Query Kombat Preliminary Winners! (& Crit Opportunity)

UPDATED winners' list in bold! Check to make sure your entry is still in. If not, email us.

THE WINNERS! (Or, people who got into the first round. The real winner will be the best query of the bunch!)

(Forgive me for any grammar mistakes, this post had to be rushed out for your viewing pleasure :D)




But guys, DO NOT think that if you did not get in, you were somehow inferior to them. As much as we tried to be unbiased, subconscious bias is undeniable. And, LET ME TELL YOU:


(I'll give you time to scroll down, look if you won, and come back here.)


If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know how incredibly, incredibly hard it was for me to make my 22 picks. I spent HOURS trying to make my picks. Out of about 210ish entries, we had to pick 64. And since all of you already are so involved with the writerly world, almost EVERY one of those 210 entries were request-worthy entries.

But we had the brutal task of cutting 75% of you all. And it SUCKED. Because so many of you were so tremendously awesome! One entry, especially, I felt horrible about cutting because it was sooo amazing but the word count was too low. Yes. It came down to stuff like word count, simple grammar mistakes/typos (we couldn't post that on our blogs), and other things like that. It got very nit-picky in the end.

Just because you didn't get in, doesn't mean you suck. It means you are awesome, actually, for posting in this contest.

Literally, yesterday night, I stayed up and had almost a depressed/sadness attack at thinking about all of you guys that were cut out. I know (and have talked to via Twitter and email and AQC) so many of you. And you are such talented writers. So I felt like crap.

And Mike proposed a critique to help you out, and I AGREE. This idea made me feel tons better, so if you guys didn't get in the contest, there is a chance for you to find out WHY you did not get in!

Post your twitter name and entry nickname in the comments of ONE of our blogs. We will critique as many entries as we can over twitter. I'm probably going to do it over Direct Messaging on Twitter. But trust us when we say: we will not belittle your entries. If we have crits we think might be slightly harmful, we'll DM them to you. But rest assured: they will be helpful and encouraging and positive!

They will also be general critiques, nothing in-depth. I have no idea how many crits we will be able to do. That all depends on how much time we have left over after formatting everything for the tournament. Please be patient with us :DD
Now, to get to what you've all been waiting for: the Query Kombat kontestants....

THE WINNERS (of the entry round)!!

Adult Kontestants:

Dangerous Politics: Adult Thriller
To Die For: Adult Thriller
Tall Ships and Magic: Adult Historical Fantasy
Mississippi CrazyPants: Women's Fiction
WytchCraft: Adult Urban Fantasy
Knight in Shining Armani: Adult Contemporary Romance
Nostalgic Dreamer: Adult Contemp. Romance
Like-Minded Individuals: Adult Thriller
History Hound: Adult Historical Fiction (2nd Entry)
McTavish Academy: Adult Urban Fantasy
Penny Lane Grows up: Women's Fiction 

Dr. Thermo: Adult Science Fiction
Sway Me Buble: Women's Fiction
The Decapitator: Adult Urban Fantasy
Meryl-and-I: Women's Fiction
The Fisherman: Adult Literary Suspense
Aztecs in Space: Adult Science Fiction
Zone Tripper: Adult Science Fiction
BeelzebubBasher: Adult Historical Fiction
The Swimmer: Adult Social Science Fiction
Champagne and Hotdogs: Women's Fiction

Young Adult Kontestants:

HeadScarfJazz: YA Contemporary

Lies and Lovers: YA Contemp. (in verse)

Repo Girl: YA Contemporary

BLINDED PASSIONS: Edgy YA Contemp.

TheSpaceMafia: YA Science Fiction

Minna Gray: YA Futuristic Fantasy

Not Odette: YA Fantasy

Burrito Thief: YA Fantasy

Elementary Girl: Alt Historical Mystery

DAMNED: YA Dark Fantasy

DreamPirate: YA Crime

Alien Prep School Confidential: YA Science Fiction

Denali: YA Science Fiction

Multitude of Death Stars: YA Science Fiction

Spirit Slayer: YA Southern Gothic
Misfit Apocalypse: YA Science Fiction
Broken Jar: YA Contemporary
The Little Red Head: YA Fantasy
BourneMW: YA Science Fiction
SharkyMalarkey:  YA Contemporary
Supergeeker: YA Fantasy
Colorblind: YA Science Fiction
Villainous Wizard: YA Contemporary Fantasy
FistsofFury: YA Thriller
Revenant: YA Urban Fantasy
SugarTales: YA Contemporary
Sillius: YA Contemporary
RedDryad: YA Paranormal Fiction
Tricks aren't for Kids: YA Contemporary
Bridget Meets Georgia in Homage to Jane: YA Romance

New Adult Kontestants:

Avenging Angels: NA Urban Fantasy

O Captain, My Captain: NA Contemporary

Kicking Ash: NA Fantasy

Mid-Grade:

JungleVendetta: MG Science Fiction

Troglin Snot: MG Fantasy

WHISPERING WILLOWS: MG Fantasy

Too Many Legs to Play Baseball: MG Fantasy

Wishwell: MG Contemporary

Interstellar Pez: MG Science Fiction

Zombie Barbers: MG Comedy

Strongarm Odyssey: MG Fantasy

One-Eyed Cat: MG Mystery

Eye Above You: MG Contemporary 

That's all, folks, for Round 1! Thanks for an AWESOME AWESOME journey. I've met so many awesome people on Twitter from the #QueryKombat and #QueryKombatSlush hashtags, and that alone has made this contest worthwhile :D I love the writer's community.

If you got in, congrats!!!!! You will find yourself in the first round on May 28th, on Michelle's blog. If not, and if you want a brief critique as to why you did not get in, then comment below with your Twitter username and entry nickname, and we'll shoot you a Tweet as soon as we can!

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL.

(And wait until you see these entries. They are so awesomely fantastic. I picked about half of the YA ones, and some of the Adult! Woot Woot!)