See You on the Flipside: From Query Contest Success Story to Query Contest Mentor

If you’ve been reading my blog or following me on Twitter, you probably know two things about me. 

One is that I’m a hopeless contest junkie.  I’ve entered almost all of them at one time or another: short story contests, Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award, assorted Twitter pitch contests, The Writer’s Voice, Query Kombat, and countless others. 

The other is that, after years of trying, I finally signed with a wonderful literary agent several months ago (through, appropriately enough, an online contest).

Post-signing, while I enthusiastically embarked on several rounds of agent-guided revisions, something occurred to me.  My beloved contests were still going on around me…but I could no longer enter them.   I'd knocked myself out of the running in most of the short story contests a while back, having made a few professional short fiction sales.  And now, I’d gotten what I'd really wanted out of those contests.  I’d gotten an agent...and a great one at that.  

And these were all good things.  Amazingly good, wonderful things.

But despite being thrilled with how far I'd come, I found myself feeling a little left out.  After all, those contests had been a part of my life for years. I couldn’t just stop loving them because I no longer needed them.

And then something else occurred to me.

Maybe I could still participate.

On the flipside.

Maybe this would be the time to share some of my own experience with others who are on their own journey. 


So I’m so excited to say that I’ll be participating for the first time as a mentor in Nightmare on Query Street. And my hope is that this is only the beginning of a brand new love affair with the world of writing contests.   

See you on the flipside!

Comments

  1. Speaking from experience, what a damn fine mentor you will be!

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