Why and How to Contest

Why and How to Contest©

Why:
If you read your RWR every month, you know there are a lot of contest out there. But before you enter a contest, you might want to think about what you’ll get out of the experience.

If you have a manuscript or synopsis that you’ve gone over and over (along with your critique group), it’s a good idea to get ‘fresh eyes’ to look at it. Here’s where a contest can help. Make sure you choose a contest that will give you written feed back from multiple judges. Today most contests will have a copy of the judging sheet in advance so you can see what type of comments to expect. Read the score sheet. Carefully.

Some contests only allow unpublished authors. Some contests allow published authors if they haven’t published in a number of years, usually three to five. Some contests allow published authors enter only ms. in sub-genera in which they weren’t previously published. Some contests allow on ms. that haven’t been entered previously.

So be sure to check and double check all the rules and regulations of the contest.

Choose a contest that has a category for your type ms. Check the entry form and rules for every contest that seems likely, then choose the best contest for your needs.

The contest’s ‘fresh eyes’ can find holes in your story that you (or your critique group) might overlook because you are so familiar with the work. If money is no object, you might try out two different opening/hooks to see if one was better received.

I really like synopsis contests, as they generally cost lest money and are shorter. I found this to be a great help with synopsis, as it can help you decide what information to cut (if too long) or punch up the motivation that you know, but the reader didn’t see in the synopsis. I always wanted to make sure my story would hang together before I spent my time and effort to write the complete ms.

If you think your manuscript is pretty good and you have a good chance to win, enter it in a contest where the top judges are editors of the line you are targeting. Just finaling in such a contest gets your ms. to the editor. Then when you write your thank you notes, you can ask if they’d like to see the ms. And even if they don’t buy it, when you thank them for looking, ask if they want to see something else. If they aren't buying now, they will in the future, and they've seen your name and your work. You can always query later.

If you win or place in a national contest, then be sure to mention it in your cover letter to editors and agents.

If you’re already published, there are now plenty of contest for published works.
If your previously published work placed/won in a contest, this might look good if you want to ask for a larger advance, are trying to change lines or houses. And again, if nothing else, placing or winning shows the quality of your work.

How:
Choose a contest that suits your needs. Send for the entry form and rules. Read the rules carefully. Read them again. Make sure you enter your ms. in the correct category.

Check the scores sheet and make any adjustments in your ms. Let me repeat that, check the score sheet and make any adjustment in your ms. If there are scores for the hero, and in your 25 page submission, the hero appears on page 20 -- you're probably not going to get max points for the hero.

For example, in my ms. which has finaled in several contests, I cut out the paragraphs where the Hero finds a cat in the barn - this is important as it foreshadowing and the cat plays in important part later -- however, by cutting this section from the contest entry, it allowed me to fit more page time between the Hero and Heroine in the contest page count.

Make sure you send exactly the material requested, and with the proper postage/envelope for return. And many contest today are on-line, so there is no postage. If it’s an on-line contest, make sure you send your entry to the correct address/category coordinator.

When you get your entry back, be sure to write thank you notes to the judges and contest coordinator. It’s a lot of work, and they deserve your ‘thank you’. You can address you thank you to Judge #whatever and send it to the contest coordinator to be forwarded. Don’t forget the contest coordinator, they deserve a big thank you.

In your thank you note, be sure to mention the title of your entry, so the judge/coordinator can know who said thanks.

Read over all the judges’s comments. Read them again. Did they point out the same problem/areas of concern?

If they liked your ms. - then celebrate. It’s always nice to hear good things about your writing.

If you got negative comments - put them away and do the following steps:

1) Sulk for one day and eat two chocolate bars.

2) Write.

3) A week or so later, get out the comment and read them over again.

See if maybe there are some comments that will help you better your ms. After all, you paid money for their opinion.

I once got back a score of 168 and 68 from two judges, but their comments were almost identical. But that's the way it goes.

My ms. that became Kentucky Green won a contest for unpublished ms. And later in a contest for published books, finaled in Best Historical and Best First Book - winning Best First Book. So contests can be a big help in your writing.

