This is the fifth post in my Writing Gratitude Countdown.
(Find all the posts: 1. The Gift of Attention , 2. The Gift of Permission, and 3. The Gift of Hospitality, and 4. The Gift of Feedback, 5. The Gift of a Deadline.)
I keep finding more things to appreciate about the writing life.
It’s sometimes easier to be gentler with other writers than with yourself. But being hard on yourself for too long dries up the words. Gratitude is a wonderful oasis from ambition.
Gratitude also seems to be a writerly re-set button. Remembering all the people who took time for me is humbling. Humility and gratitude make it easier to give myself time to grow as a writer.
5. The Gift of a Deadline: the value of markers in the sand
Even after a manuscript has been re-written and polished, there are so many steps to work through before it can be sent out into the world. Gratitude helps my writing motivation and so does a solid deadline.
Fortunately for writers, the publishing community has a generous selection of contests that help great stories come to light.
(Twitter has a new name these days, but you can find pitch events on BlueSky: https://blueskystarterpack.com/pitch-events)
Here are a few of the ones that helped me:
a. Get your pitch** ready. When I first heard about Twitter pitch contests, I didn’t get it. How could it help to describe your manuscript in 140 characters?
But short pitches aren’t just a catchy sales technique to find an agent or editor. Writing a pitch for #PitMad helped me identify my story’s core.
**Read all about how to write excellent pitches at The Winged Pen.
Thanks to Authoress for organizing all the moving parts of so many pitch contests! I’m very grateful for the past deadlines!
b. Get your query ready.
Michelle Hauck offered several contests that require a query letter: Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, Sun versus Snow, Picture Book Party, and New Agent. I got great feedback in the New Agent contest. Her website still has an excellent archive of interviews with literary agents. At the moment, the most recent interview is 2020.
Thanks Michelle Hauck for organizing these great opportunities!
Thanks Wade Albert White for your excellent feedback on my query and first 250 words and a even a synopsis! (Talk about over and above!) His middle grade book is available for pre-order on Amazon: THE ADVENTURER’S GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL ESCAPES. You can add it to your GoodReads list here.
c. Get your first page(s) ready.
- This contest is still listed on her site, but the link to submit isn’t active. I’ll leave this information here in case she has migrated to another social media channel. Secret Agent Contest Submit the first 250 words of a completed manuscript. Monthly except June and December.
The other contestants weighed in on the entries, so you got lots of feedback even if the Secret Agent didn’t comment on yours. And the feedback I got from superagent Linda Epstein made me say: “Oh, that’s what they mean by tension!” Invaluable.
Thanks again, Authoress!
Thanks Secret Agent Linda Epstein!
- Writing & Illustrating’s Free Fall Friday offers an agent critique of first pages. (archived).
Kathy Temean‘s contest allowed you to submit 250 words to a different agent each month. If your entry was chosen, you got specific feedback from an agent on your submission.
Thanks Kathy Temean for organizing this monthly contest and for interviewing new agents every month! Sign up for her excellent newsletter here.
Thanks to YA author and literary agent, Marie Lamba, for her insightful feedback!
d. Get a once-over for you first 50 pages. Or your whole manuscript.
Believe it–writers are generous people. #PitchWars was a contest where over 100 authors volunteer to read submitted manuscripts and fought over the privilege of working with their favorite over the next three months. For a taste of what these generous writers are like, check out my fellow Winged Pen mentors here.
Some mentors even offer feedback to manuscripts they didn’t take on. I really appreciated hints I got back from my almost-mentors that my story was starting too late. It’s easy to write a few more chapters for the beginning once you have feedback like that.
Thanks for organizing this amazing event every year Brenda Drake! I don’t know how you do what you do. You’re always thinking up new ways to fish writers work out of obscurity.
If, like me, you didn’t get into PitchWars or you missed the deadlines for these contests, there’s no need to despair. There’s more generosity going on all the time. I’ve seen a number of charity auctions offering great writerly prizes to raise money for colleagues, help refugees, or to celebrate a writing anniversary.
For example, here’s one that was organized by middle grade author, Shannon Hale. Auctions are often announced on Twitter.
I was fortunate to win a 50-page critique from Jackson Eflin in honor of Ava Jae’s Blogoversary.
Thanks Ava Jae!
Thanks Jackson!
This post is getting too long again now, so I have to stop. But there are always more opportunities to help and be helped as a writer. If the contests above aren’t quite the kind of deadline you’re looking for, look around and see what you can find.
2025 Note: There’s also a Sub Club Substack that shares publication opportunities.
Feel free to share your favorite new writing contest or start your own writing or pitching contest. I’d love to hear about your experiences of generosity via my contact form.
Happy writing! Happy submitting!
So that’s my fifth installment of gratitude for my writing journey.
(Find all the posts: 1. The Gift of Attention , 2. The Gift of Permission, and 3. The Gift of Hospitality, and 4. The Gift of Feedback, 5. The Gift of a Deadline.)
If you’d like to share about people who helped you see your own work clearly, please feel free to write to me via my contact form. I’d love to hear about it!
