Wanted Posters Contest: More Prizes!!

It's winter, it's cold (for some of us) and so it's time for another event here at Edited. Time to warm ourselves up with some creativity.

Like this:

WANTED:

A YA historical novel based on the true story of teenage sisters catapulted to fame when they claim they can speak to the dead.  Celebrity status ultimately drives a wedge between them, when one sister captures the romantic attention of a dashing Arctic explorer who tries to "rescue" her from the family hoax.

Didn't Dianne do an awesome job on her WE HEAR THE DEAD Poster and Want Ad?

Check out Elana's enticing POSSESSION Poster and Ad:

WANTED:

A sarcastic, headstrong fifteen-year-old who is sick and tired of being told what to do. Must include broken Rules, daring escapes, and the promise of kissing.


Don't those books sound delicious? (They are--I've read them.)

Consider creating a Wanted Poster and Ad for the contest--explanation at contest post HERE. Or, here, on this contest page.

It's so easy, it's super fun, and you can win POSSESSION or WE HEAR THE DEAD as prize! Plus others!

Plus you get to showcase something you are working on (it's easier than a query), or a book that you love.

It just took me a few minutes to create a poster at Glass Giant.

Join in by adding a link to your Wanted Poster, when you're ready. Don't worry, the contest spans a few weeks (ends February 17th) so that you have time to rev up your creative juices.

And oops, I forgot to include my ROW80 progress on my Wednesday post. I am going great guns on the wordcount this week--Tuesday I even churned out 5K words. I'm super excited, and can't wait to get this novel all spit and polished! How's your writing life?

Oh, More PRIZES

Well, evidently, I don't think that you do a five week marathon of writing for a PRIZE. I must think that you participate in the Tour de Writing because you want the motivation, you want to use new community writing tools, and you really want to finish that darn novel.

Word count in and of itself is a prize.

Right. :)

Here we are, in the last few days of the Tour de Writing, and I haven't even unveiled all the prizes.

How lame!

But, hopefully, (finally) seeing these prizes all lined up will put your pen in gear and make you race to the finish line. Maybe it will give you that final energy boost to obtain a jersey and win some loot.

Remember, anyone wearing a jersey (you know, obtaining highest word count) on the finish line, wins a prize. There are four prizes, in the categories of Overall, Drafting, Revising, and Combination Drafting and Revising. Check your totals from yesterday. Calculate how many words you might need to win, and get writing.

Here are the awesome PRIZES:

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, Anna Staniszewski:

Is your magical kingdom falling apart? Twelve-year-old Jenny is on the case, whether she likes it or not. Saving the world might sound exciting, but for Jenny it’s starting to get old — even staying in the real world long enough to take a math test would be a dream come true! And when you throw in bloodthirsty unicorns, psychotic clowns, and the most useless gnome sidekick ever, Jenny decides that enough is enough. She’s leaving the adventuring business and not looking back. Or…is she?

POSSESSION, Elana Johnson: 

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself. 

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn. 

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

BODY OF WATER, Sarah Dooley:

Twelve-year-old Ember’s trailer home has been burned in a fire set most likely by her best friend, a boy whose father believes Ember’s family are witches. Yes, Ember’s mom reads Tarot cards as a business. Ember’s friend set the fire to warn the family before his dad did something worse to them. The friend never intended to do so much damage.

Now the family is homeless, and living in a campground. They have no money. Ember’s beloved dog is missing. School is going to start, and Ember and her sister have no clean clothes, no notebooks. The only place Ember feels at peace is floating in the middle of the lake at the campground. She has to make a fresh start. Can she?

JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, Nathan Bransford:

Jacob Wonderbar is used to detentions, but when a spaceship crashes near his house, he finds himself in a whole new level of trouble. After swapping a corn dog for the ship, he and his two best friends, Sarah Daisy and Dexter, take off on a madcap adventure. They accidentally cause an epic explosion, get kidnapped by a space pirate, and are marooned on planets like Numonia and Paisley, where the air smells like burp breath and revenge-hungry substitute teachers rule. And that's only the beginning . . . It turns out that there's an entire colony of space humans, and Jacob's long-lost father just might be one of them.

Well, we had a blue theme going until we hit Jacob Wonderbar! Anyway, I hope you use these prizes as extra motivation to get all the word count in that you can this week! I will be hosting morning Practice Rooms, and I hope to see some #tourdewriting twitter challenges! Let's finish strong. Make sure to give me your final word counts before midnight on Friday!!

