Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Picture Book Party Submission Day and Party Topics!



TODAY IS THE DAY!


Submission Day!!!! (4:00 pm EST)

excited new year GIF

The agent round will be March 27th- 29th. See the list of agents and editors here


Now for a quick review of the rules. I urge you to read ALL of this post so you don't make an easy mistake.

Please be a follower of this blog. You can click the "Follow" button in the right sidebar. Or if that is stubborn and won't work, you can subscribe to my newsletter or follow @Michelle4Laughs and @MindyAlyseWeiss on twitter. I imagine we will be tweeting hints as well as partying!

You may send two entries for different manuscripts in separate emails. That's two and only two, whether you have multiple pen names or multiple email addresses. Please be honest and not send more. Only one entry will be chosen per person. If you send two, still only one will be picked. Any attempt to cheat will result in entries thrown out (and sadly it has happened in the past.) 


You will receive a confirmation email for the first submission. Usually nothing will go out for the second submission. That's perfectly normal. Do not expect to get a confirmation email for your second submission. Yahoo just doesn't work that way. Have confidence that if the first got through, the second did also. 

On March 19 (today) at 4:00 pm EST the submission window opens. Do not send early or your entry will be deleted. You may resend at the correct time if this happens. We are recycling an email address as I already have too many. Please send your entry to SunversusSnow at yahoo dot com

You should receive a confirmation email. If you do not get a receipt for you FIRST submission, please contact me or Mindy on twitter before resending. (Please don't ask about second submissions. See above.) We want to get a good count of entries and duplicates make that harder. The window will stay open one hour until 5 pm EST. 

This contest is only for finished and polished manuscripts. It has to be ready to go out to agents.

The Format:

Subject Line of your Email: PBParty: Title

Example:  PBParty: Hot Tub Santa

Inside the email please bold where bolded in my example. Single space with spaces between paragraphs. No indents unless required by your style choice. Use Times New Roman or equivalent font and the size should be 12. 

(Here's a trick to keep your paragraph spacing: copy and paste your entry into your email and then put in the line spaces. They seem to get lost when you copy and paste. It may look right but sending scrambles the spacing.)

Name: Sharon Chriscoe
Twitter Handle: @extracleansanta (optional)


Title: HOT TUB SANTA
Genre: (Here please tell us what type of picture book this is) Example: Board Book, Bedtime Rhyme, Nonfiction, Biography, etc. or List Chapter Book If this is OWNVOICES, please say so here!
Word Count: xxx (round to nearest ten, hundred for chapter books)

Query:

Your entire query letter here. Include your comps, bio, greeting. Please be sure to note diversity and ownvoices in the query as well. (You may use whatever you want for a greeting. Dear Agent. Dear Michelle, Mindy, and Sharon.) You do not need to leave a closing--name and personal information will be removed. 

Here is your chance to make your entry shine and make the agent fall in love with your words. 

First 50 Words:

Include your first 50 words for a picture book, 100 words for chapter books. Do not stop in the middle of a sentence. You may go over by one or two words to finish a sentence but not more than five. Single space and put spaces in between paragraphs. You may center or tab if appropriate.

For short picture books, less than 50 words may be submitted. Any count under 50 is allowed.


Art notes do count toward the 50 words.


Also I will delete parts of entries after the contest ends, if requested. For those writers uncomfortable with their work being out there for all to see.  

Bonus: You may attach one illustration to your email to show an example of your artwork. If you don't have artwork, don't worry, that's okay too. We do have something special planned for illustrations this year. It's a surprise. 

Messed up formatting won't hurt you, but forgetting to include some part of the entry will. Double check before sending.


Now for the twitter party fun! Visit daily under the hashtag #PBParty to meet and greet and scout out slush hints. Here are the suggested topics for each day to get you going, but feel free to start your own on twitter. Just remember to be kind and be inclusive. 


book GIF


Tuesday, March 19th  PM: Tell us what genre you submitted and what other genres you write. All day: Great parties require great food! What’s your main character’s favorite dish or sweet treat? Even if it isn’t in your book--this can help you know your character better. Dig deep and share!  

Wednesday, March 20th  AM: Do you listen to music when your write? Have word count goals? Set aside BIC time (behiney in chair)? Share your daily writing routine. PM: Which authors and illustrators have influenced your manuscripts the most? Tag the authors to make others aware of these amazing books.

Thursday, March 21st     AM: How do you handle writer's block? How many drafts do you write before you consider a project finished? PM: Share your best tips and resources for writing picture books. What were you surprised to learn about the process?

Friday, March 22nd AM: Animal, vegetable, mineral. Tell us if your MC is human, animal or something else. All Day: Share you favorite picture book and chapter books, current and from childhood. Give us a list so all the genres are included: bedtime, rhyming, STEM, lyrical, humorous, nonfiction, bio, early readers, etc. Watch for our agents sharing theirs as well on the hashtag.

Saturday, March 23rd AM: Share a favorite line from a story you wrote. PM: How have contests helped you or your CPs?

Sunday, March 24th  AM: What picture book character would you like for a best friend?  PM: 
What are your top tips for getting that word count down and making your manuscript sing?


Monday, March 25th     AM: Are you the type to have a book spring into your head, write it down quickly and then take a long time editing your words?....or, do you spend a long time meticulously planning and drafting?  PM:Who has helped you through the writing and querying process? Time to share your thanks and spread the gratitude. 


Tuesday, March 26th All day: What do you do to take the sting out of rejection? 

Mindy, Sharon, and I are not sure when the picks will be announced, but it should be around Saturday. We are so excited for the fun to start. As you've probably noticed we have a great group of agents and editors. The most agents we've ever signed up for a PB contest.


If you're not on twitter, Mindy will be posting tips and hints on her facebook page

Time to have fun!

happy birthday good job GIF

Good luck everyone!  

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