Winners Announced--Pitch & 250 Word Contest

It's time!!!

I want to thank you all for participating. It was great fun and wonderful to read all the awesome entries.

I also want to thank Gina again for being an awesome judge and for donating the fabulous prizes. After reading the entries, I know she must have had a hard time choosing. Gina also took the time to write a little paragraph for each winner and for the entries as a whole. Encouraging words. So...a huge round of virtual applause sent her way.

Okay, I know you are all excited. Below are the winners.

Drum roll, please......

The winners in order are:

First Place

L.J. Boldyrev for GREYSKIN. Just an amazing pitch and first page. The voice was really engaging and unique. I really wanted to get to know this main character, and thought that she could be trouble and a good time, my kind of girl! The dead girl in the trunk was such a compelling element. How could you not keep reading. Great entry!

Second Place

Kalen O'Donnell for DUST TO DUST. Holy Toledo, talk about sibling rivalry! Having brothers trying to kill each other on sight and using all sorts of common elements, like shadows, to do it, while having your main character be able to conjure, um, dust storms ?! was funny and yet compelling. The attack in the opening page got us right into the story. Pace like a freight train, and great lively teen voice.

Third Place

Aheila for OIL AND BOILING WATER. Spunky heroine doesn't even begin to describe your main character. Who wouldn't root for her? She's remarkable and brave and determined, and the voice perfectly suits the genre. I had to detract a few points for the pitch which was a little too vague and difficult to follow. You could have done more with the space. Overall, very good job!

Fourth Place

Jackie Felger, BREATHE FOR ME. Terrific, well-explained concept and tough, feisty main character readers will enjoy. Cage fighting with their talents? Great idea! Your MC's fierce nature obviously makes us think she's a survivor. I'm sure you'll find lots of fans!

I was tremendously impressed with the talent and skill all the entries displayed. Choosing winners was more difficult than I had ever imagined. Time and again, I found myself disappointed when the sample ended because I wanted to keep reading! It was hard, too, only have four winning positions, since I also found a lot of entries that deserved special honorary mentions. Among those I wanted to mention are...

Chersti Nieveen for THE LAST ONSET
Robin Weeks for GEAS
AE Martin for RAVENOUS DESK
Elizabeth Mierek for TABITHA'S DEATH

The tremendous number of entries showed such imagination, creativity and love for the craft of writing, that I hate to leave anyone out! All of them were an enjoyable read, and so many of them I read over and over again. I want to encourage everyone who entered, since you are such an incredibly talented group. I hope I'll soon be seeing all of you on the bookshelves!

Further instructions:

I will contact each of the winners with instructions. Oh....and for the honorable mentions, I will contact you too. I've decided to give each of you a $5 B&N card.

Thank you all so much for making this contest a success.