Write well. Write often. Edit wisely.
Celebrating
The Magic of Fiction
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Need to polish the opening chapters of your novel before you submit it to agents and publishers?
Want to know if your story’s on the right track, if the opening works for the genre, if the first pages do what they need to do?
This is your chance to win an edit of the first thirty pages of a manuscript, an edit that will help you strengthen those pages and answer some of these questions for you.
A single winner will be chosen at random from those who submit entries in the comments of this article. You can enter only once per manuscript title, but you can enter as many different titles as you have manuscripts. So if you have only one book manuscript, you will have one entry. If you want to enter three different manuscripts, you’ll have three entries. (Each title must be entered in a separate comment.)
The Particulars
**Entries will be accepted for 24 hours before a winner is chosen at random. Entries will be accepted beginning at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) Monday night (March 14, 2016) and through 11:59 p.m. (EDT) Tuesday, March 15, 2016.
This article is now open for entries and comments.
Entries
~ the title you enter must be your own work
~ include the working title, your name, and the genre as your entry (you can include actual comments in your comment, but this is the info I’m looking for so that I know you’ve entered the giveaway)
~ you can enter a work of fiction or nonfiction
~ make sure the e-mail address you connect to your comment is one where you can be reached
~ only one entry per title (each manuscript gets only one chance to be picked)
~ yes, you can enter multiple titles; enter each in a different comment
~ enter no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT Tuesday (March 15, 2016)
First Thirty Pages
~ your first thirty pages must be ready to be edited no later than June 1, 2016 (they can be ready earlier)
~ maximum word count is 7,500 words
~ you will be sending me a Word doc—12 pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced, in English
Choosing the Winner
I’ll use a random number generator to choose the winner after midnight (EDT) on Tuesday night. I’ll post the winner’s name and book title in the comments.
The Edit
The edit will include suggestions and comments on both writing issues and the fiction elements—anything that strikes me as needing a second look or further attention.
I’ll use TrackChanges in Word and will mark the text itself and include comments and questions in the comment column.
Although I will likely make specific suggestions for rewording some sentences—to give you an idea about options—I won’t be rewriting your story. I reserve the right to request that the winner revise the thirty pages if they’re not ready for an edit—i.e., notes or what amounts to an outline isn’t ready for an edit.
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Join us all week—March 13 through March 17—for excerpts and other Launch Week festivities to celebrate the release of The Magic of Fiction, now available.
* Comments in this article are eligible for the Prize Pack Giveaway. The single prize winner will be chosen randomly from comments made on eligible Launch Week articles. (#8)
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Tags: first thirty edit Posted in: Announcements, Contests, Launch Week
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Copyright © 2010-2018 E. A. Hill Visit Beth at A Novel Edit
Write well. Write often. Edit wisely.
The Poison Tree of Souls By Scott McClelland
Genre: Fiction
The Blight by Scott McClelland
Genre: Fiction
The Rampaging Sons of the Widow James by Scott McClelland
Genre: Fiction
Thanks for this opportunity, Beth. I hope you receive a lot of entries. Yesterday was a blast. /Scott
Destiny’s Bond by Brandy Miller
Genre: Dark Fantasy
As Scott said, thanks for this opportunity, Beth! Yesterday was really fun and I got a lot of valuable feedback 🙂
Apologies if this alerts you – I’m not Beth!
I wanted to say that I like the name of your WIP. It would make me pick it up, that’s for sure. Is there a place I can find out more about it? I’m a sucker for dark fantasy.
Hi, Kat 🙂
The first fifteen chapters of Destiny’s Bond are available to read on the manuscript workshopping site: Scribophile. It’s where I’m currently workshopping my WIP. Joining is free.
And thanks for taking interest 🙂
The Nam Legacy
General Fiction
Thanks so much for the chance!
Winning Ace
Genre – Contempirary Romance
Losing Game
Genre – contemporary Romance
Loving this week, Beth. Hope it’s going well. Book ordered ?
Subway | Palliatopia
Genre – Young Adult
The Missing Link
Genre – Middle Grade Fiction
Lost Rooms by Ashley Clark
Genre: Middle Grade Adventure (fiction)
Beacon of Hope by Judy L Mohr
Genre: Adult High Fantasy
As so many have said before me, such a great opportunity. Thanks.
Path of Poison Ann Bell Feinstein Genre:Thriller Adult
Fragments of a Memory -Patricia A Smith
Genre : Fiction
My own WIP is nowhere near ready for this but good luck to all those participating. What a fantastic opportunity!
Cairnaerie
Genre: historical fiction
Blue as the Sky
Genre: historical fiction
Dirt and Silver
Genre: Southern fiction
The Night Sun
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Thanks for this great opportunity!
The Guardian’s Charge
Genre: Fiction/Futuristic
Hope
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Void War:Invasion by Lee Herbst – Science Fiction
The Making of Marnie Jones
Contemporary Romance
The Redemption of Remy St. Claire
Contemporary Romance
Colton’s Spring
Contemporary Romance
The Professor’s Defender
Contemporary Romance
The Woman with the Amber Eyes
Erotic BDSM Romance
Congratulations, Gabbi! You and The Woman with the Amber Eyes are the winners of a first-thirty edit.
