Fixing the First Page Giveaway #6

Photo credit: Vivian Viola on Flickr
It’s time for the final Fixing the First Page giveaway of 2014! Woot!

For those who missed it the first time and second and third and fourth and fifth time, the Fixing the First Page features is a public first 250 word critique. Using the lovely rafflecopter widget, anyone interested in winning a PUBLIC (as in, featured in a post on this blog) first page critique can enter.

For an example of what this critique will look like, here's the last Fixing the First Page post (and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and before that).

Rules!

  • ONLY the first 250 words will be critiqued (up to finishing the sentence). If you win and send me more, I will crop it myself. No exceptions.

  • ONLY the first page. I don’t want 250 random words from your manuscript, or from chapter 3. If you win the critique and send me anything other than the first 250 words of your manuscript, I will choose someone else.

  • I will actually critique it. Here. On the blog. I will say things as nicely as I can, but I do tend to be a little blunt. If you’re not sure you can handle a public critique, then you may want to take some time to think about it before you enter.

  • Genre restrictions. I am most experienced with YA & NA, but I will still accept MG and Adult. HOWEVER. If your first page has any erotic content on it, I ask that you don’t enter. I want to be able to post the critique and the first 250 in its entirety without making anyone uncomfortable, and if you win and you enter a page with erotic content, I will choose someone else.

  • You must have your first page ready. Should you win, you need to be able to submit your first page within 48 hours of my contacting you to let you know you won. If 48 hours pass and I haven’t heard from you, again, I will choose someone else.

  • You’ll get the most out of this if it isn’t a first draft. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if you’re handing me a first draft (though I will probably suspect because it’s usually not that difficult to tell). I won’t refuse your page if it’s a first draft, but you should know that this critique will likely be of more use if you’ve already had your betas/CPs look over it. Why? Because if you don’t, the critique I give you will probably contain a lot of notes that your betas & CPs could have/would have told you.

  • There will not be a round 2 (unless you win again in a future contest). I hate to have to say this, but if you win a critique, it’s NOT an invitation to send me a bunch of your revisions. I wish I had the time available to be able to look at revisions, but sadly, I don’t. If you try to break this rule, I will nicely say no, and also remember to choose someone else should you win a second contest. Which would make me sad. :(

So that’s it! If you’re okay with all of the above and would like to enter to be the sixth public critique on Writability, do the thing with the rafflecopter widget below. You have until Saturday, December 20 at 11:59 EST to enter!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

27 comments:

B Baird said...

Thanks so much for offering this giveaway!

Ava Jae said...

Happy to! :) Good luck!

Alexandra Perc said...

I would choose a work of mine, PRN which has also reads on Wattpad. Thank you so much for the giveaway!

Rae Oestreich said...

You are so fantastic, Ava. I love these Fixing the First Page contests you do; they're a great source of information!

Sioux Trett said...

Woooooo here we go! I love these!! :-) I would use my currently-undergoing-revisions WIP called Drawn In. YA light fantasy.

Bolo said...

Thanks for doing these despite being near xmas - love the giveaway critiques :)

Ava Jae said...

You're so welcome, Alexandra! Good luck!

Ava Jae said...

Aw, thanks, Rae! I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying them. :) Good luck!

Ava Jae said...

Nice! So glad you've been enjoying this series, Sioux. Good luck!

Ava Jae said...

You're very welcome! :)

Madeline Osigian said...

Awesomeness! Thank you.

Sam Taylor said...

I'm trying again! If I win, I'll submit the first 250 words of my YA fantasy, KEVARA. Thanks for the giveaway, and good luck to all. :)

Riki said...

I would use this critique for my YA MS. Thank you for the opportunity to enter!

Ava Jae said...

You're welcome! Good luck!

Ava Jae said...

Yay! Good luck, Sam! And you're welcome!

Ava Jae said...

You're very welcome! Good luck!

Ava Jae said...

Hi there! Welcome to Writability! :)


There was a time when I pantsed a lot, too, so I understand the change. Now that I've become an outliner, though, I can't imagine going back. Do you think the loose outlining is helping?

S. J. Pajonas said...

It is helping actually. The outline is taking a lot of stress out of the whole "Where do I take the story next?" and hopefully I won't dig myself in as many holes this time around :)

Ava Jae said...

Exactly! I found it really helped me avoid getting stuck because I didn't know what to do. Even now when I do get stuck, it's usually because I'm not sure exactly how something is going to happen—and so I plot it out and voila! Block over. :)

kellydevos said...

Would love feedback on my YA Thriller, THE SIX. Thanks for another great giveaway Ava Jae!!

Jennifer Ricketts said...

I think I should only worry about time if it's NaNo month. Next year I'd like to outline before November because I think you're right - it would definitely save time.


It was really helpful having one! It saved me from plot holes more times than I can count, lol, and repeating myself, things like that. It's kind of hard for me to outline, but with practice I hope to get better. :)

Ava Jae said...

Ha, I definitely find that outlines/guidelines help me avoid plot holes as well as getting stuck. 9.5/10 when I have "writer's block" it's really just "I don't know what to do block." :)

Ava Jae said...

You're very welcome! Good luck! :)

Julia E. said...

Could definitely use the critique for my YA Romance intro, as it's a bit unusual! Thanks for hosting this!

D L said...

Thanks for the giveaway. If I win, I hope you enjoy conspiracy thrillers.

Ava Jae said...

You're welcome! Thanks for entering!

Ava Jae said...

Ha ha almost anything is fine for just the first page (but I do like exciting first pages). :) Thanks for entering!

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