Tour de Writing PRIZES

Happy Birthday to ME!

What am I doing for my birthday? Giving PRIZES to you, Tour de Writers!

It is NEVER to late to join in.

So keep track of every single word you write, keep track of the word count in every section that you revise, and visit The Practice Room (for 500 extra points at a pop), or write with #TourdeWriting folks on twitter (for a bonus 250 points).

Read this post, and this post and then if you are still confused--I can just about guarantee it--well, DM me on twitter, or e-mail me at hegkelly at gmail dot com.

Tour de Writing Prizes:

You know you want to win-- and all you have to do is write or revise the most words by August 12th.

I will unveil the other two prizes next week. :)

Tanstaafl. I make you work for your prizes here.

Tell me in the comments, if you would like to sign up, so I can get your blog on my blogroll on the left hand side. Visit other Tour de Writers from said blogroll.

Make sure to stop by here on Friday to give me your word counts for this first week! We'll see who gets to wear a jersey come Monday!!

Tour de Writing Standings!!

Things are so much fun right now at the Tour de Writing! Marisa (elegant snobbery) has led a group of writers into a fast pace into the sprints. Ann Marie made some campy progress while roughing it, and there is a strong middle group of riders, chugging along!! Great job on all the progress last week, everyone.

There is still plenty of room for anyone who wants to join in!
If this were the Tour de France, each of the first placers would step up to the podium and don their jersey. The person in possession of a jersey on August 10th (you know, writeoncon!! woo-hoo) will win one of three new release awesome book prizes--Mockingjay, Paranormalcy, or Livvie Owen Lived Here--so awesome!

Or, they can win the fourth prize, which I am unveiling RIGHT NOW!  Drumroll, please! The final prize is a bag from the best handbag company in the world--Mad-bags! Yes, you get to browse their site, pick out a fab bag, and take it home--woo-hoo! Seriously, they are sweet bags--check them out!

How cute is this sunflower bag?  Cute and practical--this geo fuchsia tote?  Oh, or this black and white peony tote?  How to pick a favorite??  Thanks to Doug and Marta for this awesome prize!  Which will you chose if you win??

And, here are the front writers in each category so far--will we see you here next week?:

Yellow Jersey--Overall front writer:

ElegantSnobbery

6,052 words + 8 TPR x 500= 10,052 points!



Yay, Marissa!! Way to pull out to an early lead!


Green Jersey--Sprinters--drafting new words:


1.  Dianne

8,800 words + 1 TPR x 500= 9,300 points!

2.  Jon
2,600 + 4 TPR x 500 = 4,600 points!


2.   Kate

3000 words + 2 TPR x 500 = 4000 points


Polka-Dot Jersey--King of the Mountain--revising.

1.  Me!

6377 words + 3 TPR x 500= 7877!

2.  Ann Marie:

I'm guessing 2500 points for the past week. (she said she did 5,000 in the past two weeks--at CAMP--major awesome for doing any writing at all!)

3.  salarsenッ

1,658 points

White Jersey **This category has been changed to reflect our need for a full category geared toward writers writing a mixture of drafting and revising.

1. Sarah

6971 points ** Sarah--It seemed like you had both new and revised words happening.  Let me know if you are solely revising, and I will move you to the polka dot jersey.

 2. Tom

2100 points

Congrats to Marisa, Dianne, Me and Sarah, for wearing jerseys this early in the race.  Hold onto those jerseys all the way to the end, and you'll win one of three awesome books, or the choose-your-own-incredible mad-bag!!!

There is still plenty of time for someone to unseat a race front writer!  Anything can happen!!

Also--did I forget anyone?  Let me know in the comments!!  Also, let's hear some noise out there--cheers, chatter, how's it going?

Oh, The PRIZES

Monday I launched the first ever, first annual, first awesome, TOUR DE WRITING.  Enter simply by posting your goals for the week, and for the entire contest (ending August 10th to coincide with writeoncon), and join in. It's not to late to enter.  Everyone is welcome.  Anytime.

Yesterday, riders in the actual Tour de France faced cobblestones.  Lots of spills, and excitement. I imagine riding over those cobbles felt a bit like how my revision is going--bumpy, but fast. It's not going as fast as I'd prefer, but I find revision to be a deliberate and slow thing.  I've lost some time (so did Lance.) and I'm not quite on track for my August finish, but I'll try to catch up.

