TK Richardson's blog party is in full swing

I want to remind all readers that TK Richardson’s book—Return the Heart—will be out in the stores in June of this year. To celebrate this awesome event, TK is hosting a blog-party at her site, this Friday. In her own words (see how clever I was to save typing many words):

That's right! It's almost time for the release of my novel RETURN THE HEART! And in anticipation of that I will be hosting an awesome blog party along with some great giveaways.

Invite your friends and spread the news 'cause this will be fun!

Starting on Friday May 28, I will be giving away a goodie filled prize pack - all you have to do is show up here leave a comment and your name will be in the drawing to receive the prize.

But that's not all.

It starts all over again on Monday. And on Wednesday and again on Friday. Yes, that's right - 4 awesome prize packs to give away. WOOT!

Want to know what they are?!?! Well come back on Friday, bring a friend and you'll see!

I am there…Oh darn, I popped my balloon. See you there.

Great Forum from Nathan Bransford

One week ago, I sent a question to Literary Agent Nathan Bransford. The question dealt with linking together two stand-alone novels in a series. I was surprised when he answered me with- Thank you very much for your question. I recently launched discussion forums on my website, and I have a dedicated thread for questions that people haven't been able to find an answer for on my blog: http://forums.nathanbransford.com .

I checked it out and found a wealth of information in each of the forums. Here is a list of forums and topics covered:

• Town Hall
New member introductions, suggestions for the Forums, and questions about posting.

• All Things Writing
The writing process, writing advice, and updates on your work in progress

• All Things Books
Recommendations, discussions, and odes to your favourites.

• All Things Feedback
Query critiques, first pages, and sharing your work.

• All Things Finding An Agent
Submission protocol, the road to publication, and questions for your resident agent

• All Things Publishing
News, trends, and the future of publishing.

• All Things Procrastination
Because that novel isn't going to delay itself.

I see great opportunities to improve our writing on the internet. This one speaks volums.

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Dear Luckey Agent Contest number five

If you are writing a science fiction or fantasy book, this contest is for you.

How to enter: E-mail entries to fifthagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything; no attachments.

• What to submit: The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of fantasy or science fiction (adult fiction and/or YA fiction; no MG please). You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.
  
  
• Please note: To be eligible to submit, you must do one of two things: 1) Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media—blogs, Twitter, Facebook; or 2) just mention this contest once and also add Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blog-roll. Please provide link(s) so the judge and I can verify eligibility! My link to GLA is on the left side of my blog. I have been following for several years and have picked up many tips for sharpening my ms.
  
  
• Contest Rules
  
  
• 1. This contest will be live for approximately fourteen days—from May 12 through the end of Wednesday, May 26, EST. Winners notified by e-mail within 7 days of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.
  2. To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.
  3. This contest is solely for completed book-length works of fantasy and science fiction (both YA and adult novels are accepted; no MG).
  4. You can submit as many times as you wish. You can submit even if you submitted to other contests in the past, but please note that past winners cannot win again.
  5. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media.
  6. By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as any terms possibly added by me in the "Comments" section of this blog post. (If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at literaryagent@fwmedia.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions.)
  
  
• Prizes!!!
  
  
• Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.
  
  

Quick post on local resources.

Yesterday I called several local newspapers and asked if they had editors who had experience working in the book-publishing world. More specifically, do they do book editing. I was surprised to find a majority of the editors worked in this field and that some still edit manuscripts. One of the editors told me that if I publish my novel through a publishing house they usually have an editing section that will edit your work as part of the process. I am presently waiting for a call, from an editor, and will let you know if her prices are cheaper than the services I see advertised in my writing magazines. (Update, the woman has agreed to read my ms and comment on it—for free).

I also talked with several of the local libraries and asked if I could bring in a printed copy of my ms and have them check it out to beta readers with the understanding that they will fill in a questioner I will provide. The response was positive and I am busy printing copies.

I hope the above information will be of help in your publishing journey.

Now for some fun. I copied this from Nathan Bransford’s blog, enjoy.

The Art of Critiquing

First, I must apologize to my blog readers for my absence. In short, a few weeks ago I lost a battle against the strong Nebraska winds, an engine cover and its metal frame. My head came out in a different shape that when I entered the space. When I opened the compartment, the wind forced the cover open and held it tight. I leaned down and started to remove the starter motor. The wind suddenly did a one-eighty and I remember seeing stars and blood everywhere. It took me a week before I could sleep without my pain. The good news is that during that time I worked on my ms and edited it again.

I am now seeking serious Beta readers for my completed manuscript. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to point out several new critique sites I came across in the latest issue of Writer’s Digest (May/June 2010). The title of the article is 101 Best Websites for Writers. It is full of a variety of Websites guaranteed to meet any of your writing needs.

• Two sites that I joined are Critters Workshop and Critique Circle.

• Critters Workshop: You must love a site whose motto is—Guaranteed Critiques or Your Story Back. To help you review properly they have a fantastic library of articles on how to critique. Be sure to check out the free tool section. You earn credits for every critique you send in. You can post full chapters or a completed novel for review. Different rules apply so be sure to read the instructions. The only drawback I have encountered is that all submissions must be in text format. No DOC/RTF or PDF files. This is easy to do if you are using a major word processor such as MS WORD or Open Office.

• Critique Circle: As with many writing groups, the system is based on points. It costs three points to submit a work. You will likely have to wait a week or two for it to be posted, as there is a queue. Critique Circle pays you points, from 1.5 to three, for your reviews of other people's works, which is necessary on the site so you can post your own material. The shorter your material the more reviews you will receive.

• ALERT: Caught your attention didn’t I. I ordered a book titled Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript by C. Laufenberg & the Editors of Writer’s Digest. It covers every part of the manuscript submission process, including how to construct persuasive and professional correspondence, with more than 120 sample letters and proposals.

• Cost: $4.95 (original price $19.99)
• Order number: 1711490
• Website: www.edwardrhamilton.com

I am seeking a few BETA READERS who would like to exchange manuscripts. I will read and comment on yours and you would do the same for mine. You must be a follower of my blog.