SCN Novel Pitch & 1st Five Pages Contest Winners

SMOKE CITY NARRATORS
NOVEL PITCH & 1ST FIVE PAGES CONTEST
2009 WINNERS

1st Place - $150: SECOND CHANCES … Theresa J. GRANT … Newaygo, MI
Pitch: Four dead girls, three years in hiding, two men with secrets; for forensic anthropologist Jo Birch, one second chance. 

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2nd Place - $75: CHIN LEE'S PLACE … Vance H. WHITE … Niceville, FL 
Pitch: Reporter Robert Gage turns detective in this hard-boiled thriller set in San Francisco on the eve of World War II. 

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3rd Place - $40: The BODY of HELEN … Tracy KORETSKY … Berkeley, CA  

Author hasn't given permission to post their pitch. 

2009 Honorary Mentions

HM #1: MY NAME is SADIA 
              by Erika Dusen TAMINDZIJA … Arlington Heights, IL

Pitch: A young slave navigates the 16th century Islamic World and struggles to regain her family.                       _____________________________________________________

HM #2: In the SHADOW of the LONE STAR
              by B. J. BATEMAN … Damascus, OR
Pitch: In 1938 Texas, a runaway white girl finds work and love in a colored nightclub, cultivating friendships and inciting violence.

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HM #3: The THIRD STEP
              by Ginger MARCINKOWSKI … Pella, IA 
Pitch: Two countries, two rivers, and her father's funeral cause a woman to confront the incestuous past that's haunted her life. 

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HM #4: KILLING RABBITS
              by Mary Ann KOHENSKEY … Maryland Heights, MO
Pitch: Joe Detrie runs away from an abusive family but returns to rescue his younger brother and kill their father.  

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JUDGE'S COMMENTS on SCN WEBSITE:

http://www.janicewiley-dorn.com/contest.html 

NOVEL PITCH & 1ST FIVE PAGES CONTEST: SEMIFINALISTS

Novel Pitch & 1st Five Pages of a Novel Contest

Sponsored by Smoke City Narrators

2009 SEMIFINALISTS by TITLE ONLY (alphabetically)

The BODY of HELEN
CHIN LEE'S PLACE
The END of ALL ROADS
The FIRST YEAR
IN and OUT of MADNESS
IN the SHADOW of the LONE STAR
INVISIBLE VAMPIRE
KILLING RABBITS
LETTERS from the DEAD
MY NAME IS SADIA
NO LIFE but THIS
RISEN
SECOND CHANCES
SHADOWS of the COMANCHE
SOMEWHERE HOME
The SOUND of INK
THICK and THIN
The THIRD STEP

Winners notified by end of the first week of February. A list of the winners posted by mid-February, along with a few comments by the final judge and contest director highlighting how the winners grabbed our attention.

We'll also give general pointers on how the entries that didn't reach the semifinalist level can be improved. We hope this will help writers find success when entering future contests or submitting their fiction for publication.

PUBLISHING 101: What You Need to Know

"Here's your step-by-step guide to the publishing process–how it works, why you need to know and how you can play an influential role in your book’s success."

This article by Jerry D. Simmons appeared in the July/August edition of Writer's Digest. Simmons, who started his career in the publishing industry as a sales rep at Random House, worked for major publishers in sales and management for thirty years.

Creating a well-written informative or entertaining book may put writers on the first rung of the lofty ladder to publication. Simmons details what authors need to do to reach the top.

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/publishing-101-what-you-need-to-know/

NOVEL PITCHING II: Events that Charge Extra for Pitch Opportunities

HAWAII WRITERS CONFERENCE
(Formerly the Maui Writers Conference)
http://www.hawaiiwriters.org/

*$ ?? for Retreat
Friday August 28 - Thursday September 3, 2009

$695 for Conference
Friday September 4 - Monday September 7, 2009

*$ ?? for One-on-One Consultations
Various Dates During the Conference.

Held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hosted by the Hawaii Writers Foundation.

*Prices not available again until next year.
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SOUTH CAROLINA WRITERS WORKSHOP CONFERENCE
http://www.myscww.org/conference/schedule.php

$325-$425 for Complete Conference Package
Friday October 23 - Sunday 25, 2009

$10 Extra for Pitch Sessions

Held in Myrtle Beach, SC. Hosted by South Carolina Writers Workshop.

SECRETARY of the ARTS PETITION

Musician Quincy Jones--winner of a 2008 Humanitarian Award--has started a petition to ask President Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. Please consider signing it.

http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

GRANTS for WRITERS

Grants and other awards will enhance the bio paragraph in your query letters to agents and publishers.

I'm deeply grateful to the Elizabeth George Foundation for their generous award of an artistic grant for fiction.

The deadline for the 2010 awards is July 1, 2009. The application fee is $25.00 and you'll need letters of recommendation from five professionals in your field. The foundation doesn't have a website but you can request a brochure by writing:

Elizabeth George
Elizabeth George Foundation
P. O. Box 1429
Langley, Washington 98260

Q & A with Four Young Literary Agents

A feisty discussion of literary questions posted on Poets & Writers Magazine's online articles. Agents: Julie Barer, Jeff Kleinman, Renee Zuckerbrot and Daniel Lazar.

SOFTWARE for WRITERS: ClichéCleaner

Agents recommend keeping query letters short--one page maximum. That means ripping out qualifiers, adjectives, flabby verbs and clichés. ClichéCleaner ($12.95) software sounds great. If you've used it, please share your experience here. Loathe it, love it?

TIPS of the DAY & WORKSHOP REVIEWS

Scroll to the bottom of the page for information on writers and tips of the day on writing, publishing, marketing and P.R.. These sites will change periodically to keep new material coming in.

WRITERS: Have you attended a writers' workshop or conference in the past five years? Are you planning to attend one but feel unsure of where to go for your current needs? With the steadily rising cost of tuition and transportation, most emerging writers can't afford to go to more than one event.

To help you choose, I'll be posting reviews here soon or links to reviews on writers' websites. I'm especially interested in places that provide marketing help, such as one-on-one interviews with agents and/or editors, and workshops on pitching novels. Please email me if you're interested in contributing a review.