We're Off and Running!

Hooves are pounding the track (and fingers are pounding the computer keys) in Novel Rocket's LAUNCH PAD Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile event.

Last Thursday was the submission deadline for our first category, Suspense/Crime/Mystery/Thriller, and the judges are reading, critiquing, and enjoying a nice field of entries, even as we speak. You'll want to stop by next month (May 12) to check out the winner of this first heat. The funnest part for the spectators? You'll be able to read the actual entry, so even if you don't know the writer, you'll get a good view of what's going on.

Entrants are reaching for the prize of a unique trophy individually made of blown glass and personalized for the winner. As if that's not cool enough, the Grand Prize winner also gets to jump over the slush pile by having his or her manuscript presented to a hand-chosen agent or editor.

 

If you're a writer with a novel sitting on your computer all dressed up with nowhere to go--and if you've never had a novel contracted with a traditional publisher--this might be the opportunity you've been looking for. The first category is closed, but we're still taking entries in five genres:

General Fiction (submission deadline is MAY 10)
Historical (deadline is JUNE 10)
Middle Grade/Young Adult (deadline is JULY 10)
Contemporary Romance (deadline is AUGUST 10)
Speculative Fiction (deadline is SEPTEMBER 10)

You'll find all the details, including the definitions of each of these categories, the submission requirements, and the entry form, at the Launch Pad tab. So check it out. Then saddle up and come join us!

When she's not overseeing the Launch Pad contest, Yvonne Anderson writes fiction that takes you out of this world. 

Make sure to book your flight on the third voyage in her Gateway to Gannah series, Ransom in the Rock, lifting off this spring!