Sunday, April 17, 2011

And the Special-Query Stamp Contest Finalists Are…


Hi everybody! *waves*
I know I said I'd post tomorrow, but I already have the list... so why delay it one more day? =) 
First of all, THANK YOU ALL for participating! And for sharing your first pages with me!  As I said, I had a blast reading them all, once, twice, thrice, (fourice? Fourfold! Thanks, Jay)!  I’ve gotta admit it was sooooo difficult to choose.  At first, I had like 50 finalistsno kidding.  But then I said, “Hoo boy, that means I’ll have to read 500 pages!” So I kept narrowing them down till I got to the final list below.

So, congratulations to:

Ruthanne Reid
Jo Hart
Chelsey Blair
Kimberly A Miller
Rebecca Paulin
Lori M. Lee
Amy Machelle
Heather McCorkle
Lizzie C. Friend
Brian Kell
Shayda Bakhshi
Elizabeth Reinhardt
Josin L. McQuein
Mary Holm
Katy Upperman
Jenn Nguyen
Caitlin Darrell
Nik Johnson
Sara Riouch
Kimberlee Turley
Shallee McArthur
Sarah Nicolas
Meyn Lorenzo
Sarah Enni
Cassandra Marshall
Christa Desir
Cait Peterson
Taryn

If your name is up there, please email me your first 10 pages along with your query to loveya.blogspotATgmail.com.  Don’t attach, just paste everything to the body of the email, and don’t forget to include your name, genre, and word count of your ms.  Put “Special-Query Stamp Finalist” + the title of your ms in the subject line. 

I’ll *try* to announce the winner in the next 2 weeks, so please send your pages today or tomorrow so I can start reading ASAP.  I’ll wait until Tuesday at midnight to receive the first 10 pages + queries.

For all of you who didn’t make it, I’m so sorry.  You know I’m all for helping you guys land agents, and that’s the reason I did this contest in the first place.  But, can you imagine what agents would say if I tell them, “Hey, I have 80 winners in my contest”???  

BUT…  since I read all the entries so many times, I know exactly why I didn’t pick some of them. So, if you’re interested in knowing why, AND IF YOU HAVE A THICK SKIN, I’d love it if you asked me what happened.  Send me an email to:  loveya.blogspotATgmail.com  and put “Please Explain” in the subject line. In the email, paste your one-sentence pitch and your first page (EXACTLY as you posted it in the contest) so I know what entry we’re talking about.  Note that I’ll probably start answering these explanatory emails AFTER the contest ends. So have patience with me, okay?

Oh and one more thing. Just so you know, I didn’t eliminate anyone because of typos or word count (I'd said 240-250 words). However, if I was on the fence with an entry, typos and word count helped me decide.  (There was more than one entry with 300+ words. And more than one entry with typos, too.)

I guess that's it.

I hope y’all had fun! And I look forward to hearing from all of you! =)
<3
Monica

32 comments:

  1. Congrats to the winners. Monica, you are so awesome for doing this. That is a lot of work. You now have a taste of what agents feel. :)

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  2. Congrats to the winners! And Monica, you have a lot of fun/work ahead of you. Which makes me jealous/relieved it's not me reading that many.

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  3. Thanks so much for this fantastic opportunity, and congrats to the finalists!

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  4. Oh wow, I'm a finalist! Whoo hoo! *happy dance* I'm so flattered to have been chosen out of so many fantastic entries. Thank you so much!

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  5. Yay! All these entries were awesome! *off to polish*

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  6. Wow!!!! That is a lot of work-congrats to the winners!!!!

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  7. Monica you are a rock star for having this contest. Congratulations to all the winners.

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  8. I think it might be "fourfold".

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  9. Thank you so much, Monica! Super excited and honored to be a finalist.

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  10. Thank you so much for this contest, Monica, and for all your work and time! Also, *yay*, can't believe I made it!

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  11. Thank you so much! I'm a finalist! I'll be sending you my first 10 pages and query ASAP! EEEEK! I'm so honored and excited. :)

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  12. Thanks so much for choosing my story! All of these entries had something interesting going for them. I'm sure it was hard to narrow it down. Good luck everyone!

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  13. Good luck to everyone, and Monica, you are an amazingly for putting this together.

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  14. Kasie and Kimberly! Hey sistahs! It actually is a LOT of work, but I <3 to read, so I'm so happy! LOL.

    Angelica, hmmm. Yeah, it's not going to be fun picking just ONE! :P

    Katy, Heather, Taryn, Leslie, Lori, Sara, Amy, Kimmy, Clutzattack,: thanks for stopping by! <333 (You know how much I LOVE comments!)

    Jay! Thanks! YOU'RE TOTALLY right! :D

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  15. Congratulations to the finalists! What a great contest!

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  16. Yay! Congrats to the finalists! This is so cool of you, Monica! :-)

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  17. Monica, you are so cool for doing this. I can only imagine how tough it was to choose the finalists. Congratulations to all the winners!

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  18. Wow, that was a BIG job! Congrats to the finalists!
    erica

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  19. *Shiftily eyes the competition*

    Congrats, everyone! Looking forward to facing off against you all in the next round :) Good luck!

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  20. Sounds like a difficult job for you! Congrats to the winners.

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  21. Thank you so much! I'm so excited!

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  22. Congrats to the finalists!!!

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  23. Thanks, Monica! I'm honored to be a finalist!

    I'll get you my query and pages tonight or tomorrow morning.

    You're amazing for doing this. Thanks so much for the opportunity.

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  24. Jennifer, Jenn, and Jen, omg, I know so many Jen--something, lol. Thanks for stopping by! :D

    Julie! Congrats to you!! Though I already popped in your blog to tell you that! <3

    Erica, C, Lizzie, and Shallee: thanks for stopping by, too! :D

    Lisa, lol, it is, but I'm having so much fun!

    Mary, I look forward to reading your pgs! :D

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  25. Wow, are you ever going to be busy!

    Congrats to all the winners. :)

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  26. Es un placer pasar por tu casa,
    disculpa la ausencia,
    que tengas unas felices fiestas
    de semana santa.
    un abrazo.

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  27. Hey Linda! Lol, yep, I'm already busy, but having fun! :D

    Hey Anne! *waves*

    Gracias, Ricardo! :)

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  28. Aw, what an awesome competition! :D

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  29. Hi MoniCa, You are a really nice person. I am Indian, vegetarian and have a masters degree in Human Resources Management. No wonder we get along! :-D
    Anin

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  30. Hey Dawn! I'm glad you liked the idea!

    Anin! Wow, we sure have things in common! It's even crazy, huh? :D

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