Remember, contest judges are subjective – but then so are agents and editors. This is worth repeating - Remember, contest judges are subjective - but then so are the agents and editors.

Take any comments you think will help your writing and ignore the rest.

Good luck and keep writing.

The Dreaded Synopsis

by Ann Lethbridge

Last time on this blog I talked about what I am hoped to see in a contest first three chapters. This time I promised to talk about the dreaded synopsis.

I am not at all surprised by the terror many people show when the S word is mentioned. I still struggle with them, even though I have five books published and now write my stories only on proposal i.e. all my editor sees before she buys a book, is a synopsis. So I guess they had better be good enough for her to want to buy the book. I think one of the most important bits of help I ever received was from my editor. She asked “What is keeping them apart?”

Most stories have a plot or they wouldn’t be a story. Writers of romance novels have a much harder time than a writer of mystery for example. You have to write two plots. The story plot and the romance plot. And for each of those stories, there has to be tension and conflict and resolution.

What I often see in synopses I judge, is the romance taking second place to the story plot. It is mentioned here and there, they start liking each other, they go to bed, it all ends happily ever after when they realize they should be together.

If you want to catch an editor’s eye, the romance plot has to drive the story. Why they can’t be together needs to drive why they take certain steps and actions as they move through the external plot.

I have a published friend who can make me cry when I read her black moment and her resolution in her proposal synopsis. If you can do that, you are going to hook an editor. This requires focus on the relationship and reason to care about the characters. And why, after all they have gone through, they cannot be together and how that is resolved.

I usually try to wind up my story plot, the solving of the crime, the identification of the bad guy, the achieving of the goal and have it actually be the worst moment in the relationship. They solve the problem and all is lost. Then you have to bring them back together in their romance plot.

One way to see how you are doing with balance between plot and romance plot, is to highlight your synopsis. Blue for everything related to the external plot, pink for everything to do with the romantic plot. Be honest now! In a five page synopsis one would expect to see very little in pink among the blue at the beginning, the initial denied attraction, maybe, then a kiss, and some more denial. Around page 3 pink and blue should be about even, working together, still aware that it can’t be, but being swept up in a relationship that they are fighting, with the reasons they are fighting it and what the dire consequences are if they give in. Meanwhile, they are dealing with their external events. Around the middle/end of page four you might see the end of blue altogether and the rest of the synopsis is all pink, the black moment of why they can never be together and the resolution. Of course the external plot can go right to the end, but the relationship has to be there with it.

If you counted up the lines there might be more pink than blue, or maybe the same amount, but if you have a lot more blue than pink you may not have a romance synopsis. I am not saying you haven’t written a romance. I am saying you haven’t presented it that way in your synopsis, the only thing the editor will read, apart from your first three chapters, - where you are still getting going with your external plot.

Other things you should consider when writing a synopsis.

Start with a hook that ties to your character’s inner conflicts. Here are the first lines from my first two synopses for Harlequin.

• A play-it-by-the-rules nobleman, Christopher Evernden inherits his uncle’s Courtesan.


• Down-on-her-luck, Lady Eleanor Hadley takes to the High Toby where the one man who can ruin her steals a kiss.

Try to mention as few characters as possible. The hero, the heroine and the bad guy if there is one (or what ever they are struggling to overcome in the external plot). Too much detail takes away from the romance, which is tea for two, not a garden party.

Hit only the main high points of your external plot. You can leave out huge swaths of detail as long as you can show the points of conflict between your couple. Be specific. Write in the present tense. Make sure you keep it as short as you can.

Good luck. As a special prize, I will throw the names of the commenters’ who express interest into a hat – to win feedback on your synopsis to be sent to me within two weeks of this blog.

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Ann Lethbridge’s book Wicked Rake, Defiant Mistress is available for preorder at
e-Harlequin, Amazon.com and at chapters.indigo.ca and many other places.

It will be in stores on May 1.




Also coming May 1, the related Undone short story available on e-harlequin on May 1 The Laird and the Wanton Widow