Laura Heffernan's Blog, page 9
June 7, 2017
Query Kombat Agent Round 7: CHESHIRE
Title: FEMSLASHEntry Nickname: Cheshire
Query Kombat Agent Round 7: CHESHIRE
Title: FEMSLASHEntry Nickname: Cheshire
Query Kombat Agent Round 8: THE HALF-ORPHAN'S HANDBOOK, YA Contemporary
Title: Dead Parents CampEntry Nickname: The Half-Orphan's HandbookWord count: 62KGenre: Young Adult ContemporaryRead more »
Query Kombat Agent Round 9: DELICIOUS VICIOUS CYCLES, YA Contemporary (Own voices)
Title: VERA WITH A VENGEANCEEntry Nickname: Delicious Vicious CyclesWord count: 74KGenre: YA Contemporary, Own VoicesRead more »
June 6, 2017
QK Round 1 Winners
Well, Round 1 of this crazy contest officially ended Monday night. We promised blood, and blood there was. Also tears, nail-biting, and some hair-pulling. Congratulations to all of you who fought hard and came out victorious.
Please have your revised entries to us by Tuesday, June 6th at 8 am EDT. Use the same format and send to the contest email: QueryKombat (at) gmail (dot) com.
A full 32 entries out of the 64 lost in a valiant fight - you should have seen us hosts and the judges freak out about how hard it was to choose.
For those 32: Good job. You beat out 300 other entries to make the first round, and you gave the judges a hell of a job. Hopefully you got some amazing feedback as well!
For the 32 winners, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! YOU GET TO GO ON TO THE AGENT ROUND ON Wednesday morning!!!
Below is the list of those who will go on to the next round. Let me know if we made any mistakes! Team Writer McWriteyFace is in purple.
BeardsThree Men and an ActuaryI Fell for a Convicted FelonFrom Gutters To GalleriesSwitcherAsteroid SnacksLife as a Dumpster FireThe Barringer MuseumStands By Until He Doesn'tThe Nose KnowsBounty and the BeastSuper Powers and ProblemsMother of All Custody BattlesAlternative FactsThe Half-Orphan's HandbookCheshire AliceDelicious Vicious CyclesNowhere LandEstella + AyronThis Selkie Can't SwimWe Kinda Destroyed ParisBook Boys Gone WildGirl of Your NightmaresBoy Band Ninja AssassinsHero by DefaultKazaBe Grateful for CookiesBust the Bubble WrapDogs and Chickens and Dragons, Oh My!Perfectly Imperfect PrincessAlabama Witch HuntersSuper Space Nerd
CONGRATS!!! I'm thrilled that we had so many entries moving on to Round 2. Of course, we still have....
The Host Saves
These are three entries that we hosts picked from our teams to move on to the agent round but not on to Round 2. The Host Saves can submit a revised entry and will go to the agent round, but not to the second combat round.
I spent a LOT of time trying to decide which entry to save. Even before any votes had come in, I wondered how on earth I was supposed to pick. My personal favorite? The most marketable? Most diverse? Own voices? (How can I know that without everyone sending me bios?) Closest vote? The entry where I most disagreed with the judge's feedback? The one I thought agents would like the most? ARGH THIS IS SOOOOOO HARD!
At the end of the day, I wish I could save you all. But I wound up having to pick:
MARS BARS AND SNICKERS
Congrats everyone!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see you all at the agent round!
Please have your revised entries to us by Tuesday, June 6th at 8 am EDT. Use the same format and send to the contest email: QueryKombat (at) gmail (dot) com.
A full 32 entries out of the 64 lost in a valiant fight - you should have seen us hosts and the judges freak out about how hard it was to choose.
For those 32: Good job. You beat out 300 other entries to make the first round, and you gave the judges a hell of a job. Hopefully you got some amazing feedback as well!
For the 32 winners, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! YOU GET TO GO ON TO THE AGENT ROUND ON Wednesday morning!!!
Below is the list of those who will go on to the next round. Let me know if we made any mistakes! Team Writer McWriteyFace is in purple.
BeardsThree Men and an ActuaryI Fell for a Convicted FelonFrom Gutters To GalleriesSwitcherAsteroid SnacksLife as a Dumpster FireThe Barringer MuseumStands By Until He Doesn'tThe Nose KnowsBounty and the BeastSuper Powers and ProblemsMother of All Custody BattlesAlternative FactsThe Half-Orphan's HandbookCheshire AliceDelicious Vicious CyclesNowhere LandEstella + AyronThis Selkie Can't SwimWe Kinda Destroyed ParisBook Boys Gone WildGirl of Your NightmaresBoy Band Ninja AssassinsHero by DefaultKazaBe Grateful for CookiesBust the Bubble WrapDogs and Chickens and Dragons, Oh My!Perfectly Imperfect PrincessAlabama Witch HuntersSuper Space Nerd
CONGRATS!!! I'm thrilled that we had so many entries moving on to Round 2. Of course, we still have....
