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Manuscript Evaluation Contest

Posted on May 26, 2015 at 1:59 PM

A couple of months ago, I entered a Manuscript Evaluation Contest run by Barbara Kyle.

Before entering the contest, I watched the video on the Manuscript Evaluations page on her website. After all, who wants to win a contest from someone who doesn’t have credentials or doesn’t gain your respect? Not me. My time is valuable.

Barbara Kyle

Fortunately, I truly appreciated her presentation. I learned from her. I enjoyed her straight forward approach. She didn’t sugar-coat the writing process, but at the same time, she wasn’t derogatory. She understood that each manuscript was someone’s baby. A baby that had consumed large portions of the writer’s life. I got the impression that even if the plot had holes large enough to drive a Hummer through,

Hummer Plot Hole

she possessed the ability to let the author know what needed to be done without wrecking their self-esteem or desire to write another word. That’s a pretty fine line. Somehow, she managed to convey that in seven minutes. Can you imagine what she could do in an hour? If I'm wrong, then someone needs to let me know.

Writers entered 626 manuscripts of 1500 words each in her contest. If you do the math, that's 939,000 words, and she read each and every one before selecting the final three:

Grand Prize: A Full Manuscript Evaluation

NANCY RAVEN SMITH for Land Sharks

2nd Prize: A 50-page Evaluation

MATTHEW PHILLIPS for Warrior Son

3rd Prize: A 25-page Evaluation

MAUREEN L. BONATCH for See No Evil

Unfortunately none of these three was me. While I didn’t win, I still feel that it was worth the effort of entering (she made it very easy). I also feel as if I’ve made another valuable and accessible contact in the writing world.

I can't wait to see the final product of these manuscript evaluations. Can you say Best Seller?

The Best Part of This Week?

Roasting marshmallows at the park with my family.

Categories: Books in General, Contests & Websites, Everyday Writing, manuscript evaluation, editing