My First Contest!

A couple of weeks ago, my blog jumped, as if by magic, from forty-eight followers to sixty! (and since to sixty-four) I suspect the sudden increase was due to a combination of the interviews I've started posting and the commencement of the platform-building campaign many of us are participating in. But the reason isn't important. What is important is that I've decided to celebrate!

So, I've decided to hold a contest. I hope all of you participate, because it will furnish me with lots of new reading material :). Anyway, here's how to enter: email me your entry (following the guidelines below) to me by no later than September 25, then post a link to this page on your blog, facebook or twitter page, etc.

Submission guidelines:

1. 500 words minimum, no more than 3,000
2. Double-spaced
3. 12pt Times, Garamond, or Georgia font
4. No profanity
5. No graphic sex or violence
6. Bonus points for complete action/reaction format. For more information, visit Shallee McArthur's blog.
7. Short stories or chapters from your WIP (or finished books) are welcome.
8. Please no poetry, music, or artwork
9. Only one submission per participant.

All submissions will be evaluated on plot development, character development, and clarity and style. I'm not going to be worrying too much about grammar and spelling unless it's so bad it distracts me from or throws me out of the story.

Now, I want to be clear that all genres are welcome! I'm going to get my wife to help me judge, and her taste in books is drastically different from mine (so she can help me be more objective).

Please send all submissions to reece(dot)hanzon(at)gmail(dot)com and include the words "contest submission" in the subject line.

I will award prizes to the top three submissions. The first place winner gets a free book and a complimentary critique of up to 5,000 words. The books available are: Sabriel, by Garth Nix; I Am Not A Serial Killer, by Dan Wells; Trading in Danger, by Elizabeth Moon; and Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy. (Sorry no cool pictures.)

The second place winner gets a critique of up to 3,000 words, and the third place winner gets a critique of up to 1,000 words. Ask my crit partner, Tanya Reimer, for an evaluation of my critiquing skills, if you like.

That's it! Go get your submissions ready and send them in as soon as possible! And spread the word!