NoQS Minion 7: THE WHITE LEHUA, YA Mystery

Title: THE WHITE LEHUA

Genre: YA Mystery

Word Count: 75,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

Dr. Stephanie Hanley, M.D., MFCC

New Patient Survey

Patient Name: Claire Wells

Age: 16

What is your greatest fear?

It would probably save time if I said dead people, or funerals, or cops showing up in the middle of the night. But what scares the hell out of me is bugs. Not spiders or whatever. Sure, we’ve got spiders on the island. Spiders as big as your head. But I’m taking about bugs in your code. You know, syntax stuff the compiler won’t catch. And your program will run fine. For a while. But then it will become unpredictable. Unstable. And you’ll have to debug it, which is hard, because the code looks alright. Think bugs aren’t scary? Ask the guys at NASA about the Mars Climate Rover.

Query:

Half-Hawaiian teen Claire Wells spends each summer in the tiny town of Na’Alehu on the southern-most tip of the Big Island. To a tourist, it's paradise.  But for Claire, it means even more. The visits bring her close to her archaeologist grandfather, a professor of Polynesian studies and a master storyteller.

During the rainy season, power outages are common at Hale Moana, their remote, hilltop home. But this time, her grandfather heads out to start the backup generator and doesn’t come back.

When his body is found the next day, floating in Kealakekua Bay, the police say it’s an accident. Claire is convinced otherwise while the rest of the town is convinced she’s crazy.

From a chance encounter at the local diner, Claire stumbles upon her grandfather’s investigation of a mysterious academic research group known as the Cook Monument Foundation. All those years spent as the only girl in Linux Users’ Group finally pay off and Claire puts her hacker skills to work.  Breaking into The Foundation’s computer system, she learns the researchers’ real project is murder.

As Claire pieces the clues together, she unearths the cult behind the group, a bizarre sect dedicated to an ancient ritual of immortality. And just when Claire thinks it can't get any darker, she realizes the groups wants her own blood to complete their human sacrifice.

But it's not all grim. Claire gets a little help from sexy smartass, Sam L’ia, a tough Hawaiian who pledges to protect her. Together, they race to follow up on the clues her grandfather left behind. If they can’t find a way to stop the Foundation, they won’t live long enough to go on a real date.

NoQS Minion 8: THE TROLL DIARIES, MG Fantasy

Title: THE TROLL DIARIES
Genre: Upper MG Fantasy
Word Count: 51,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle: 
River's most fearsome obstacle? Basically the entire forest, because everything in it is trying to kill, eat, maim, or generally annoy him... except for the mushrooms. He has to survive a vengeful troll cousin who would like him dead, fanged fairies that want him turned to stone, hungry goblins that love troll-on-a-stick, and giant Venus Firefly traps that will eat anyone and everything they can get their toothy petals around. And then there’s the massive sleeping dragon that could destroy them all.

Query:

Twelve-year-old River is a veggie-loving troll whom some have even dared to call… symmetrical. He spends his days dodging rabid forest gnomes, avoiding the deadly sunlight (because really, who wants to turn to stone?), and trying not to disappoint his father, the mighty bone-bread-loving Troll King.

When fairies threaten the troll border, River is entrusted with a dangerous spy mission, finally giving him the chance to make his father proud. Too bad he gets caught in a fairy trap. By a fairy girl. Instead of a slow death, she gives River the painful truth at the point of a sparkly dagger: he isn’t a troll. He’s a fairy. Unfortunately, that places him at the top of his family’s dinner menu (and he thought being a misfit was bad).

River finds unexpected acceptance in the fairy kingdom, along with a heritage of magic. Still, part of him longs for home, and he searches out the fairies’ secrets, becoming the spy his father always wanted. When he discovers the source of their wealth and magic—a dragon hidden deep beneath the kingdom—he faces a difficult decision: betray his new friends in order to help his family and please his father, or turn his back on the only family he’s ever known and keep from everyone his knowledge of the fiery beast that could obliterate them.  

