Friday, February 26, 2010

Tired of Form Rejections?

2/26/2010 08:56:00 PM  Kathleen Ortiz  50 comments

*****The contest is now CLOSED! Please do not e-mail anymore submissions. Thanks to all who participated, and stay tuned for a Tuesday update!******



Tired of form rejections? Want to know why your query didn't land you with a partial request? Want to query an awesome agent?

Check it out guys! The lovely Joanna Stampfel-Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation is my first guest blogger and has one amazing opportunity for you!

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Hey guys!


So I don't know if being snowed in AGAIN has just gotten to me or what, but I had this crazy idea for a contest....

What the Contest is:

Many writers want to know what an agent is really thinking when they pass on a query, right? You want the truth...but can you handle the truth? Well this weekend I will respond to the queries I receive in complete honesty. You may see something as simple as "Not bad, but just not for me." or "I don't represent academic non-fiction." OR you may see something like "I stopped reading when you mentioned that the mailman was a vampire space zombie who has come to deliver a message of PAIN. Because come on...seriously?"

So, if you want the truth, query me tomorrow. Read on for the rules.


Rules:
  • The contest will be open for only ONE HOUR.
  • Queries must be submitted to LiteraryNancy2(at)gmail(dot)com between the hours of noon EST and 1pm EST tomorrow. As in Saturday, Feb 27. Any queries submitted before or after those times will not be qualified to enter and considered only as a regular query.
  • All queries entered must have this in the subject line: QUERY CONTEST - Yes, I can handle the truth
  • If it does not have this in the subject line, it will be considered a regular query only.
  • Queries must be in the body of the email. NO attachments!
  • Queries must be one-page length long, size 12 font. That's ONE PAGE ONLY!
  • No manuscript pages attached or included at all.

I will respond to all queries entered in the contest by Monday at 5pm EST.

Looking forward to it! But are YOU?

JSV

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So that's it guys! Short notice, but I'm sure word will spread quickly. Just be sure to submit entries between the time listed (one-hour block, only!) - not a minute earlier or later! For information on genres she reps, check out her Publisher's Marketplace page.

Good luck! I'll see if I can sucker her into a recap on Tuesday ;-)

~K

EDIT:
You guys had some fabulous questions within the 34 seconds this thing was posted, lol. Here are the answers:
  • Yes, if you've already been rejected you may resubmit your query. Jo will read (if submitted in the correct time frame) and let you know why it's been rejected. Don't say "You already rejected me..." Treat it like you've never queried her before.
  • Your queries will NOT be posted on this or any other blog. Jo will reply to you via your e-mail, only. The only stats I'll post is how many entries she received, what % she rejected and if she requested any.
  • You must treat this as an actual query process, which means you need to have a complete manuscript. Seriously - you wouldn't want to miss out on a partial/full request from Jo just because you queried and didn't have a completed manuscript, right?

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Your reaction: 

50 comments:

This is such a wonderful opportunity! Thank you both to Kathleen and Nancy! :)

*goes to polish query*

This is a completely awesome contest. I'm dying for the truth. What a wonderful opportunity!

I have a small question: Is this contest limited to only those who have a manuscript ready to be submitted? Or is it permissible to send a query even if your ms is not ready yet?

Thank you!

If we've been rejected by Joanna already, can we still submit for the personalized "this is why you didn't cut it" response? Or are we DQed?

You should DEFINITELY have a ms ready, but I'm still going to treat it like a query-and if I want to see it I'll request it!

Awesome contest!!! Funny, I was just typing Sandy's exact question when I glanced up and saw it there. :)

Thanks, Kathleen and Joanna!

I would be happy to see something queried to me before!

This is probably a dumb question but, will she be posting all queries on your blog along with her comments? Or just her comments? I am very excited.

Oooooo I so wish my project was ready to query. Good luck to everyone who has something eligible :)

No queries will be posted on a public forum. It will be answered like a regular query is answered.

This is a great opportunity! My MS is close but not quite there. I tweak my query all the time so that could be critiqued, but since my MS isn't ready...oh well. I had a feeling I'd be out. Everyone that can enter will learn so much!

How will responses to the query be handled? Will it be posted publicly on the blog or will it be sent privately?
Thanks.

This is definitely a great idea. While I'd rather see a form rejection than no response at all, it's nice to find out the actual reason for the rejection. I'll definitely be querying tomorrow. If I can get past the idea of not being able to sleep in on a Saturday, that is. lol

Hi all! Please read the ENTIRE post before posting a question and skim through the comments to see if Jo already answers a Q in the comment section...

