The Emily 2018

A suggestion made by several authors at last year's writing contest was to enter contests. Many of the chapters offer contests and your entry is judged by three members, two of whom are published. When the scores are tallied the highest move on to the final round and those entries are judged by an agent and an editor of a publishing company. For me, I needed the feedback from those in the industry to see if I wasn't just shooting for the pie in the sky.

My first foray into the world of contests wasn't what I expected. I was looking for my college professor, she of the red pen with her slashes, multiple circles around grammatical errors, and questions in the margins. There was minimal to little on my returned entry and a score sheet with a couple of sentences from the judges. Two enjoyed it, one did not. I took the notations received and tweaked. I continued to write.

The second contest was totally different. Communication was great. I received an email upon receipt of the manuscript and another letting me know judging was underway. When I moved on to the finals, I received more emails. I also received the red pen professor, although in this case it was from an author and highlighted in yellow. She took the time to point out industry dos and don'ts, suggested different ways to say the same thing, and wrote me little notes in the margins. The second judge, another published author, left me detailed paragraphs on my score sheet that let me see what I needed to change. Between the two of them, with the encouragement of the third judge, I edited and submitted my final copy in a couple of days. I was ecstatic. What I received from the judges was exactly what I needed to keep me pushing forward.

Under the direction of the contest coordinator, I wrote thank you notes to the judges. I was kept abreast of the timing of judging. I sent a picture of myself to be used at their presentation of the award. I was unable to make the trip to Houston for the weekend's conference due to a previously scheduled trip to New York, but I was invited. The day of the contest I received the email that told me I had won. I received feedback from an agent and an editor of a publishing company. Both offered suggestions and asked questions. The editor agreed to take a look at my finished product.  I have a pin coming in the mail and I received a badge to post on my social media accounts. I'm also on the website here.

It was very exciting, but more than that encouraging. Keep pushing. Keep tweaking. Keep writing.  I'm learning. I expect hard-fought years. My goal and I remind myself of this daily, is to finish the damn story. But, as I write, I can call myself a winner.

Four days later I received a rejection from another contest. Ah, the top is so often shortlived.