And no, our account has NOT been hacked.
Watch THIS:
Okay, do we have your attention? Good.
WriteOnCon has teamed up with TheReadingRoom.com to bring you a VERY special contest to kick off the August, 2011 WriteOnCon Conference.
What? A first 500 MG/YA words contest. Grand Prize is $1000 AND an author profile page on TheReadingRoom.com. In addition, your work will be considered for possible representation by literary agent, Catherine Drayton.When? Today.
Why? Because we love you.
So here’s how it works. Click HERE to register with The ReadingRoom.com if you are not already a member (YOU MUST BE A MEMBER TO WIN). Then click HERE to submit the first 500 words of your COMPLETED MG/YA manuscript (ad appears on the right sidebar).
Submissions will remain open until Wednesday, August 17th (the second day of the WriteOnCon conference).
The TOP 5 submissions will be announced on Thursday, August 18th (the last day of WriteOnCon) and posted on TheReadingRoom.com where EVERYONE can vote.
On Thursday, September 8th, The Reading Room and WriteOnCon will host a special LIVE event to announce the GRAND PRIZE WINNER who will receive $1000 cold, hard cash, in the form of a gigantic check in the form of a regular-sized check AND their own author profile page on TheReadingRoom.com. Finally, literary agent, Catherine Drayton, will consider their work for possible representation.
Totally amazeballs, right?
So, really, the only question left is, what would you do with $1000?
P.S.
If you want to help us spread the word by tweeting #IfIHad1000 with a link to this post telling us what you’d do with the money if you win, we would be deeply grateful.
P.S.
If you want to help us spread the word by tweeting #IfIHad1000 with a link to this post telling us what you’d do with the money if you win, we would be deeply grateful.
I’m a little confused about rule #7. The entries become the property of The Reading Room? What does this mean, in the grand scheme of things, that they own the first 500 words of my story if I enter?
Thanks!
(Oh, and the video was hilarious! “Sometime Laura can do math on her feet” – ha ha!)
This so makes me wish I had my manuscript finished! Loved the video
I tried the link to submit an entry and it keeps taking me to a page about literary fiction that refuses to load properly and causes my computer to have a stroke. Is that the correct link to the submission form?
When I hover the mouse over the link, it ends with literary-fiction-books/9
This contest is so epically awesome!
Cheryl – simply scroll down on that page to find the entry details on the right. (Look for the ink splooge)
Gang – the entry on The Reading Room say to enter a 500 word PITCH – not the first 500 words of the novel – can you clarify?
I have an entry prepared for either eventuality.
If I had $1000. . . I wouldn’t be rich – but I would be grateful! Also, I would probably end up doing something lame like pay the electric bill so I can keep writing!
Hey guys, just to clarify, it is your first 500 words. Sorry for any confusion. The Reading Room is worded a bit differently! And yes, the ad is on the right hand side of the page. Hope that helps!!!
Awesome contest. What a great start to the conference.
yea, rule #7 is a bit scary. What does that mean they own the rights? Does it have to say that so they can post the top 5?
I have the same concerns as Sheila and Eliza.
All that means is that The Reading Room has a right to post your 500 words publicly if you happen to make it to the top 5. Don’t worry…they won’t be kidnapping your baby!
AWesome video. You guys are too funny. Loved it! Elana, I’d buy some bacon from ya:)
You guys are awesome! I LOVED the video. And 1000? Sweet! I’m just polishing up the MS and then I’ll enter! Thanks
Could someone kindly clarify a few things concerning the 500-word MG/YA contest?
1) I don’t see a form to fill out, so I am assuming that you send your entry in a separate email to the address provided. Is that correct?
2) If so, should I send the first 500 words as an attachment, or should I paste the words directly in the email?
3) Should my name and address appear or should I just begin with Chapter One?
I can’t text message, so I will state here what I will do if I win: $250 will go toward a child in need. I will spare the details, but it is not good. The rest of the money will go toward writing new stories and, perhaps, a children’s writing conference.
Here’s another question–here at WOC, the instructions seem to be the first 500 words (I assume we can go to the end of a paragraph if need be?) But on Reading Room, it seems to refer to a 500-word pitch.
Which should we send?
Chris,
1) You just send it to the e-mail address provided on the Reading Room site.
2) Pasted into the body is fine.
3) You can just start with chapter one. We shouldn’t need your address but we’ll want to know your name!
Jessica,
Sorry about the confusion. It’s the first 500 words. The Reading Room hasn’t corrected the wording on their site.
Done! A couple of questions though:
1) Who chooses the top 5?
2) Are the entries posted online anywhere or only the finalists?
3) Is there any auto-confirm or anything (yes, writers are neurotic and convinced that their emails never go through…I know this…)
MANY THANKS FOR MAKING A CONTEST OF AWESOME!
