Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Contests

Okay...I finally DID IT! I submitted my prologue & first chapter into a contest. A friend who is published suggested I at least try 2 contests, The Molly and The Dixie ~ First Chapter. There have been many debates and opinions regarding contests - the pros and cons. My reasons against consisted mostly of the fact that it is an expensive critique. I finally broke down and submitted because I am interested in what others outside of my critique group have to say. RAH is a very talented, intelligent and creative group of gals, but I am almost ready to submit to a publisher and would like all possible eyes to tell me if I am ready.

Which brings me to a con. One of the complaints I've often heard is the variance of critiques between judges. But The Dixie contest has a specific plan in place for this problem. Contest participants are required to submit an extra copy of the ms for disparity judging if needed. What bothers me is wondering how qualified the initial judges are. Are they published? Does that matter? I don't think so. But it is still an expensive critique.

So. I decided to at least try a few, just on the chance that if I final I can use the info as a reference in my query letters. I am scared to death to do a bio in my queries and simply say...well I want to be published because it is my dream. Yeah, me and hundreds of thousands of other people.

So. Here goes.

4 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

Way to go, Chelle!!

Good luck!!

Unknown said...

Entering a contest is such a big step - putting your work out there takes guts and confidence! Congrats and good luck, I'll be rooting for you.

Chicki Brown said...

I waffle back and forth about contests -- whether or not they're valuable or not, but I always end up entering anyway!

There's a great article about writing a bio when you're an unpublished author. I'll e-mail it to you.

Chelle Sandell said...

Thanks so much guys! What finally made me do it was, an editor of the line I'm targeting is the final judge. It's hard to pass up the chance. She has said that she likes finding new talent through contests. I know I'll be up against some amazing talent but I hope to catch someone on my lucky day. LOL.