NoQS Minion 9: POISON APPLES, YA cont with Magical Realism

Title: POISON APPLES

Genre: YA contemporary with magical realism

Word count: 68,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

For Bianca Snow, the truth is the Grand Canyon of obstacles—terrifying, and almost impossible to avoid. Snow can’t let her classmates notice the animals that follow her everywhere—school included. It’s not like Doctor DoLittle got a date to the prom. 

Query:

Sixteen-year old Bianca Snow has a hot boyfriend, a thriving social life and a pesky habit of attracting wildlife that’s poised to ruin everything. The clusters of animals that follow her everywhere might be cute in animation—in high school, they’re humiliating. 

When an affectionate family of opossums overtly trails Snow during a class camping trip, her embarrassed boyfriend dumps her and her social status plunges. Vowing to escape the social exile that follows, Snow enters the high school talent show, sure her beautiful singing voice can distract the school—and her ex—from her less conventional talent. But when the show brings her close to Will DeMarche, a kind and handsome cello-playing senior, Snow wishes her voice could win Will instead.

Then Will’s youngest brother goes missing. If Snow keeps quiet, she can win the talent show and her old life back. Or she can ask the animals to find the little boy, and prove to the school—and Will—she’s exactly the freak they imagine.  

NoQS Minion 10: LIFE AFTER REDBY, Adult Thriller/Horror

Title: LIFE AFTER REDBY

Genre: Adult Thriller/Horror

Word Count: 74,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

Cassandra's most fearsome obstacle is overcoming her insanity.  It is, initially, what she wants most in the world, but when she discovers that being sane means losing the voices in her head, the cost becomes too high.  Besides, her best friends would never forgive her if she off'ed them a second time.

Query:

You die.

You get back up.

You do it all over again.

In the town of Redby, zombies weren't the enemy. They were just one step in a never-ending cycle. Die, become a zombie, get a needle full of nanotech and live to die once more.  Immortality.  Or the next worse thing, at least.  But that was how life went in Redby, otherwise known as Zombie Hell on Earth.

Now Redby is no more.  The unfortunate participants in the zombie experiment are free and mortal again.  Including Cassandra Saratores, former soldier turned zombie hunter (and sometimes zombie).  After a decade spent in Redby, caught in the endless cycle of death and resurrection, Cass is scarred inside and out.  Now she spends her days trapped in a mental hospital, reminiscing on life as one of the undead.

Ten years in Hell changes a person.

When news arrives that Almesa, the company responsible for the zombie virus and its cure, isn't as dead as they were rumored to be, Cass has to make a choice: Remain in the hospital and work toward a normal life, or suck it up and reclaim her mantle of the last zombie hunter?  If Almesa's plans succeed, the world is going to need as many hunters as it can get.

NoQS Minion 11: THE GIRL WHO WAS ORDINARY, UNTIL SHE WASN'T, MG Light Sci-Fi

Title: THE GIRL WHO WAS ORDINARY, UNTIL SHE WASN'T

Genre: MG Light Sci-Fi

Word Count: 75,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

Despite spending most of her time hanging out with video game addicts and online villains, Jane's biggest fear has always been her parents. Oh, they're not cruel or hateful, or anything like that. But they won't rest until they see their daughter change from a shy, ordinary girl to... something extraordinary. When Jane was a child, they terrorized her with blue hair dye, live exotic animals and unwanted piano lessons. As a teenager, they're taking her out of her comfortable private school and throwing her into the horrors of public school. And that's plenty scary.

Query:

Fifteen-year-old Jane Hale has two hundred and eighty three days left to do something extraordinary, or she’ll need to find herself a new set of parents. She doesn't have to save the world or anything, mind you, but if she doesn't give the Hales at least one interesting story to share with their relatives, they’re cutting their losses and trading her in for a less-boring daughter.

Luckily for Jane, "interesting" is what her new friend Billy does best. He’s an awkward hug away from admitting he’s her boyfriend; unfortunately, he’s also addicted to a virtual reality world that’s being terrorized by a villain run amok. It’s simple, really; all Jane has to do is infiltrate the virtual world as Billy's spy, to help him apprehend the fiend. In exchange, Billy promises a much-needed new identity.