The Host Saves
These are three entries that we hosts picked from our teams to move on to the agent round but not on to Round 2. The Host Saves can submit a revised entry and will go to the agent round, but not to the second combat round.
I spent a LOT of time trying to decide which entry to save. Even before any votes had come in, I wondered how on earth I was supposed to pick. My personal favorite? The most marketable? Most diverse? Own voices? (How can I know that without everyone sending me bios?) Closest vote? The entry where I most disagreed with the judge's feedback? The one I thought agents would like the most? ARGH THIS IS SOOOOOO HARD!
At the end of the day, I wish I could save you all. But I wound up having to pick:
MARS BARS AND SNICKERS
Congrats everyone!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see you all at the agent round!
June 2, 2017
Query Kombat 2017 starts now! May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!
Get that thick skin in place because here we go! Round 1
Hop on over to Mike's and Michelle's blogs to see the rest of the match-ups and entries! They are spread all over the place. Some here, some there. We've got a little bit of everything: Adult/NA, YA, and MG! This round lasts until June 5th at 8 pm.
On the last day the hosts will call out for extra judges to come and break ties, or in case of extra close votes to try and get a more decisive margin. In the event a tie remains, the blog host will provide the tie breaker.
The entry with the most votes for Victory moves forward to the agent round on June 7th! Kombatants will have a chance to revise at that time. Hosts will also pick one eliminated entry to "save" that will be featured in the agent round but not move ahead to Round 2.
Winning entries must be revised and returned to QueryKombat (at) gmail (dot) com by Tuesday, June 6th at 8:00 am Eastern. Follow the exact same format in the original post. If you don't submit a revised entry by 8:00 am, we'll post the original in the agent round.
Now before we begin:
Read this post again to remind yourselves of the rules and guidelines of commenting and judging. Below I've reposted the main ideas:
Reminders for the Entrants:
You may comment on your own entries after voting has ended to offer thanks or congrats. Do not otherwise respond to or explain feedback. If there is a problem with your entry, shout out to us on twitter as soon as you can. (@LH_Writes - I'm usually online in the mornings) If you don't have Twitter, you may comment on your entry telling us the mistake. Also, we tried our hardest to make the match-ups as fair as possible and against as similar stories as possible. But, obviously, this is impossible to do perfectly and some match-ups may seen very random. We apologize for this but it's an evil of the system.
Kombatants should comment on 6 other match-ups to help share the love around! But Kombatants do not cast votes. Please do not comment until after the blog host leaves a comment for the judge votes.
Reminders for the Judges:
Wait until after one of us hosts comments on each entry first and reply to that comment to cast your votes. Try making your votes objective instead of subjective (but if you really love an entry subjectively, don't even feel bad about saying it was a subjective vote - subjectivity rules!). Be sure to point out the good as well as what needs work. Post under your nicknames! If you forget, just delete and repost. And judges: seriously, thank you for doing this. It's a very tough job and isn't for the faint-hearted.
Reminders for Everyone:
Try not to comment until after one of us hosts have made the first comment, then go ahead and offer your feedback. We ask everyone who entered Query Kombat to leave at least one comment.
NOW THE FUN BEGINS!!! GO GO GO!!! We'll be Tweeting under #QueryKombat!
And may the odds be ever in your favor!
Query Kombat Round 1: CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES vs. STANDS BY UNTIL HE DOESN'T
Title: A Child's Last HopeEntry Nickname: Child and Family ServicesWord Count: 71KGenre: Adult Crime/Psychological ThrillerRead more »
Query Kombat Round 1: THE NOSE KNOWS vs. THE LAKE OF HAUNTED MEMORIES
Title: The End of the World as We Know itEntry Nickname: The Nose KnowsWord Count: 69kGenre: Adult contemporary fantasy. Ownvoice--Latino (two of the multiple POVs)Read more »
Query Kombat Round 1: BOUNTY AND THE BEAST vs. THE MARIZPAN PIZZA
Title: Dangerous BeastsEntry nickname: Bounty and the BeastWord count: 89,000Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance Read more »
Query Kombat Round 1: MEN AREN'T DYING vs. SUPER POWERS AND PROBLEMS
Title: Still LifeEntry Nickname: Men Aren’t Dying Word count: 95KGenre: Adult contemporary sci-fi
Read more »
Read more »