Congrats!
The Man with the Beautiful Eyes
Erotic BDSM Romance
The Girl with the Innocent Eyes
Erotic BDSM Romance
Title: Stellar Fate
Name: Linda S.
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
I don’t want to comment too much here in the middle of the contest, but I wish you all luck. And I’m glad you’ve entered. As several of you have said, the first paragraph critiques were great fun.
And remember that each comment on launch festivities articles this week is eligible for the prize pack. I’ll randomly draw the winner of the prize pack sometime after midnight my time Thursday night.
And The Magic of Fiction is officially released! It’s a great day at The Editor’s Blog.
This launch is so fun for writers, but also for those, like me, who are watching how you’ve cultivated an audience and used it to generate sales. Well done. THAT should be your next book—The Clever Marketeer.
No books on marketing for me—strictly writing and editing. (Yeah, I say that now.)
Most authors do a lot of launch day/week activities on social media sites, but since the blog is my platform, I’ve focused here. In May I’ll begin my seventh year at The Editor’s Blog—a long-term investment in writers and other editors.
I truly love what I do.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Title: Impure Magic
Flora’s Last Chance for Magic by Rachel Barnard
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Aster & Tilde (A Coffeehouse Romance)
Genre: New Adult Romance
Donuts in an Empty Field (For the Love of Donuts Book 1)
Genre: Young Adult
I just have to say I love your title! Sounds like a fun read. 🙂
~Laurie
BAR NONE by Kimberly Reiner
Genre: Fiction
Title: Shadow of the past • a ‘trilogy’
Genre: Scifi-mystery/romance
By: Annika L-Morgan
Title: Obeah Gal
By: Annika L-Morgan
Genre: Jamaican fiction
Where can I submit my first thirty pages?
I have tried several links but none take me to a place to submit.
I appreciate your assistance.
Toni
Toni, you don’t submit your 30 pages—you enter your name, the book’s working title, and the genre in a comment on this article. After midnight my time tonight, I’ll randomly select a single winner from all the entries.
Dang…How do I delete it now.
Toni
I got it–you’re good.
Wow! Thanks
I feel perfectly foolish.
Toni
Not to worry—you probably answered questions for a few others too.
Alabama Blue
Southern Gothic Memoir
by: Toni K. Pacini
Congrats on the new book release, it looks like it is chock full of your fantastic advice! Kudos to you for offering this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to reading the entries.
Thanks, Elf. I hope the book finds a home on the desks of many writers and editors.
North of North, Jill Winfield,
Urban Fantasy
Tinsel in a Tangle
YA Fantasy
by Laurie Germaine
Thanks for the opportunity.
The Florin by Diana Dinverno
Historical Fiction
Congratulations on the book!
Obscura by Kate Saterfiel
Dark Fantasy
Practically Neighbours
General Fiction
Slaves of Fiction by Cillian Flood
Fantasy.
From Where We Stand
Genre: Fiction, historical
Letters from Nowhere
By A.J McCarthy
Genre: Romantic suspense thriller
By the Book
By A.J. McCarthy
Genre: Romantic suspense thriller
Around the Block
By A.J. McCarthy
Genre: romantic suspense
Romantic suspense/murder mystery
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
(Romantic suspense/ murder mystery
Title: THE WATCHER
(Suspense)
I’ll be taking entries for three more hours. If you have friends who could use an edit, let them know.
Title: Feed The Wolf
Genre: Psychological Thriller
“Don’t Tell Anyone”
YA/Mystery
Congrats on your achievement with “The Magic of Fiction”!
Your Daddy’s Son
Contemporary Romance
Goodnight Texas!
Lit. Fiction
The Seduction of Sissy Smith
Contemporary Romance
Okay, the contest is officially closed—no more entries after this point.
I’m going to temporarily remove all comments that don’t contain entries to get the true number of entries, and then I’ll go visit a random number generator site, and come back and post the winner’s name and book title.
Thanks for all the entries. I wish you good luck.
Glencairn
Historical Romance
By E. Munro
Sorry! I’m on the West Coast and just saw the comments closed notice after my entry went through.
Since I see it, I’ll take it.
Thank you!
The winner of the first-thirty edit is Gabbi Grey—The Woman with the Amber Eyes. Congratulations, Gabbi. I’ll be contacting you tomorrow about the edit.
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Thanks to everyone for participating.
Remember that all entries and comments on this article are eligible for the prize pack—you still have a chance to win this week. The prize pack includes:
– a searchable PDF of The Magic of Fiction
and winner’s choice of three (3) books from the following list:
– Grammatically Correct (Stilman)
– New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors
– New Hart’s Rules
– Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage
– The Oxford Dictionary of Current English
– Webster’s New World College Dictionary (5th ed.)
– The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.)—winner’s choice of print edition or one-year subscription to CMOS online
*crosses fingers*
These are such valuable resources!
I agree, Kat. I figured that since many writers and editors probably have at least one or two of these, I needed to include a variety of titles. But each is wonderful.
I had already commented on this post as “Decadent Kane” my author name, hope that counts.