Things get considerably less simple when Jane fails in her task . . . and accidentally starts a virtual war in the process. She needs Billy’s help to set things straight, which is rather inconvenient, as he’s managed to disappear from both worlds when things are at their worst. Desperate, Jane must go offline, teaming up with the hated villain on an international mission to bring Billy home. Along the way, they discover a chilling secret about the virtual world she’s come to love. 

And she’ll have just one chance to rescue her boyfriend, save her world, and figure out if being ordinary is really so bad after all. 

NoQS Minion 12: DEAD INDEED, MG Horror Mystery

Title: DEAD INDEED

Genre: MG Horror Mystery

Word Count: 51,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

Tiffany Hart is afraid of pretty much everything—hence ‘the clapper’ for her bedroom lights. But at school she has it all together; the looks, the clothes, the grades. And as long as she keeps faking it, she’s going to nail the seventh grade presidential elections.

Then the ghosts appear.

Half crazy and totally sleep-deprived, she commits social suicide by enlisting the help of the school outcast. As if ghosts and unpopularity weren’t scary enough, the two kids find themselves behind an old orphanage where a demonic headmistress guards thirty tiny graves.

Freakiest. Chica. Ever.

Query:

Tiffany Hart expected seventh grade to be the year she became popular, not a ghost-seer.

She’s determined to be class president at any cost until a near death experience bestows Tiffany with a gift she doesn’t want. Now three small spirit children cling to her, disrupting everything she holds sacred (like her Michael Jackson mugs and sleeping,) and making her look like a freak show in front of her classmates. The only person who can help is her neighbor and the weirdest boy at school, Justin Henderson, a.k.a. The Casper Kid.

Justin has seen ghosts since he was nine, a creepy claim that has earned him the privilege of eating lunch by himself for years. When his long-time crush, Tiffany, begs his help with her ghoulish problem, he’s there in the click of an electromagnetic field detector.

But nothing’s ever as easy as it is on Scooby Doo.

Tiffany and Justin begin to unravel a mystery filled with murder, orphans, plagues, and skeletons that leads them to a backyard burial ground. The only thing standing between Tiffany and normalcy is the dark-hearted apparition who guards the graves and isn’t afraid of hurting children, dead or alive. In order to survive they must face their own demons first. For Tiffany, it’s her pride. For Justin, it’s far more literal.

NoQS Minion 13: SEABOUND, YA Fantasy

Title: SEABOUND

Genre: YA Fantasy

Word Count: 65,000

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

Zoe is trapped on an ocean liner being hunted by killers, which doesn't make sleeping at night any easier. But worse, somehow, is the fact that even if she survives, she'll always be in danger, because she'll always be someone her society treats as worthless. She's a poor servant girl from an ethnic minority (her secret attraction to girls doesn't help, either), and she’ll never be able to break out of those confines. 

Query:

Sixteen-year-old Zoe is washing dishes aboard the magic-powered ocean liner she calls home when the sickness hits. Within a day, the passengers and crew are dying of a mysterious plague, and the ship is stranded. 

Zoe thinks she's the only survivor--until she discovers the voyage's VIP passenger healthy and holed up in a cabin. Princess Savanna is scared of herself and everything else on the dying ship, thanks to unstable magical powers that force her to absorb others' fear. Those powers could kill Zoe if they spiral out of control, but she can't dwell on it as she helps her very important companion avoid infection. It's what any good servant would do, but the closer they get, the less distinctions like "servant" and "royal" seem to matter.

Until they find out the sickness wasn’t an accident. The people behind the attack are still on board, and they're creeping through the ship deck by deck, murdering the victims to steal the magic from their bodies. The one they want most is the princess rumored to be overflowing with power, and anyone who tries to stop them is a target. Especially an expendable dishwasher girl. 

If Zoe wants to make it out alive, she'll have to choose between herself and the girl she's starting to love.

Getting the Call with Heather Van Fleet

For everyone suffering through the doubt and disappointment of not making an internet contest, hold your chin up. Keep pushing on. Hold the faith. Here's some words of wisdom for you from Heather.

Three years ago, if someone would've told me I'd be writing this blog post, then I probably would've laughed in their faces before calling them insane. I mean, seriously. I was Heather: The two-spaces-after-a-period, girl. The girl who didn't believe in the power of awesome dialogue. The girl who head hopped and wrote in first person present tense, with two points of view that sounded IDENTICAL to one another. *GASP* I know. I. Know.

