February Mystery Editor Lottery - NOW CLOSED

Welcome to the lottery for our first contest of 2015—the February Mystery Editor contest! Yes, you read that right—Mystery Editor! Are your pitches ready to go? We are looking for your 25-word pitch, plus the first 250 words of your manuscript.

What is our Mystery Editor seeking?

Our Mystery Editor is open to read anything but is particularly looking for good women’s fiction, along the lines of Liane Moriarty’s books.

When can you enter?

Right now! The lottery will close Friday, January 23^rd at 11:59 pm EST.

How to enter:

•  Enter your name and email address in the Rafflecopter below.

•  Make sure you complete the last step in the Rafflecopter and email your entry to operationawesome6 (at) gmail (dot) com. Email the following in this format:

Name:

Email address:

Pen Name: (if applicable--this will be the name posted in the forum)

Genre:

Word Count:

25-word Pitch:

First 250 words:

Do you want to be included in the forum for feedback?

Important: Once you have completed this last step, type “Done” in step 3 of the Rafflecopter and click "Enter!" to complete your entry.

And that’s it.

Please enter only once and only if your manuscript is finished and query-ready.

The lottery will close Friday, January 23^rd at 11:59 pm EST. Lottery winners will be posted here on the blog on Saturday, January 24^th.

Twenty-five (25) lucky entrants will be selected and not only will the Mystery Editor take a look at them for a chance to win fabulous prizes, but we'll be posting all 25 entries here on the blog on February 1^st for cheerleading and constructive feedback. And last but certainly not least, the reveal, along with the to-be-announced prizes, will be posted here sometime in the month of February.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments.

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mystery Editor Reveal + Winners!

Thank you so much to all who participated in the December Mystery Editor contest! And our Mystery Editor is...

Mandy Schoen from Swoon Romance!

Mandy Schoen is the managing editor of Swoon Romance. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, dog and books. When she's not reading or editing, she can usually be found hovering over her coffee pot, muttering nonsense until it gives her what she wants.

And the winners are:

THE WHITE LEHUA: full manuscript request, and a 10-page critique of this or any other work

LOOKING FOR ORION: full manuscript request

Congratulations to both of our winners! Please e-mail operationawesome6(at)gmail(dot)com for submission instructions, and include "December Mystery Editor winner" in the subject line.

And if you'd like to learn more about Mandy, check out our interview with her below:

1. Any tips for writers struggling with their pitches? Common mistakes you see in them?

The most common mistake I see in pitches is writers trying to cram the entire plot into the pitch, instead of focusing on the hook. A pitch, by design, is a few sentences designed to hook someone’s attention while conveying the basic concept, tone, voice, and genre. That’s a lot of work for a few sentences to do. Leave the details for the query.

2. What books have you read lately that you've fallen in love with (manuscripts you’re currently working with or others')?

I’m currently editing THE ACCIDENTAL SOCIALITE, which is a new adult novel about a girl who moves from small-town Canada to London on a whim to redefine herself, and accidentally becomes famous. It’s seriously the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Which makes sense, since the author, Stephanie Wahlstrom, is hysterical.

3. What are you seeing a lot of in your slush pile lately? What would you like to see more of?

I’m seeing a lot of paranormal lately, and we’re sort of full up on that. On a smaller, semi-interesting side-note, I tend to see a lot of submissions with the same main character name come in at the same time. The last common MC name was Shelley.

I’m not looking for anything specific right now. I just want a love story that grabs me and won’t let go. How’s that for non-specific?

4. As a romance editor, what are some tropes you’re particularly drawn to? How about tropes that turn you off?

I love to see unique twists on familiar situations. I love “falling for the friend’s old brother” and “falling for the older brother’s friend.” I also love contemporary retellings of classic tales. One example is Stephanie Wardrop’s SNARK AND CIRCUMSTANCE series, which is a retelling of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. We also just acquired a YA contemporary retelling of Rapunzel.

5. Any exciting news you can share?

Yes! We’re working on sequels to a few of our titles. One I can tell you about right now is the sequel to EFFORTLESS WITH YOU by Lizzy Charles, which has been one of our most popular young adult books. I’m so excited about this one!

