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| Michelle Hauck |
Guest post by Michelle Hauck
www.michelle4laughs.blogspot.com
I started blogging about two years ago now. Like any beginning
blogger, I didn’t know what to post about, and I really didn’t have a
following. Most bloggers go through a trial and error period where they seek to
match what will attract an audience and where their own interests lie. I was no
exception.
I didn’t really hit my stride until this spring. That’s when I was
mulling over getting some kind of agent contest started. It was an intimidating
idea. Where to start? How to talk to agents? I’d been in a number of contests
with mixed results, but didn’t know much about hosting one.
Then fate took a turn. SC and Mike invited me to join their
contest, Query Kombat. We just meshed and it exploded from there. I began to
focus more on providing information that would help querying writers. I did a
series of query critiques over the summer and made sure to match my blog with
my twitter account, using twitter to expand my blog’s reach. I’m really excited
that my blog might be helping writers find their way!
Query Kombat was such a big contest that SC, Mike and I decided to
hold it to once a year in the Spring. That didn’t mean we wanted to limit our
contests to once a year. We decided to branch out with something smaller and
easier to manage. Nightmare on Query Street was born.
NIGHTMARE ON QUERY CONTEST
How does the
Nightmare on Query Contest work? We will accept 100 submissions on October 19th by email. The submissions must include
a short paragraph about your main character’s greatest fear, the query letter,
and the first 250 words. Then SC, Mike, and I will each pick 10 entries for
posting on our blogs for thirty in total.
Will agents
actually see my entry? Agents will actually only see your entry if it gets picked by SC,
Mike or I for posting on our blogs as one of the thirty. But remember we are
only accepting 100 entries. That gives you a 30 percent chance of being
accepted and going in front of agents.
I’d love to have some great stories join my team. I plan to
trounce Mike and SC again! In Query Kombat, three out of the final four were my
picks. This girl isn’t about to let the guys get the most requests with their
picks. Go team Michelle!
What agents are
participating? So far we have a list of eight agents, including my own amazing
agent Sarah Negovetich. (Who is actively looking for clients, I might add.) We
still have invitations out to many more agents and hope to see the number grow.
To see the full list and the genres the agents want to see, please go here.
I don't write
horror. Can I still enter a query for my book? Absolutely! Nightmare on Query Street is not about horror. Not
even close. Unless it’s the horror of querying!
We accept all genres and age categories: MG, YA, NA, and adult.
But, --focus—check our agents’ wish lists to see if represent your genre. Don’t
enter if our agents aren’t interested in your genre. And we are not accepting
picture books or erotica.
What kind of
results have you seen on previous contests? (e.g. Query Kombat) Quite a few of the Query Kombat slush picks chosen by Mike, SC,
and I have gotten agents and one has also gotten a book deal. I’m sure there
are still requests pending from that contest and we hope to see the numbers
grow.
Tell us about the
Query Question Posts. That another of my blog series that grew out of Query Kombat. I’d
gotten to know some agents over the summer through twitter. And I was in the
query trenches myself at the time I started Query Questions. I knew how painful
the query process is and how it makes you doubt yourself. I’ve queried four
books and got a whopping number of rejections.
There are so many small things that can ruin a query, or at least
ruin a writer’s peace of mind. Writers are always asking each other “should I
include my prologue with sample pages. I had a typo, what do I do? When’s the
best time to query?”
Well, writers can’t really answer those questions. We can only
guess. But AGENTS can! So I went to the experts and asked agents to answer
those worrisome query questions for us!
To my surprise, agents were usually more than happy to help! They
love writers and want to make the query process easier too. I was basically
overwhelmed with agents eager to submit interviews.
I’m so happy that the series has been helpful to so many writers.
And it helps introduce agents to writers.
Can I submit
questions for you to ask agents? Yes! Please do! Anyone can give me suggestions on twitter or on my
blog. I like to mix up the questions and work in new ones. Many of the
questions are from other writers. Keep the suggestions coming.
I’m interested in
querying a particular agent. Do you accept requests to feature a certain agent? What a great idea. I’d love to try that. It does get difficult
finding new agents to invite for the interviews. Having suggestions would be a
blessing. They might not all work out (some agents are simply too busy, which
is understandable), but I’d be glad to try.
ABOUT MICHELLE -- See her five-part interview with the Blog Ring of Power.
Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of Northern Indiana with her hubby and two teenagers. Two papillons help balance out the teenage drama. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack. Her epic fantasy, Kindar’s Cure, is released from Divertir Publishing. A short story, Frost and Fog, will be released in a summer anthology from The Elephant’s Bookshelf Press.
You can find her at:
KINDAR’S CURE: Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.
A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.
With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.
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This is T.W. Fendley. You can find out more about me and my books at www.twfendley.com. Thanks for reading and commenting on The Writers' Lens.
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