But now, here I sit at my kitchen table, typing this blog through my happy tears, wanting nothing more than to hug my past self. And this is exactly what'd I'd say, too...

You'll get better, just keep writing. Don't stop, no matter the icky hand you're dealt. No matter if you've encountered three failed publishing houses (one in which stole all your royalties from your debut book.) Your skin will thicken over time, and those bad reviews are just opinions. People WILL buy your books. People WILL fan girl over Jack and Mason and David. Those three nights a week Starbucks trips and the 25 extra pounds you've put on? It'll all be worth it in the end, too, so quit your crying. Quit thinking you've failed because your first book didn't draw the agent love like you'd hoped. Quit saying you're going to give up because the fifty million Twitter contests you entered never went in your favor. And lastly, that idea in your head? The one about the single daddy and the half-Filipino girl? Put it aside, finish it later. Because THAT will be your book.

Through all of my crazy ups and downs, my heartbreak and tears, too, I am ridiculously ecstatic to announce that I. Have. An agent. A fabulous agent at that.

The agent that I accepted the offer from was actually not my first offer. In fact, my first offer was sent to me on September 22nd by a very nice agent with whom I'd submitted to over the summer. I was super happy with her. She said all the right things on the phone, was extremely professional and made me feel like I'd be a very welcome part of their literary home. I was set to say yes, had emailed a lot of other authors repped by her, too. All of which had very positive things to say. But I knew I had quite a few queries out still, (even a couple of fulls) so I did what was right: told her I'd like two weeks to think it over. That way I could contact the other agents first to be courteous.

So imagine my surprise when I sent off those emails and immediately had some responses. A few were very nice step asides, and then there were four of them that said they would definitely like to read the full and would get back to me by my date. I nodded to myself, and said 'Hey, that's cool."  But I was honestly thinking I had my mind made up already.

But then it happened. A week and a half later I received an email from an agent...one of my DREAM agents, mind you. I'd been following her for months now on Twitter, always thinking to myself "Now this lady knows her stuff." I admired her deeply, her work ethics, and her straight forwardness. Heck, as far as amazing goes, she was that, and then some. She'd had my full for a month and a half already, (give or take a few days) so I was ready for the big R. *shivers* Heck, at first I didn't even want to open her email because my four year old had just used black nail polish to decorate her My Little Ponies and the mess. Was. Horrific. But then I said, "Eh, why not add a little more yuck to my day all at once and open it? Get it over with so to speak."

So I did.

And then I blinked. Fifty times in a row. (well, kinda, sorta...) Because right there in the very email I was sure said thanks, but no thanks, was something entirely different. She said she loved my new adult story, and wanted to see if I'd like to be represented by DLG

Needless to say the fingernail polish was long forgotten because heck, nothing at this point could bring me down. Seriously. Two agents wanted ME? Was I dreaming? I mean, I had to be. But, like all things in publishing, I had to wait until my given due date to email my Y-E-S because I still hadn't heard from the other two agents reading my full.

I figured I 'd be okay waiting, because heck...I'd been waiting for so long as it was. I had a book releasing, too, and blog tours to prepare for. Not to mention a 13 year wedding anniversary to celebrate, and books to review for my blog. I could totally handle this. Totally.

But, hey...reality and thoughts are two entirely different things, lemme tell ya. Heck, if it weren't for some very important writerly friends in my life, I probably would've gone insane during my wait. But I didn't. And I made it. And the day I hit send on that acceptance email to Stacey Donaghy of DLG Literary I knew that wait had definitely been worth it.

Publishing is hard. (Possibly harder than child birth and parenting, but that debate is still being had) But now I can breathe knowing I finally have someone in my corner to support me; that loves my work like I do.

There are four people I need to credit first for giving me the strength to get through this whole process.

1. The amazing Katrina Emmel. My CP. My friend. My confidant. The one person who helped me pretty The Imperfect Try up enough to garner agent attention at all. She's amazing, and one of THE best things that's ever happened to me.