Thanks for this great opportunity!! :)

Ummm... This might be the cutest web/blog page I've ever seen!

Just sayin'...

Great contest! Love that Joanna Volpe :-)

Yay! Thanks for this opportunity! :)

My manuscript is contemporary Christian fiction, and it doesn't say on the website if they represent this genre. Should I send my query for this contest?

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What a wonderful opportunity! If we have more than one project ready, can we submit multiple queries? Or is this a one query per person thing? Thanks so much! :)

Aw, my ms isn't query-ready yet, so I'm bummed to be missing out on such an awesome contest! Good luck to everyone else though!

JD - I don't represent Christian fiction, so unfortunately it wouldn't be best for you to query with it.

Please treat this as a real round of queries. Would you query an agent for multiple projects at once? Probably not (or you shouldn't). So pick what you feel would be the best fit for my interests.

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Joanna, thank you for your prompt response to my question. I regret that I won't be able to enter, but I'll spread the word to some writer friends. I hope you'll get some queries that make you want to read more! :)

How wonderful. :) Drat it all, I wish I did not have class all day tomorrow. I do hope you might do this again some time; I admire you (and you actively seek SF steampunk!) and would lovelovelove to have your input.

Very kind! I hope you will have a round 2 some other time. :)

Oh, I just tried to find a way in my email program to set a specific time to send. No such luck. One would think that by now they would have invented that option! Still, this is very kind of you. I will keep my eyes wide open for that next opportunity.

Shonagonchan - do you have a friend/family member you trust to hit "send"? You could always save a draft and have someone just click "send" :)

This is great! Thanks for doing it. And I've finished digging myself out of two feet of snow, so I have no excused not to enter.

Awww, Looks like I will miss out on this one. Still revising the final chapters. Maybe next time ;)

I wish I did, but I live alone. Could train my dogs to do it by tomorrow, or my crow. ;D Seriously, I very much appreciate the suggestion. Hey, maybe school will be closed tomorrow because of the snow. ^_^

This is BAD ASS. We're doing an emergency blog post now to get the word out.

Hi Joanna--I won a query crit from you (very) recently and have been furiously revising with your feedback in mind. Would I be eligible to enter the revised query here tomorrow, even though you just recently saw a previous version?
Thank you,
Merissa

Fabulous contest.

Let's hope my husband isn't hogging the computer tomorrow. I've managed to finally finish my query letter after struggling with it for weeks now and I would love for it to be critiqued.

Does that mean I can't query her about Time Goblins since I have a query but no ms!?!?!?! :)

hahaha. Sorry I couldn't resist!

Wow! What an amazing opportunity. I am so impressed. Joanna, you continue to give writers a chance to become better.

You are the best.

Shelley

I was sent this way by Lisa and Laura Roecker, and you've just gotten a new follower out of the deal! Awesome opportunity! Thank you so much! :D

What a generous offer! Thank you so much.

Thanks so much for the opportunity!

I almost missed this! Thanks so much for this opportunity. Very cool.

I did it! I got out of school early, raced home and sent the query. I'm very much looking forward to your feedback. Thank you!

What a great idea and awesome opportunity! Thank you guys :)

I just heard about this via Twitter and sent mine in with five minutes to go. What an opportunity!

Thanks, for participating everyone! Just tallied up the queries--Kathleen will announce the stats later.

And Suzie, I hate you. hahaha

Hoooray for Kathleen! I can't wait to see how many you got. I know I passed it along to several folks. This was an exciting way to get the weekend rolling.

Thanks Joanna.

Kathleen and Joanna,
Thanks so much for the opportunity. I'm looking forward to reading the stats and getting Joanna's opinion on my query. Have a great weekend and happy reading. :-)

Found the contest to be mis-leading. Wasn't looking for a yes or no answer but rather a why. The contest leads the writer to believe they will be told what's wrong with their Queries -that was not the case. People will be looking for opinions not a yes or no answer.

Writer - It wasn't misleading. Joanna clearly stated she would give a reason, even if it's as brief as "Not bad, but just not for me." or "I don't represent academic non-fiction." OR you may see something like "I stopped reading when you mentioned that the mailman was a vampire space zombie who has come to deliver a message of PAIN. Because come on...seriously?"

Did you put "QUERY CONTEST - Yes, I can handle the truth" as the subject line? If not, she treated it as a regular query, I believe.

If you have other questions, please e-mail me at the Blog e-mail at blog.kortizzle@gmail.com (note, this is not an e-mail to query me - strictly an e-mail for blog issues).

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