Some updates, and a summary of the contest:

The contest is about competitively writing for the next 30 days or so.  There are four categories in which I will award prizes (check original post for expanded description of the contest):

The Yellow Jersey (or maillot jaune):  This award will go to the overall winner of the competition.  Most writing progress overall, on either drafting or revising.

The Green Jersey: This is awarded to the sprint winner.  And will go toward most new words drafted between July 5th and August 10th. Update: I originally said that these words had to be written in The Practice Room.  Now, it's just a tally that you keep for yourself over the whole month.  Although, I'm tempted to give extra points for number of times you show up in The Practice Room.  Because it's awesome.

The Polka-dot Jersey: This is the KING OF THE MOUNTAIN Jersey.  This will go toward most progress on a revision.  Because revising is like biking up a mountain.

The White Jersey: This will be awarded to most progress by a novice--someone who is writing or revising their first or second book (most likely an un-agented writer).

The Prizes:

who's counting the days??

woo-hoo!!

So excited!!

How awesome are these prizes???

And, the fourth prize will be unveiled at a later date.  It is something awesome to carry books in, but I'm keeping it a surprise.  I think that these three books, all due out in the next month or so, should be enough to whet the whistle for now.   

So, spread the word, post your goals, here or at the previous post, and join in the competition.

And, don't forget to stop by for an awesome Friday Feature interview!! 

Next week I will start to award jerseys.  Each week I will award the jersey to the front writer in each category--but you have to be the front writer on August 10th to win a prize!

Competitive writing's not just for NANO anymore!!

****If you are arriving now to this post, and wondering if you can get in on the action, the answer is YES! Just find the most recent Tour de Writing post, and post your goals.  Each Monday, post your word count since July 5th.  Extra points for each time you show up in Tina's The Practice Room.  Welcome, and I'm so happy you're joining in!  Questions? Email me at hegkelly (at) gmail.com  

PRIZES, PEOPLE!!

So, you tell me.  Have I jinxed myself?  One of my core (albeit, weird) beliefs is that what you put out into the universe comes back to you.  So, naming this blog 'Edited To Within An Inch Of My Life', and revising my latest book  FOREVER (it seems) may be linked.  But what to do?  I love the name.  And I love the book. So, I blew some fresh air in here and changed things around.  I'm enjoying the new look, and hope you do too.

And, to be honest, my revision is definitely moving forward.  Just sloooowly!

Things that are not moving slowly?

This awesome new forum over at Chalk Talk.  Check it out. Thanks Tracy, for the new writing playground!  

And, biggest, fastest news of all?  Well, remember how all the time occasionally I talk about the game of WIBIJ--the game where you follow clues to very cool blogs, and if you do it fast enough, or leave the best comment out there in the blogosphere, then you win an award?  Well, at next Wednesday's May 5th game, you don't just win an award, and bragging rights, but you will WIN A BOOK!  You will get to choose a book from one of the blog authors that we have featured in a WIBIJ game!.  Now, I love winning stuff, especially BOOKS, and I love blog contests, and this one is based on actual merit!  No random numbers or pulling names out of a hat.  You compete, you win, if you are FAST enough, or WITTY enough.  So are you? ARE YOU?

Check out the AMAZING BOOKS YOU CAN WIN:

Our May Debut YA author Game:

Prophecy of Days - Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire by Christy Raedeke

Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson 

Our Picture Book Game:

any of the Good Night, Good Knight picture book series by Shelley Moore Thomas

Two of a Kind, or The New Girl...And Me by Jacqui Robbins 

Hop! PLOP! by Corey Schwartz

HOW AWESOME ARE THOSE BOOKS?!  You so want to win, right?!  Me too!! Oh, I'm so bummed that I create the clues, and therefore are disqualified to run the race!  Maybe I could go incognito.  I would so WIN THIS THING!! Go, check out the site, practice following previous games clues, and we'll see you next Wednesday, May 5th.  The fast race begins at 1:00 PM EST, and the relaxed version runs for 24 hours, so you can craft your witty comments to leave on host blogs!  There will be at least TWO winners--one for first place, one for best comment.  Confused?  Everything else you need to know is at the WIBIJ?! blog.