2. Karen Bynum is quite possibly the best cheerleader in the world. She's been with me since the beginning. Heck, she's the one who encouraged me to find an agent in the first place. (Even if she never outright said so.) She's a girl who can make even the darkest days seem sunny.

3. Angela McPherson. One of my first authorly friends. She's IS the best friend a girl can have, even though she lives so terribly far away.

4. Finally, Kathleen Palm. Gah!! I have't known her for too long, but dang it, she's amazing. Always making me laugh through my tears. Always giving me Twitter hugs and sending me happy thoughts. I love this girl. SO much.

Okay, enough with the mush. I'm done crying. I'm, in fact, ready to party!!! (In my sweats, with my adult beverage in hand, of course.) 

Because I'm officially agented.

By Stacey Donaghy.

Holy. Crap.

***

Bio:

Young adult and new adult author Heather Van Fleet lives in a small town on the Iowa/Illinois border. She’s a wife to her hubby and high school sweet heart, Chris, as well as a mom to her three little girls, Kelsey, Emma and Bella. When she’s not obsessing over her fictional book characters, cooking dinner, or running around chasing her crazy kiddos, you can usually find her with her head stuck in her Kindle, sucking down White Chocolate Mochas like they're water.

Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HLVanFleet

Website: www.heathervanfleet.com

NoQS Michelle's Minions

It's always tough to limit yourself. It's going to come down to subjective opinion. Often, the entries I picked struck a cord with me. 

So many entries were fantastic, yet not quite right for me. Some might have been darker than I prefer. Some might have been too serious. I'm sad I can only take thirteen.

That is why contests are more for meeting people and learning about writing than just getting before agents.

Hugs to all of you, and I hope no one goes away too disappointed. Everyone is a winner for putting your work out there and facing down the fear of rejection. The greatest fear is not trying. 

You're all honorary Michelle's Minions!

Be sure to check Mike's blog and SC's blog for their picks. 

So it's time to celebrate my official minions! Dance. Congratulate. Be happy for others, knowing they also support you.

In no particular order:

Crossing Brielle

The White Lehua

Life After Redby

Popcorn Brain

Seabound

I'm Not a Zombie But I Play One on TV

Princess Not So Charming

Dead Indeed

The Girlfriend Request

Wired for Wall Street

The Troll Diaries

The Girl Who Was Ordinary, Until She Wasn't

Poison Apples

New minions, keep an eye on your inbox. Mentors will be contacting you through the email you used to enter the contest. If that's not your actual email because a friend mailed yours in, you'd better let me know. Each entry will get one mentor assigned to them.

Please return your revised entry using the same format to the contest email by midnight on October 25th.  We need that time to swat down unruly formatting and create the posts before the agent round. Please do not be late. We will go live without you.

Come back on October 28th to see the agents Shriek, Scream and Shiver! 

Commas with Interjections and Direct Address

Commas. Just when you think you've found where they all belong, there's another rule to confuse things.

Most people seem to know about using commas in a list (the Oxford comma), or including commas before conjunctions (or, but, and, so, if) connecting two independent clauses. But you also need commas when your sentence directly addresses someone or contains an interjection.

Some examples.

"Look out for that giant boulder, Rodger!"

"Rodger, look out for that giant boulder!"

Assuming the speaker took the time to say all this, they are directly addressing the soon-to-be-squished Rodger. A comma is needed before or after his name depending on the location of the name. Also notice that the people or person being addressed don't have to be called by name. A comma is still required even if the object isn't named.

"Everyone, look out for that giant boulder!"

"Look out for the giant boulder, everyone!"

"I love you, my little squishy face."
Butt head, that's my toe you're standing on." 

"Rodger never gets squished by boulders at home."

Conversely, here the speaker is only talking about Rodger, not to him, so no commas are needed.

"Geez, Mom, you're embarrassing me."

This sentence has two reasons for commas. First, you have an interjection that requires a comma and second this sentence is addressing someone. When the person being addressed is in the center of a sentence, they are offset by commas.

"Cool beans, Rodger, on becoming the next Flat Stanley."

An interjection is an add-on to the front, middle, or end of a sentence used to exclaim, protest, or command. Depending on how strong the exclaimation, it may or may not be its own sentence.

