Contest Ups and Downs

Last week I talked about finalling in the Selling Synopsis contest. This week I'm very, very excited to say that my synopsis won!! Writing a synopsis isn't easy, so to realise I've finally managed to nail the process is a relief.

Luckily my synopsis win took away the sting of not making it past round 1 of the Emerald - category. I seemed to have polarised the judges again with quite varied scores. But that is the nature of contests, it all depends on who reads the entry - much like when you submit it's all in the eyes of the beholder.

Contests are more than a way to get anonymous feedback on your writing, it really does prepare you for the big scary world of submissions. Just gotta nail 'right desk, right time'.

Is that how everyone else sees contests? Or do you get torn everytime an entry comes back with a low score or harsh comment?

Dreaded Synopsis

I don't know of many people who enjoy writing a synopsis - I certainly don't. However, I've discovered that  for me writing a synopsis (no matter how good or bad) is something I have to do as part of my plotting process.

So to find out I've finalled in Romance Writers of Australia's Selling Synopsis contest is a huge thrill. The entry is now in the hands of the finals judge (Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency).

Best of luck to the other finalists:  Marnie Griffith, Kylie Kaden, Cassandra Pennington, Ruth Sutcliffe and Christine Taylor.

Selling Synopsis Finalists

Congratulations to Marilyn Forsyth, Clare Jude, Eloise Shannon (twice!), Christine Taylor and Allison Withers who made the final round of the Selling Synopsis contest. Their synopsis entries are now with Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency for their final judging. Best of luck!!

Competition was a lot stiffer this year - I entered the same synopsis I entered last year and scored an almost identical score but dropped 6 places in the rankings. Like my High 5 I seem to have split the judges with very high scores from two judges being counter-balanced by a low score from a third. Considering I would rather go to the dentist than write a synopsis (in fact, I remember setting aside 2 weeks where I set the goal of writing my synopsis, and it took me the full two weeks to do so), I'm pretty happy with that.

Contests so far...

I've entered both the High 5 contest (the first five pages of any category manuscript) and the Selling Synopsis contest so far this year. I'll be very interested to see how these go, as I have put in two entries in both: a new story and an old one.

I think my newest story shows growth with my writing, so am curious to find out how they go with the judges to see if they agree with me. I'm also curious to see how my old story (which has been entered in these contests previously) fares with different judges.

Seemed like fairly logical reasoning at the time.

The Contest Season is Here

The first RWA contest closes in just 2 days. High 5 is for category writers and requires just the first 5 pages of your mansucript - after all, if these don't capture an editor the rest of the pages won't matter.

Not for you? RWA also has the STALI (single title and loving it), Selling Synopsis, Emerald (judged by readers), First Kiss and Valerie Parv Award. Amongst that mix there's a contest for everyone.

Why enter? There are a number of reasons to enter contests... getting your manuscript in front of an editor/agent if you final, anonymous feedback on your writing and incentive of the deadline.

If you want to know more, visit the contest page of RWA's webpage.

I'm going to be entering some contests again this year - wish me luck!