Announcing Nightmare on Query Street 2014!!!

It's back, and it's badder than ever.

IT'S Nightmare on Query Street!!!!!!!!! Don’t have a scary manuscript, DON'T WORRY. Just read on.

A brand new year, a brand new evil.

This contest, as it runs in the Halloween time, is all about FEAR.


The Details:

The submission window opens at 12 noon (EST) on October 15th. The window will close at 12 noon (EST) October 17th or when we receive 225 entries.

Michelle, Mike, and SC will make thirteen picks each, and those picks will undergo mentor help the 22nd through the 25th, where (SURPRISE, change from last year!) the mentor round will be in play; mentors will help hone the entries behind the scenes! OooooooOOOoooOOooo. We've already got amazing mentors lined up, so know that your entries will be amazingly polished when agents come in on the 28th through the 30th and we post the polished entries. Then, CELEBRATE! Halloween is the day after :)

We are accepting all age categories and genres, excluding picture books and exotica. But be sure to check our list of agents when it goes live to see if they represent your book's genre.

If you plan on participating in the contest, you have to be following all our blogs (Michelle, Mike, and SC).

It's pretty simple, actually. 

But there's a catch.

Along with your query and 250, you must write a SHORT paragraph (no more than 100 words) about your main character. This is the question you must answer:

What is your main character's most fearsome obstacle? 

The Format:

Send all your submissions to nightmareonquerystreet (at) yahoo (dot) com. Only one submission per email address or person is allowed.

Here's how it should be formatted (yes, include the bolded and everything!). Please use Times New Roman (or equivalent), 12 pt font, and put spaces between paragraphs. No indents or tabs are needed.

Subject Line of Email: NoQS: Title, age category genre

Example: NoQS: Pygmy Hazards, MG humor

Title: MY FANTASTIC BOOK (yes, caps!)

Genre: Adult Fantasy (no caps; age category AND genre)

Word Count: XX,XXX

My Main Character's Greatest Obstacle:

My MC's most fearsome obstacles is potatoes. (Please, spend some time on this! I know that I will be looking at this to make up for gaps in the query and 250. It gives us a chance to know your characters better. It doesn't have to be horror-scary. It can be more subtle.)

Query:

Here is my fantastic query!

First 250 words:

Here are the first 250 words of my manuscript, and I will not end in the middle of a sentence, even if I hit 252 words.

And that's it! Send in that email during the submission window and you're ready to go :) There will be a confirmation email!!

This should be FUN. This is a Halloween-themed contest, so please please please, spend time on the MC's Greatest Fear paragraph!!!! It should be a LOT of fun. If you're writing a funny book, make a funny twist on the question, or say your MC is scared of strawberries or something. If it's a serious/sad book, you should have a field day, because the MC's fear might be so heart-wrenching.

This is a new way to pitch, so have fun with it (and don't stress out over it like its a query or something).

So go over and follow our blogs (Michelle, Mike, and SC) and our Twitters (Michelle, Mike, and SC) (we're Tweeting under the hashtag #NoQS) to stay in touch with all that we're doing. 

I AM VERY VERY VERY EXCITED. So far we've got seven agents on board and a bunch of mentors. I can't wait to see your answers to the question!!!!