"Gee, that's swell."
"Hooray! That's swell!"

"Shit, Rodger was squished by a boulder."
"Oh, it got my toe too!"
"Ow! It got my toe too!"
"Being flat may be useful, but it's hard to kiss that way, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm going to Rodger's funeral."
"Rodger should have listened to me, right?"
"Indeed, that was a bad day for Rodger."
"Well, he's at peace now."

Interjections can be a great way to break up your sentence structure and avoid monotony. Addressing characters in your sentences can help avoid confusion when multiple speakers are involved. Just remember the commas!

Now for the fun! Got any examples of your own? Keep them PG, please.

Query Questions with Jen Karsbaek

Writers have copious amounts of imagination. It's what makes their stories so fantastic. But there's a darker side to so much out of the box thinking. When a writer is in the query trenches, their worries go into overdrive. They start pulling out their hair and imagine every possible disaster.

 

Here to relieve some of that endless worrying is a new series of posts called Query Questions. I'll ask the questions which prey on every writer's mind, and hopefully take some of the pain out of querying. These are questions that I've seen tossed around on twitter and writing sites like Agent Query Connect. They are the type of questions that you need answers for the real expert--agents!

If you have your own specific query question, please leave it in the comments and it might show up in future editions of Query Questions as I plan to rotate the questions.

While you're waiting on the results for Nightmare on Query Street, what better substitute than an interview with one of the agents? Jen Karsbaek is here from the newly renamed Fuse Literary Agency. 

Is there a better or worse time of year to query?

We typically close to queries in December, but otherwise have at it! If things are busy when you query it may take me a bit longer to get to you, but if you wait you’re just going to be further down the list when I do get back to queries.

Do you look at sample pages without fail or only if the query is strong?

I generally look at the sample pages, but if a query is particularly weak and/or is not strong and not in a genre I typically represent I will skip the sample pages.

Do you have an assistant or intern go through your queries first or do you check all of them?

My assistant primarily helps me prioritize full manuscripts and gives a second eye for editing, I currently look at all of my queries myself.

If the manuscript has a prologue, do you want it included with the sample pages?

The sample pages should start where your story starts. If you feel the manuscript is better served by starting the sample pages after the prologue that should probably tell you something about your prologue.

Some agencies mention querying only one agent at a time and some say query only one agent period. How often do you pass a query along to a fellow agent who might be more interested?

If I see a query that I think someone else in my agency would like I will tell the writer to query that other agent. You can always query more than one Fuse agent, as long as you only query one at a time.

Most agents have said they don’t care whether the word count/genre sentence comes first or last. But is it a red flag if one component is not included?

Word count is not necessarily a red flag, but I do want to see it. Not including the genre of your work usually is a red flag, though. Often it makes it appear that you don’t know what the genre is.

Should writers sweat the title of their book (and character names) or is that something that is often changed by publishers?

There’s a decent chance your title will get changed, but you should still sweat it. A really good (or really bad) title will sometimes have me skipping straight to your query from my query box.

Some writers have asked about including links to their blogs or manuscript-related artwork. I’m sure it’s not appropriate to add those links in a query, but are links in an email signature offensive?

Those are totally fine in an email signature. Great, even, because if I am considering offering representation then you’ve given me more of the information I need to make that decision. Honestly, I think you can even include one or two links in the last line of your bio in your query “I blog about XYZ at www.myblog.com.”

If a writer makes changes to their manuscript due to feedback should they resend the query or only if material was requested?

Only if the material was requested.

 What bio should an author with no publishing credits include?

Whether or not you have publishing credits I want your bio to tell me why you are the person to write this book.

  

Do you consider yourself a hands-on, editorial type of agent?

I am fairly editorial, although I like to start with things that are relatively polished to begin with.

What three things are at the top of your submission wish list?

A fresh story with flappers, preferably set in Chicago; an amazing book club read; books with GLBTQ characters.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jen Karsbaek joined first Larsen Pomada Literary Agency, then Fuse Literary Agency in 2013.

