, and THE NECROPOLIS if you don't believe me.

Elana Johnson: Lover of octopus, mushrooms, and dieting, Elana lives in the isles of the Caribbean, where she sleeps in late, enjoys the undulation of crystalline water, and writes young adult novels perfectly the first time. Her greatest POSSESSION is the fancy home office where she crafts her masterpieces.

In order to win a 25-page critique from me, you have to leave a comment on this post AND be a follower. To win from one of the other lovelies, visit their blogs (linked above) and follow their instructions. All winners will be announced on Monday, November 15--the same day as our next WriteOnCon event!

And seriously, don't you think LiLa is one person? Wouldn't you like to be able to read minds? Have you ever been hang gliding? Lived in the wild? Eaten octopus?

WriteOnCon: The Mother Of All Pay It Forward Events

Dude, you guys. It's time for the next Pay It Forward event. And this time, we've pulled out all the stops.

That's right. I said we. And when I say "we" I mean me, Casey McCormick, Lisa and Laura Roecker, Shannon Messenger and Jamie Harrington. If you're not avidly following all of these people, you so should be. So go follow them. I'll wait. (And they all have giveaways too...)

Back? Okay. Are you ready for the Awesome to the Epic?

It's a...well, I could bore you to death with a written explanation, but luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) we put together a vlog.

Just watch:



But that's not all. I can't just let June go by without a giveaway. (There will be one in July too!) This month's giveaway is also an opportunity for YOU to pay it forward. Instead of giving you extra entries for tweeting, facebooking, blogging, etc., I'd like you to do that of your own free will and desire to pay it forward. Do whatever you want to spread the word about WriteOnCon. I'd be forever grateful.

So everyone will get one entry to win THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN by Josh Berk (who'll "be" at the conference!!).

Someone else will win SCONES AND SENSIBILITY by Lindsay Eland (also a conference presenter).

And yet a third person will win PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt (yup -- she'll be there too!).

You'll need to do a couple of things to enter this giveaway:
1. Watch the vlog.
2. Tell me the last spoken word in the vlog. ENTER IT IN THE FORM BELOW -- if you put it in a comment, you'll be like, killed 'til you're dead. Enter it in the form.



That's it. Decide how you want to pay it forward to spread the word. See that new countdown widget? Click on "Get Widget" and you can put it on your blog or website. Click on it to go to our awesomesauce WriteOnCon website, designed by equally amazing Jen Stayrook. And feel free to post our embarrassing epic vlog on your site as well.








I hope to "see" you at the conference!!!

Oh, and I'm going to be off the blogosphere this week until Friday. We're running a contest on The League blog this week, so go check that out.

Goin' George (Again)

Holy brown cows!! Wasn't the awesome, well AWESOME, yesterday?? I hope you found a lot of books for your TBR pile and entered contests like crazy.

There's no way I'll ever top my post on Friday or yesterday's epicness (yes, it's a word). So I'm not even going to try. I feel like George Costanza in that episode where he's always ducking out of the room at the high point. And yes, I could quote from a Seinfeld episode in every blog post I write. Can't you? (lol!)

But seriously, a huge thanks to everyone who spread the awesome with me yesterday. Otherwise, it would've been me spreading the a--. YOU are what made it awesome. Well, you and some amazing authors.

*cue cheesy music*

And that's my signal to leave.

I just have one question: What should we do in June???

Pay It Forward

As I was chatting with a friend last weekend, she said "Pay it forward." I can't even remember what we were talking about (I'm sure it was uber-important), but I thought it fit in perfectly with the mantra posts I had planned for the week.

So I'm adding it as the fourth part of the mantra.
1. Work Hard
2. Don't Give Up
3. Finish Strong
4. Pay It Forward

Yeah, I saw the movie. Didn't think it was all that special. But the concept is. The idea that you should lend support and help to those around you, showing them what you've learned, teaching them what you know, is made of awesomeness.

It's something I've been trying to do with my critique buddies. The query letters I read for people. The writing advice I've been given from agents. What I've learned in books. All of it.

I'm trying to pay it forward, so the next person who comes along, has the benefit of knowing what I've spent the last two years learning.

What about you? Do you subscribe to this theory of paying it forward? Is it worthy to be the fourth part of the writing mantra?