18
Feb
I’m thrilled to announce that I placed first in the futuristic, fantasy & paranormal category of the 2012 Emily contest with The Vessel!* I’m so excited!!
(*Remember, if you decide to check out their website, you’ll need to look for me on the results page under my other name….) 
3
Dec
Sorry, guys, I know I promised a book recommendation, but I received some news this week that I’m anxious to share.
My A&D project, The Vessel, is a finalist in the 2012 Emily Contest!
This was a hard-fought victory for The Vessel. I’d entered it in three other contests since 2009 (including the Fire & Ice last year where it was up against–and lost to–Red), but it had never gone beyond the first round. After receiving essentially the same feedback from the judges in all three contests, I finally swallowed my pride and revised the beginning. It was tough, but it really was a lot more powerful once I’d jettisoned about 20 pages of the original opening. I guess it paid off.
(Note: This is the same project that I’ve spent quite a lot of time editing in between other projects, eventually cutting about 30,000 words from the entire manuscript to make it a lot tighter. Here’s hoping all this time and effort will eventually pay off as well!)
So, now the waiting begins anew. The final results will be announced in February. I’ll keep you all posted!
2
Feb
Seeing as how I’m stuck at home today, courtesy of a huge ice storm hitting the Midwest, I thought I’d share a bit of good news.
I’m happy to announce that Red has tied for 2nd place* in the Finally a Bride Contest, sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America! It would have been awesome to place 1st, natch, but this was a particularly tough competition. In order to enter, you had to have been a finalist, but not the winner, in another contest. With that kind of playing field, just making it to the final round was huge and 2nd place still rocks!
And…
One of the final round judges who is an editor with a major publishing company has requested the full manuscript! Yeah, baby!!
Obviously, I’m excited about the possibilities here. Even if the editor decides Red isn’t a good fit for her particular imprint (hey, it happens), just having such a big name in the industry interested in my work is tremendously exciting! And you never know how this kind of interest could open other doors.
I have no idea how long it will take to get a response from the editor–it could be months. But I’ll keep you posted on what happens, regardless. Stay tuned!
M.
*Just a reminder: “Maura Bishop” is a pseudonym, so you’ll find me listed under a different name on the contest page. 
28
Apr
My high school economics teacher used to say, “Aim for the trees and you might clear the fence.” For whatever reason, this adage struck a chord with me and has been my motto ever since.
So, in the spirit of celebrating a fence cleared, I am happy to announce that an excerpt from my most recent novel manuscript has placed 2nd in its category in the 12th Annual Fire & Ice Contest, sponsored by Chicago-North RWA®. The contest entry is listed under my legal name instead of my pseudonym, so don’t bother looking for “Maura Bishop” there.
While it would have been great to win 1st place, I’m ecstatic to find myself as the runner up. From what I understand, competition this year was fierce, and so just making to the final round was huge! Besides, a few key factors make 2nd place all the sweeter:
- I know this will make some people groan, but I honestly submitted the manuscript just to get some feedback. At the time of submission, I’d written only about 100 pages and wanted to test the waters to see how unbiased readers would react to the premise of the story. I actually had higher hopes for another entry I had submitted. It did great, but obviously not as well.
- When I’m ready to start shopping this particular novel, being able to say it placed in a contest might help persuade an agent to pluck me out of the slush pile and take a closer look. There are no guarantees, of course, but agents get scores of query letters every day, so one of the biggest challenges is getting one of them to ask for more.
- Getting my name out there — even if it’s my real name — is good exposure to other authors, agents, and editors. I’m certainly starting to recognize names of authors who have placed in other contests and find myself cheering for them when they finally get a book deal. It’s not only great to see them realize their dreams, but it’s also proof that perseverance pays off.
- And probably one of the most important points is that this couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been writing for twenty years, but seriously writing for only two. Having now written four complete novels in those two years, I needed something to happen to provide a much-needed ego boost to keep me moving forward. Still no book deals in sight, but I’ll take this as a cosmic thumbs-up that I’m on the right track.
The big question everyone keeps asking me is, “What happens next?” Well, I’ll finish the manuscript, go through a month or more of revisions until I feel it’s polished, then start sending out query letters. What happens from there is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, it’s nice to be able to add “award winning” to “writer” on my resume, even if “published” is still to come.
9
Dec
I am happy to report that the revision process for my current project is going great! Of course, I have to admit that this time around I had an additional leg up on the editing process — professional feedback.
A few months ago, I took a chance and entered excerpts from my manuscript in two separate contests just to kind of test the waters and get a little constructive criticism. I say this nonchalantly, but make no mistake — writing contests are nerve-wracking, ego-crushing affairs, that are not for the faint of heart. No matter how professional and constructive the criticism (and it was!), having your work torn apart is never easy. So, if humble pie has never really been your favorite dessert, get over your aversion and grab a fork ’cause the humble pie is going to get served up piping hot.
That being said, feedback is essential if you want to make your writing stronger and your story tighter. If you can’t make it to a conference or workshop and haven’t yet joined your local writers group, contests are a great way to get a little honest criticism from professionals. Plus, there’s the added benefit of not having to look the judge in the eye when she tells you that the character you thought leapt off the page is actually one-dimensional and lacking in motivation. (*Sigh*)
Granted, like criticism of any kind, there is some subjectivity involved, so you have to take the comments for what they are — educated and professional opinions. In my case, there were a few comments that made me say, “Wha-huh?” But, for the most part, the judges’ comments confirmed what I thought to be my weaknesses and knew to be my strengths and helped direct my revision process.
And, honestly, it wasn’t all bad! On a bright note, the judges described my excerpts as action-packed, fast-paced, and exciting, and even the judge who gave me the lowest score thought my manuscript showed a lot of promise and would be publishable with another round of editing. Considering the work I submitted was still technically in first draft form, I find this extremely encouraging!
Yay, me!
(Now, let’s just hope an agent or editor feels the same way!)
Moral of the story? As hard as it is to put yourself out there and invite someone to point out your every flaw, get the feedback — it’s invaluable! And you never know, you just might make it to the next round…
