SMOKE CITY NARRATORS ANNUAL NOVEL PITCH & 1st FIVE PAGES CONTEST
** CONTEST OPEN INTERNATIONALLY **
2010 WINNERS
1st - $150: HitChick - David Paul Williams, Bellevue, WA Pitch: "Mandy Ryan savors the flavor when she pops the cork of the man who had her mother killed--HitChick, a tale of revenge served chilled."
2nd - $75: The Edge of Hunger - Elizabeth Boyd, New Westminster, BC, Canada Pitch: "A young woman with an eating disorder follows her boyfriend to France to escape strained family relationships, but finds something unexpected."
3rd - $40: Beyond the Pale Shadows Mary Ogden Bryan, Lawrenceville, GA Pitch: "A Southern girl during the World War II era struggles to find out the truth about her deceased mother."
(Alphabetically by Title):
HM: Bleeding
Hearts - Ash Krafton,
Barnesville, PA
HM: Memoirs of the Queen of Poland - Linda C. Wisniewski, Doylestown, PA PITCH: "Regina, a nineteenth
century Polish peasant woman accidentally time travels to the present day world
of Kat, a bored and disillusioned feminist."
HM: Ways into Darkness - Margot Walker, Renton, WA PITCH: "Neveah Sunder lives in a
world divided--dark, light; jungle, desert; choice, fate--where the only way to
save her people is to betray them."
2010 SEMI-FINALISTS
The Bear Room-- Eric Drewes, Birmingham, AL Beyond the Pale Shadows-- Mary Ogden Bryan, Lawrenceville, GA The Bishop's Curse- Raff Ellis, Orlando, FL Bleeding Hearts-- Ash Krafton, Barnesville, PA Charlie and Lil -- Mary O'Dell, Louisville, KY Circles in Time-- Trilby Plants, Murrells Inlet, SC Creature of Night and Fog-- Steve Gordy, Aiken, SC Cyrus Longbones and the Curse of the Sea Serpent-- Jeremy Mathiesen, Burnaby, BC, Canada Darwin on U.S. 60-- Lewis Donohew, Englewood, FL The Edge of Hunger -- Elizabeth Boyd, New Westminster, BC, Canada HitChick-- David Paul Williams, Bellevue, WA Memoirs ofthe Queen of Poland-- Linda C. Wisniewski, Doylestown, PA Promises of Silver-- Michael K. Brown, Loganville, GA Risen-- Michael J. LaMarche, St. Peters, MO Tags-- Pamela M. Wells, Jacksonville, FL Under a Pigeon's Wing-- B. Morrison, Baltimore, MD Ways into Darkness-- Margot Walker, Renton, WA White Plague-- Kelly Owen, Monroe, WA
Quarter-Finalists:
The Bear Room-- Eric Drewes, Birmingham, AL Beyond the Pale Shadows-- Mary Ogden Bryan, Lawrenceville, GA The Bishop's Curse-- Raff Ellis, Orlando, FL Bleeding Hearts-- Ash Krafton, Barnesville, PA Charlie and Lil -- Mary O'Dell, Louisville, KY Circles in Time-- Trilby Plants, Murrells Inlet, SC Cotton --Danny Johnson, Durham, NC
Creature of Night and Fog-- Steve Gordy, Aiken, SC Cyrus Longbones and the Curse of the Sea Serpent-- Jeremy Mathiesen, Burnaby, BC, Canada Darwin on U.S. 60-- Lewis Donohew, Englewood, FL Dreaming of the Dead --Patricia Wells, Knoxville, TN The Drowning God --James Kendley, Mobile, AL The Edge of Hunger -- Elizabeth Boyd, New Westminster, BC, Canada HitChick-- David Paul Williams, Bellevue, WA In the Lay-by Time --Del Sandeen, Jacksonville, FL Korintok --Lee Conrad Kemsley, Burlington, VT Memoirs of the Queen of Poland --Linda C. Wisniewski, Doylestown, PA Midnight Graves --J. O. Gish, Jr., Arcanum, OH Phage --Cindy Troiano, D.O., White Heath, IL
Promises of Silver --Michael K. Brown, Loganville, GA Risen-- Michael J. LaMarche, St. Peters, MO Tags-- Pamela M. Wells, Jacksonville, FL Twin Powers --David Pereda, Asheville, NC
Under a Pigeon's Wing --B. Morrison, Baltimore, MD Ways into Darkness-- Margot Walker, Renton, WA White Plague-- Kelly Owen, Monroe, WA
DEADLINE: Postmarked by Monday November 15, 2010 or Emailed by Midnight Central Time
ENTRY FEE: $8.50
AWARDS: 1st ... $150 | 2nd ... $75 | 3rd ... $40 | Up to 6 Honorary Mentions
Brief
comments helpful to all entrants posted online within a few
weeks after winners are announced. We may also send feedback directly to a few writers.
SCN is PLEASED to ANNOUNCE OUR 2010 JUDGE: Agent Jeff Kleinman
He's
placed his authors with Harper, Viking, Random House and other major
publishers. The books he represents include New York Times bestsellers: - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks - Mockingbird by Charles Shields - The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
WE WELCOME WRITERS to ENTER INCOMPLETE NOVELS into SCN'S CONTEST
A deadline, especially one that rewards effort and talent with cash, often motivates writers to take the next step in the publishing process. Focusing on the first five pages and a one-sentence synopsis can:
- Reveal plot holes and flat characters in a first draft. - End the muddle in the middle and help you push through to the end. - Fine-tune a final draft. - Treat Revision Obsession (I spent the morning putting a comma in, and the afternoon taking it out. - Oscar Wilde), so you can write, The End, and start querying agents or publishers. - Re-title a 1st novel: Changing My Novel to My Learner-Novel allows you to let go and start a new novel guilt free.
For all these reasons, your novel doesn't have to be complete to enter our contest.
Many industry professionals decide to reject, request the complete manuscript, or make an offer within the first few pages of a novel. Agent Noah Lukeman explains why in THE FIRST FIVE PAGES: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile.
A short and snappy synopsis that reveals the heart of the story, especially when rendered in the tone, style or voice of the novel, can hook an agent. Some agents use that pithy and interesting/intriguing sentence to pitch the book to editors and land a publishing contract.
Shrinking a novel into one sentence sounds daunting but it's not impossible. TV Guide does it daily. Turning readers into life-long fans with just five pages may sound even harder. Yet debut authors accomplish that every year.
We hope you use this contest's deadline to create a killer query packet and advance your writing career. Due to the subjective nature of story telling and reading, entries that miss the final cut may still appeal to the agent or editor of your dreams.
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