So wait, the manuscript HAS to be completed? I mean I plan on completing mine but it’s not done yet…
Does it have to be like totally finished? I’m confused.
Number 7 in the rules is troubling. The way it reads is that the Reading Room gains the copyright of all material submitted to it in connection with the competition. This means not only do they have the right to post the first 500 words of your book on their website (or anywhere else they may choose) but also that you could not publish your book in any form (self-publishing or with a commercial publisher) using those same 500 words without their permission.
I had the same neurotic question as Dana A.
Is there any kind of confirmation or anything? I originally entered the contest using the wrong rule (I submitted a pitch instead of the first five hundred words.) Somebody very kindly wrote me back and told me I’d submitted the wrong thing. I replied with a thank you and the correct submission. Ever since then, I’ve been driving myself crazy wondering if it mailed back to the right spot. haha. Is there anyway I could find out for sure that you guys received it? I don’t want to look like an idiot and enter twice, but I’m not positive it emailed back correctly.
Should we have the whole manuscrpt done before we submit? I understand we submit 5oo words, butbut is it required we have more?
Oh, and if we have mulitiuple manuscrips, are we allowed to send those too? Not one under af ke name or anything, just more than one book.
I have 850 words, would you like me to cut some, or is that ok. I its 500, but i think that the exra words are rather inportant. I am so sorry to bomb you with all these questions.
I’m also curious about multiple submissions. I have read the rules, and I may have missed it, but I didn’t know if we are limited to one submission. Thanks.
Is this only for Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction?
Hey, guys–
SO glad I’m not the only neurotic one! I submitted a week ago, and didn’t receive an auto-response, so I’m wondering if the arrow hit its mark…I’ll check back to see if this topic is addressed over the next few days.
Thanks!
P.S. Don’t know if it’s somehow because we click on a link to open an email dialogue box to enter the contest (?), but my submission isn’t showing up in any of my outboxes! I’ll give you guys a kiss if you can somehow check and confirm my submission….
I am curious about the comment posted by Lee S around rule #7. I am also concerned that the rules read like 500 words of our work will belong to the reading room – has anyone gotten clarity around this? Thanks for the input.
On the link TheReadingRoom.com, right under the contest Icon, there is a statement saying that the author will retain all rights to submitted material.
I sent my 500 words via email, but received no conformation. Is there a way to assure my email was received?
Hi! I plan on entering this contest, but on TheReadingRoom.com today someone asked a question whether it’s the first 500 words or a pitch, and the response as of five hours ago was this: “It is the first 500 words of a pitch or synopsis. Your will be judged on your idea, writing and quality of thought. You only need to submit your entry in PDF format to writeoncon@thereadingroom.com. Please rest assured that you retain all copyright.”
So, according to them still, it’s a pitch and you have to submit a PDF? I have no idea what or how to submit, currently!
Wow! Thanks for this, what a great competition! I’d love to enter, but The Reading Room copyright clause keeps me from doing so. Reading Room states: Competition entries and material submitted in connection with any competition (whether written, audio, electronic or visual form, or a combination of those) or any photographs, video and/or film footage and/or audio recording taken of competitors are assigned to TheReadingRoom.com upon submission and become the property of TheReadingRoom.com which may use the material in any medium in any reasonable manner it sees fit. Copyright in any such material remains the sole property of TheReadingRoom.com.
I see from the comments above that I’m not the only one concerned about this. I don’t think that The Reading Room is trying to swipe our work from us– however, their verbiage states otherwise. Any way to get this clarified?
Under the submission guidelines for the contest on The Reading Room, they changed the wording to say that all rights stay with the author. I feel fine with this, considering the verbage is talking about this specific contest.
I meant verbiage, which isn’t the correct term at all. I should have said, “wording.”
Here’s what TRR says on the sidebar entry guidelines: “NOTE: All copyright in the work submitted remains the property of the author. TheReadingRoom.com makes NO claims to ownership of the copyright.”
Thanks for the help, Rebecca!
Question: Since this is a contest, do they want samples to be anonymous? Or include title page and contact info?
Wow. Each question that gets answered generates several more. I’m so confused!
I understand everything, but, “COMPLETED MS”. My 1st draft is complete at 120,000 words. The term completed ms means “final product” to me. The same question was asked above, but never answered.
Will someone clarify, please:))
Does the first 500 words have to be from a completely written, edited, and “submission quality” ms?
Thank you in advance for your replies!!
Wow, thanks! I’ll probably just send both the PDF and put it in the body of the e-mail to be safe
For those asking if it needs to be completed – an agent will be looking at your manuscript if it wins, so ask yourself if it’s ready for that!
Thanks, Emily! My ms is definitely NOT ready for an agent to look at, so I’ll opt out of this contest. Best of luck to all that enter.
))
I’m excited about this contest. I do have one question though, in the terms it states an entry form must be filled out but I don’t not see one. Please advise.
Thanks,
Quiana