6. And a few just for fun:

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee, definitely.

Sea or mountains?

Sea. I’m terrified of it, which I think is why I’m drawn to it. I’m not the most normal person ever.

Chocolate or bacon?

Um, there better never be a situation where I’d have to choose.

Ebook or print book?

Print. I buy a lot of ebooks, but there’s just something satisfying about holding a printed book.

Favorite tv show?

Right now? Probably The Big Bang Theory. Or The Mindy Project. Or Supernatural. Or…


Thank you so much to Mandy, and thank you all for participating in our final contest of 2013. Here's to many more success stories in 2014!

December Mystery Editor Contest

Welcome to our last contest of 2013 - the December Mystery Editor contest! Yes, you read that right - Mystery Editor! Are your pitches ready to go? Today we are looking for your one-line pitch, plus the first 250 words of your manuscript.

Our Mystery Editor is seeking:

•  YA contemporary romance 
• NA contemporary romance 
• and adult contemporary romance

and is not currently seeking YA paranormal.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a 10-page critique, and our ME will request at least two full manuscripts for consideration. 

And here are the rules:

1) Again, you must submit a one-line pitch, along with the first 250 words of your manuscript. (If 250 cuts you off mid-sentence, you may finish that sentence, though.) If your pitch exceeds one line, you will be asked to resubmit.
* Make sure your pitch is not several sentences stuck together with commas instead of periods!

2) Entries must be for completed manuscripts. No unfinished drafts, please!

3) Entries must be left in the comments section of today's post (please don't email us your entries!). We'll close the contest once we've reached our limit.

4) You can only enter once today (only one project). If you participated or won previous MA contests, you can enter this one as well!

5) Please include NAME, CONTACT INFO, GENRE, and TITLE, followed by your one-line pitch.

6) The contest will close when we receive 50 entries.

7) If the rules aren't followed, your entry will be disqualified.

Please format your comment like this:

Name: 

Email or twitter: 

Genre: 

Title: 

Pitch: 

GOOD LUCK!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

May your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with lots of good food and even more good books :)

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Operation Awesome!

Don't forget to top off your holiday weekend with our Mystery Editor Contest on Sunday, December 1st! Here are the details:
*50 entries, with one-line pitch and first 250 words.
*M.E. (Mystery Editor) is currently seeking Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult contemporary romance. *Not currently interested in YA paranormal.
*Grand prize winner gets a 10-page critique, and M.E. will request at least 2 full manuscripts for consideration.
*The contest opens on December 1st at 10am Eastern Standard Time.

Also, the awesome authors on my other blog, Scene 13, are doing a Gratitude Giveaway - you can enter to win a ton of awesome prizes (can you say FREE BOOKS!!) :D So head on over and enter!! CLICK HERE TO ENTER.

September's Mystery Editor Contest!!

CONTEST CLOSED!!! THANKS TO EVERYONE AND GOOD LUCK!

Today's contest is a little different - our mystery guest today is an editor who will be offering First 10 page or query critiques as prizes!

So post your best tweet pitch (140 characters) in the comments below.

The rules:

1) Entries must be left in the comments section of today's post (please don't email us your entries!) - don't pay attention to the comment numbers. We'll close the contest when we've reached our limit.

2) Pitch only completed manuscripts.

3) You can only pitch once today (only one project). If you participated in previous MA contests, you can enter this one as well.

4) Please include TITLE and GENRE along with your pitch. (This does not count as part of your 140 characters. So, Title, genre, then a 140 character tweet pitch). GENRES: MG, YA, or adult fiction (our editor has a special interest in romance).

5) Your pitch must be 140 characters or less. A Twitter Pitch. If it's too long to tweet, it's too long to enter. We will be checking this so please do not go over the 140 character limit! (Again, this does not include the genre and title. The character limit only applies to the actual pitch).

6) The contest will close when we receive 50 qualifying entries.

7) The winner(s) will receive a critique on the first 10 pages of his/her manuscript or a query critique!

8) If the rules aren't followed, your pitch will be disqualified. Please read the guidelines and follow them.

Good luck to all who enter!