Miss Snark's First Victim-May Secret Agent Contest

CharleyGirl · May 17, 2010

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has ever had problems entering Miss Snark's First Victim contest--this month it's for Chapter Books, MG, and YA

( http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2010/05/submissions-round-one-are-now-open.html )

I followed the submission guidelines, but got rejected and it was sent before submissions closed...is it because I just made up a Screen Name? Do you have to have your own blog to submit?

Hedgetrimmer · May 17, 2010

CG, you don't have to have a blog or special screen name or anything. It was probably rejected because you didn't get your submission in on time. For those who have never entered, that time deadline is really misleading. I think the window is a few hours or something, but the slots usually fill up within 3 or 4 minutes. Most participants are sitting with their emails all typed and ready and their finger hovering over the "send" button. As soon as 12:00 strikes, they submit. Keep this in mind for next month. And good luck. It's a great contest.

Forsaken · May 17, 2010

You can try again at 7pm. That's when the next window opens, and you must be really fast.

C.T. Richmond · May 17, 2010

What time did you submit? Sometimes, the submissions will close early if the quota is met. It looks like there's another submission window at 7PM if you want to try again.

I don't think you need to have a blog to submit. I entered one of the Secret Agent contests a few months ago and I don't remember including my blog.

Good luck!

CharleyGirl · May 17, 2010

Hedgetrimmer said:
CG, you don't have to have a blog or special screen name or anything. It was probably rejected because you didn't get your submission in on time. For those who have never entered, that time deadline is really misleading. I think the window is a few hours or something, but the slots usually fill up within 3 or 4 minutes. Most participants are sitting with their emails all typed and ready and their finger hovering over the "send" button. As soon as 12:00 strikes, they submit. Keep this in mind for next month. And good luck. It's a great contest.

Thanks Hedge- I was actually one of those with poised fingers and sent it in right away, but the email I received said it was formatted wrong:

I'm sorry; your entry has been disqualified for the following reason: You must include the following at the top of your submission:

SCREEN NAME: your blogger name
TITLE: title of submission
GENRE: literary genre

(your submission goes here)

I had those at the top, so the only thing I could think of was that my screen name wasn't right. Also, I used Rich Text format--thinking that was the problem, I resubmitted, but it got rejected again, this time saying that submissions were closed. Oh, well.

Cyia · May 17, 2010

Ditto what the others have said. With only 25 (I think) slots, it's not going to take long for them fill up.

Get your submission ready, and at 7:00 or 7:01 hit send.

CharleyGirl · May 17, 2010

Thanks all! I might give it another try at 7:00.

C.T. Richmond · May 17, 2010

SCREEN NAME: your blogger name
TITLE: title of submission
GENRE: literary genre

Ah, maybe you got tripped up because of the "blogger name" thing. From this email you posted, it seems like you may need a Blogger account to enter the contest now. I'd probably shoot a quick email to Authoress to clarify.

CharleyGirl · May 17, 2010

C.T. Richmond said:
Ah, maybe you got tripped up because of the "blogger name" thing. From this email you posted, it seems like you may need a Blogger account to enter the contest now. I'd probably shoot a quick email to Authoress to clarify.

Will do, thanks!

SheilaJG · May 17, 2010

Did you make it? I read that someone hit send one second after 7 and got a message that it was already full. Wowza.

And the agent is just YA, MG and chapter books.

CharleyGirl · May 17, 2010

SheilaSeeGee said:
Did you make it? I read that someone hit send one second after 7 and got a message that it was already full. Wowza.

And the agent is just YA, MG and chapter books.

Nope, didn't make it. My trigger finger needs practice.

SheilaJG · May 17, 2010

Aw, I'm sorry.

C.T. Richmond · May 17, 2010

As of 8:20 EST, it looks like the contest is still open!

http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2010/05/submissions-are-still-open.html

Authoress says she typed in the wrong maximum number and she is still taking submissions!

Shadow_Ferret · May 17, 2010

I thought Miss Snark retired.

Smish · May 17, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
I thought Miss Snark retired.

She did. It's a different blog, and it's called Miss Snark's First Victim, as in the thread title.

CharleyGirl · May 18, 2010

One last question

One last question on this:

Those of you who have submitted--did you put anything in the SUBJECT line of your emails? Still can't figure out why my entry got rejected (explicitly for formatting, not because of contest closure) even when I switched everything to plain text.

PS to C.T.--
Authoress got back to me and said that you DON'T need to have a blogger account, and my submissions followed guidelines, so I don't know...maybe the writing gods are just being protective and telling me that my first 250 words are not worthy of critique just yet. Tee-hee.

Hedgetrimmer · May 18, 2010

It says somewhere on the blog what to put in the subject line. I think it's something like "Secret Agent Contest." I also think with the new system she's using, the email address is different than it was in the past. You may want to double check and make sure you're submitting to the correct address.

C.T. Richmond · May 18, 2010

CharleyGirl,

That's so weird! I wonder why your submissions can't seem to get through... Well, I hope you keep trying! Maybe next month? Perhaps the writing gods have a hunch you'll win the next contest.

Miss Snark's First Victim-May Secret Agent Contest

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

Forsaken

...Writing...

C.T. Richmond

Sloths are awesome

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

C.T. Richmond

Sloths are awesome

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

SheilaJG

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

SheilaJG

C.T. Richmond

Sloths are awesome

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Smish

Reads more than she writes.

CharleyGirl

Glad to be here

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

C.T. Richmond

Sloths are awesome