"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

New Year, New Contest

Most writers will tell you a critique group is a valuable asset. However, if you are like myself it's difficult to find time to form a regularly meeting group. Jobs, school, family and many other responsibilities intrude on our individual time. Any down time we achieve, we usually fill with much needed sleep or writing out the next idea we've had before we lose it. The critiques we are able to get on our work are usually performed by family and friends. We are left wishing we had at least one  unbiased edit of our work. Hence, the contest I am offering you.

I will critique (free of charge) the first 1000 words of a story for five lucky winners. The rules are simple: You must be a follower of this blog to be entered. If you mention this on your own site, you will be entered a second time.

Simply let me know if you want to be entered in this contest and if you blogged about it. The contest closes January 12 and I will announce the winners by January 15.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to reading your work. Happy writing!

25 comments:

Georgia said...

How do I submit for your critique? I'd love to do this. Georgia Downer

Sylvia Ney said...

Georgia - you are now entered in the contest. Step one was to become a follower, Step two was to reply about your interest (which you have) and the third (optional) step is, if you tell me you shared this information on your own blog, you could be entered a second time.

When the five winners are chosen, I will announce them on this blog and they can email me their manuscript, short story, poems or whatever 1,000 words they choose. I'll edit them and send them back. Good luck!

Lori said...

Good morning, Sylvia! I'm also interested in the contest. I didn't get to attend our Bayou Writers' Group conference so I missed out on meeting you. I've also posted this on two of my blogs (A** Cheek Angels for fellow writers and Cajunlair.Wordpress.com) Will you be appearing at any other meetings/workshops in our area? I'm going to the SOLA RWA meeting next weekend in New Orleans where Shirley Jump will be speaking. Would love to meet you one day.
Lori Leger
www.lorilegerauthor.com

Sylvia Ney said...

I would love to be there this Saturday if I can find someone to watch my girls. I'm also interested in conferences, but didn't know about any others. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to meeting You!

Melody Jackson said...

Hello, Ms. Ney,

My name is Melody Jackson and I would love to enter this contest.

Melody Jackson said...

Hello, again. I'm just writing to let you know that I just blogged about you website contest.

http://thetalesofsiriusthedragon.blogspot.com/2011/01/class-b-act.html

Sylvia Ney said...

Melody, I'm so glad you entered. Don't forget to provide the web address to this contest on your blog. Good luck!

Melody Jackson said...

Thank you, Ms. Ney. And I'm sorry about the typo in my second post.

Patricia A. Timms-McGehee said...

Thanks for coming by my blog to tell me about this. You're so right about finding critiquing partners. Very difficult.

It's sweet of you to offer this to your followers. I would love to be entered. I added your contest to my sidebar with a descripion of the contest linking back to your site. If I get a chance to post about it I will. I only post every 3-4 days because of my schedule at home.

Have a great night!

Marlin55 said...

Hello Sylvia, I'm glad to be a follower of your blog and yes I would like to be entered into the contest.

Aimée Jodoin said...

Sylvia,
I'd like to be entered into the contest, and I'll mention something in my next blog post. Thanks for the opportunity, though I'm not sure which story I would want to have critiqued!
Aimee

Kellie Kamryn said...

I am interested in this and I thank Lori for introducing you to us. I will mention it on my site over the week-end. www.kelliejwin.com

Sylvia Ney said...

Patricia, Marlin, and Aimee - I'm so glad you are interested in the contest. Good luck!

Kellie - your webpage looks awesome. I'll be perusing it in more detail after the kiddos head off to bed.

Goodnight all and happy writing!

gpinkerton said...

Yep, I am interested in baring my soul in return for red ink....just because. :)

Gary

Kari Marie said...

I would love to enter! I've posted a note about your contest here:

http://karimariewhite.blogspot.com/2011/01/few-things.html

Denise Covey said...

Hey Sylvia, this is very generous. I wish I could find a CP because after self-editing we don't see our own problems in our writing. Yes, I'd like to be entered in your contest. I've followed you.

You also might be interested to know I'm hosting a series of authors on my blog starting this Wednesday, where they'll tell us of their journey to publication. there will be book giveaways and critiques offered too! Hope you can pop by!

Laurie Kolp said...

Sylvia~ I'm sorry... I thought I was following you already... I am now, though! What a clever idea this is to get exposure! ~laurie

Linda H. said...

I'd love to enter this. I am now a follower and will post a link on my FB page. (Thanks, Laurie, for the tip!)

JJ said...

Yaya cool contest! I'm a new follower :)

Sylvia Ney said...

Gary - will you be at the meeting tomorrow?

Kari Marie - did you add yourself as a follower?

L'Aussie, Laurie, Linda and WritersBlockNZ - I'm so glad you like the contest idea.

Two more days to enter and let me know if you linked to my blog for a second entry. Good luck everyone!

Cherie Marks said...

Sounds like a fantastic prize for doing what I love to do--follow blogs!

I posted a snippet about the contest on my blog as well.

http://www.sherrycahill.blogspot.com

Jodi said...

What a great way to get followers AND to help others at the same time. I love your offer and have a short story you can maybe advise me on. Good luck to everyone and thanks to Sylvia.

Samantha Vérant said...

Hi Sylvia- I'm posting the info about your contest today. I don't need a critique (I hope to share more on this next week), but I'm sure there are many people who follow me that would. We'll see!

Sylvia Ney said...

Just a few more hours to enter the contest!

Sylvia Ney said...

See the January 13th post for a list of winners!