Frasier Contest-An Opportunity

Last year I did it!

I polished my at-that-time current WIP and decided to enter it in a writing contest. 

I felt my writing had progressed with the several years of training notches on my belt.

My work was not perfect, just ready to put out there. Open it up for a one-on-one look see that a judge could give me.

Before pushing the send button, I looked at the rules to insure I formatted my entry correctly for this particular contest. Each writing contest has different requirements.

I read through the information listing what the judges wanted to see, ingredients like: can the reader see, hear, taste, feel, and smell the scene; is there a clear story question, and etc. 

Oh yeah, I felt all those ingredients were in these pages. Confident with my entry I pressed  the send button. 

While waiting for my scores to be sent, I attended the free online Monday classes at My Book Therapy and learned tips how to add rich components to my story and take my readers to a deeper experience. I upgraded to the team membership and attended weekly Thursday instructional classes. With each class I learned more and realized my contest entry fell far short of the mark.

Weeks later not only did my scores come back from the judges but also phenomenal advise and encouraging comments, helps I would need to improve my writing. The Frasier contest promises to give this feedback, contrary to several other contests.

Last fall I threw off my cocky attitude, applied what I learned from the Frasier contest, judges and the classes, and enter a different writing contest. Shocked and pleased I finaled. 

Because I have a responsibility to do my best in the writing calling God has given me, I am very willing to invest the time needed to hone my craft with contests like the Frasier.

Do I plan to enter the Frasier again this year? Sure am. I am polishing my work even today making sure to incorporate all the components for good writing into my story. The goal? Not to win. The goal is to provide readers a good story, the best story I can write at this time.. 

I hope you'll join me this year in participating in the Frasier contest, here is the basic information you'll need:

Entries for the 2013 MBT Frasier Contest for unpublished novelists will be accepted through Saturday, March 31, at 11:59 p.m. The contest is open to Voices members. The winner will receive a scholarship to a My Book Therapy coaching retreat ($500 value). Final round judges are award-winning author Susan May Warren; literary agent Steve Laube and a TBD fiction acquisitions editor. For more information, FAQs and to enter, visit www.mybooktherapy.com.