Jen is aggressively looking to build her list with women’s fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, historical fiction, and literary fiction. She looks for books with particularly well-developed characters and strong authorial voice. In historical in particular she is interested in books that bring the setting to life and maintain balance between historical accuracy and strong plot choices. She is also interested in mystery, fantasy, and occasionally romance approaches to any of the genres listed above. She is not looking for YA or anything that is primarily fantasy, romance, or science fiction.

Nightmare on Query Street is Open!

THE SUBMISSION WINDOW IS OPEN! CLOSED

GET THOSE ENTRIES IN

Nightmare on Query Street Formatting

ARE YOU READY?

The submission window opens at 12 noon (EST) on Wednesday, October 15th! (Tomorrow) The window will close at 8pm on Friday the 17th, or when we receive 225 entries. Any entries sent before noon will be deleted.

We are accepting all age categories and genres, excluding picture books and exotica. Despite the title of the contest, your book does not have to be horror.

Michelle, Mike, and SC will dig through the slush pile and choose twelve entries for each of our teams. After being critiqued by one of our awesome mentors (October 22nd-25th) those 36 finalists will go up on our blogs for the agent round (October 28th-30th).

There are a few important stipulation to be aware of:

1. If you are in the PitchSlam agent round, you may NOT submit an entry into the Nightmare on Query Street contest. 

2. To participate, you must be following ALL of our blogs (Michelle, Mike, and SC).

3. ONE entry per person. No exceptions. If you have more than one work ready, choose the work you think is strongest.

4. Submission guidelines need to be followed to the letter.

5. In order to participate in NoQS, your novel must be completed, polished, and ready to send to agents.

6. If you've already queried your novel to most or all of the agents participating in the contest, please do not submit the work. It would be counterproductive for everyone.

The Format:

Send your one and only submission to nightmareonquerystreet (at) yahoo (dot) com. Only one submission per email address/person is allowed. If you break this rule, all of your submissions will be deleted without question or warning.

Here's how it should be formatted (yes, include the bolded and everything!) Please use Times New Roman (or equivalent), 12 pt font, and put spaces between paragraphs. No indents or tabs are needed. No worries if your gmail doesn't have Times New Roman. 

Subject Line: First initial. Last name: TITLE, Age Category + Genre 

(example: M. Anthony: DEADEARTH, NA Apocalyptic Sci-fi )

In The Email:

Name: Michael Anthony

Title: DEADEARTH EP. 1: MR. .44 MAGNUM (yes, caps!)

Genre: NA Apocalyptic Sci-fi(Age category and genre. YA/MG is not a genre.)

Word Count: XX,XXX

My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obstacle:

(Can be from your MC's POV, but doesn't have to be. 100 words or less.)

Query:

Here is my fantastic query! Include only the good parts, no bio, greeting, or closing.

First 250 words:

Here are the first 250 words of my manuscript, and I will not end in the middle of a sentence, even if I hit 255 words :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conformation emails will be sent. If you don't get one, ask one of us on twitter. Submissions will cut off after 225 entries. We'll announce closure of submissions on twitter.

Again, the picks will go live for the agent round on October 28th. Prior to that, we will send finalists an email letting you know who your mentor is.

Please do not comment on the entries! No cheerleading this time. 

Requesting agents will:

Scream for a full request

Shriek for 50 pages

Shiver for 10 pages
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TWITTER PARTY!

Just as we did with Query Kombat, we're going to have a Twitter party where contest hosts and mentors get to mingle with the awesome writers who've entered Nightmare on Query Street.

Like earlier this year, we've got some questions for entrants to answer under the hashtag #NoQS

10.15.2014 (Submission Day!): Title of your book and the time you emailed it.

10.16.2014: If I knocked on your MC's front door on Halloween, would I get a trick or a treat?

10.17.2014: What is your MC going to be for Halloween?

10.18.2014: Your MC goes on a haunted hayride. What would make him/her scream the loudest?

10.19.2014: If your MC could pull one prank on Halloween and not get caught, what would it be?

10.20.2014: What would your antagonist do for Halloween? 

10.21.2014: What scary setting will your MC be in on Halloween? Will they be hiding under a bed or prancing around a graveyard?

 10.22.2014: What is your MC's favorite scary movie or would they watch a scary movie?