THE 3/12 BIG BIRTHDAY BASH!!! (With critiques from an agent!)

It's March! My birthday month! I never really understood those people who hate birthdays. I love birthdays! I've never gone one year without celebrating mine at least once - most years I have two parties. Since this is my first birthday as a blogger, I couldn't not celebrate with my dear followers, right?

As much as I'd like it, I can't invite you all over for my birthday party (well, I could, I just highly doubt you'd fly to Brazil to attend). So I'm having a big birthday bash right here on my blog! And because I love parties so much, it will last the whole month! I'll have many fun posts and giveaways over here throughout the month, but I'll start with a contest!



Now, what could I possibly offer online that would be as good as going to a party? Hum... I don't know... A contest with critiques from an agent as prizes, maybe? Yeah. I though you'd like that. That's why I invited agent Lora Rivera, of Claire Gerus Literary Agency, to the party!

Wait, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we talk about the prizes, let me explain how the contest will work. As you've probably figured out from the title of this post, my birthday is on March 12th. In honor of that happy date, on 3/12 I would like to read the first 312 words of your manuscript. The best entries will win critiques from Lora Rivera.

HOW TO ENTER

1 - Sign up for the contest using Mr. Linky below. You have until noon on Saturday, March 12th, to sign up.

2 - The contest is open for everyone. You can enter either a finished manuscript or a work in progress.

3 - On Saturday, March 12th, post the first 312 words of your manuscript on your blog. Just the first 312! It doesn't matter if it ends midsentence, that's ok. But please be sure to count! 312 words, not one more, not one less! Oh, and don't add things like "chapter one". Just start where the story starts and go 312 words from there, stopping wherever you...

4 - When you post your entry, post your title, your genre and your manuscript's status (finished or in progress). My entry, for instance, would look like this:

Title: Wherever You Call Home
Genre: Multicultural Women's Fiction
Status: WIP

First 312 words here...

5 - You should post your entry on Saturday, March 12th, anytime between 12:01 A.M. and 11:59 P.M. (EST).

6 - I will go to every blog and read every entry - and I think you should go to a few too, because I'm sure the entries will be awesome! I'll choose 12 finalists (yes, everything is 12, because I really love my birthday), which I'll forward to Lora. She'll read them carefully and choose the three winners. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 30th.

THE JUDGE

Lora Rivera began her publishing career at the Claire Gerus Literary Agency in 2008. With an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona, she takes an editorial approach to new projects. She is now actively building her own client list. She currently lives in Tucson where she teaches English composition, writes literary and YA fiction, and composes biographies for foster children through Aviva’s Life Book program. You can learn more about her on her website, www.lorarivera.com.

I learned about Lora through her profile on the New Agent Alert section on the Guide to Literary Agents Blog. What caught my attention was that she's interested in all fiction genres (which means everyone gets to enter this contest!) and that she said she "likes fiction that subtly tackles important real-world subjects". I thought that was just wonderful, don't you think? That's why I chose Lora to be a guest judge at this contest, and I think you'll all love her! I'll post more about her (and from her!) next week, so stay tuned!

PRIZES

Yeah, I know that's what you wanted to know! Here are the prizes agent Lora Rivera will be offering to our three talented winners:

1ST PLACE - Query + 20-page critique
2ND PLACE - Query + 10-page critique
3RD PLACE - Query critique


So what are you waiting for? Sign up and be a guest on my birthday party! I love having people over!