Win a Critique from Agent Amanda Lewis!

Here we are at the top of my list of favorite things as a writer and I’ve saved the best for last.

As aspiring authors, few things are as precious as positive, helpful, honest-to-goodness genuine feedback on our work. Even rejections with a short, but helpful comment can keep a writer going. And in a business of busy people, getting thousands of query letters a year, feedback is often hard to come by.

Meet the awesome Amanda Lewis and enter below to win a query or first page critique!

IMG_3811_2

From the agency website- AMANDA LEWIS handles primarily children’s books, including young adult and middle-grade fiction and non-fiction, picture books, and children’s reference. She especially loves a good adventure, mystery, or young adult love story with offbeat characters. Before coming to The Doe Coover Agency, Amanda was Director of Special Sales at Candlewick Press.

I queried Amanda early on in my search and she quickly requested and read my manuscript.  The next day, she sent her thoughts, along with the option to revise and resubmit.  I was so thrilled with her notes, which were spot on, that I dove into revisions right away.  Everything fit smoothly, I loved the changes, and it was a much better manuscript for it.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a fit for us, but I will always be grateful for her help along my road as a writer.  (See my story here, if you’re so inclined.)  Plus, she was super friendly, quick, and professional in all our communications. Ladies and gentlemen, this lady should be on your query list!

So, there you have it.  My favorite “favorite thing” as a writer is the encouraging feedback that reminds us to believe in ourselves and inspires us to keep going.  Agents and critique partners, we appreciate it more than you know. 

dancing

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  THANKS FOR ENTERING!

To enter . . .

Leave a comment below with your choice of a query or first page critique and your genre.  It must be a genre she represents.

Please leave your e-mail or twitter handle so I can find you.


****Bonus entries!***** (For current subscribers too.)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, including each time you tweet. I’ll only be keeping track of what’s in the comments.

1. Share your title and one line pitch. We’d love to hear it and you never know who might stop by.

2.  Become a follower at www.writeforapples.com.  (Over to the left.)

3. Sign up for the I Write for Apples feed or e-mail feed. (Over to the left.)

2. Follow on twitter @writeforapples

3. Tweet about this giveaway- You can add an extra entry every time you tweet it! Use the hashtag #WritersWin in your tweet.

Please leave your twitter handle in the comment.

Good luck!  Smile

Winner will be drawn by random.org.
Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

146 comments:

  1. How exciting! Count me in :) I would love a first page critique of my picture book. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, here's a bonus entry. I became a follower!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And another bonus entry, I tweeted about the contest! (do I need to mention again I would like a 1st page crit of PB?)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for having another great contest! I would love a critique of my query. (Twitter handle: JessLeake)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bonus entry: I tweeted about the contest!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd love a first page critique.

    I am just starting to query a MG SF/F. Hard to let it out of my grippers.

    Thanks for the opportunity!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bonus entry: I signed up for the email feed

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bonus entry: I follow you on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  9. Annnd here's a pitch:

    A LEGACY OF FROST AND FIRE

    Twelve-year-old Justin takes the blame when a dragon sets a house on fire and must accept a quest to return a dragon egg to its mother, but if he fails, all dragons will go extinct and he will never see home again, not even juvenile hall.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here's my pitch :)

    Title: SYLVAN LEGACY

    London debuts are hard enough without having to hide magical abilities and a decidedly un-debutante personality, but Katherine Sinclair's greatest challenges include avoiding the considerable charms of a duke and the hateful machinations of a secretive grandmother--something which proves nearly impossible when she slips up and heals a fellow debutante.

    ReplyDelete
  12. First page critique. I write YA contemporary. I signed up for the e-mail feed.

    My pitch is as follows:

    VIOLENT DELIGHTS

    It's Heathers meets Hate List when sixteen-year-old Jenna meets Cass and tumbles into a downward spiral of getting revenge, love and suicide pacts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great contest! Thank you! I'd love a query critique. I'm at stacyastokes@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bonus entry: following your blog (as SStokes)

    ReplyDelete
  15. And one more bonus entry: follow you on twitter as stacyastokes. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bonus entry: I follow your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love this too! Getting great feedback that not only reminds us we've got something here, but also helps us to refine our writing.

    And I'd like to have my first page critiqued. It's YA, dark fantasy with a different kind of love story. :)

    lakela20 (at) hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bonus entry:

    When sixteen-year-old Allura breaks the rules to save a human, she accidentally absorbs the injured woman's blood, igniting a flurry of flesh-hungry cravings buried within her DNA, and becomes the centerpiece in a plan her kind has constructed to revert to the lifestyle of their folkloric ancestors who lured and killed human men.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I signed up for the e-mail feed!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I already follow you on Twitter! @jenmaschari

    ReplyDelete
  23. I tweeted about it! @jenmaschari

    ReplyDelete
  24. This sounds awesome! Good luck to everyone! And thanks to Amanda and Deanna.

    My pitch for The Transparents, a MG magical mystery: When eleven-year-old Daniel sneezes during math class and temporarily turns invisible, he must conjure up the courage to use his new ability to clear his older brother of burglary before his family is targeted by the real culprits.

    ReplyDelete
  25. MG Adventure

    The Witching Hour

    When twelve-year old Matt Muldoon finds out his teacher is a witch who intends to steal his soul for her own benefit, he must pair up with his often-feuding friends and a ghost to discover the secret to defeating her before he becomes the final victim.

    I would love the query critique if I am chosen!

    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I would like a query critique please :)itsahardcoverlife@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oops! Forgot to leave email: ruecole@ gmail. com

    I'd like a first page critique, please. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I would love a query critique for a YA paranormal romance. Thanks!

    mrae74@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  30. I tweeted about the contest ;)

    MeredithRaeJ

    ReplyDelete
  31. I follow your blog ;)

    mrae74@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  32. I follow you on twitter.

    MeredithRaeJ

    ReplyDelete
  33. YA Paranomal Pitch:

    16 year old Rawnie's first kiss may be her boyfriend's last, unless she can learn to use her "family gift" and change his horrific future.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I also subscribed to email feeds ;)

    Mrae74@comcast.net (MeredithRaeJ)

    ReplyDelete
  35. I'd like a query critique pleawe.

    stephanie Theban

    sltheban@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. Would love a query critique. I already follow your blog and twitter.
    @sallyspratt

    You'd be surprised at what Cinderella has to say. Find out in her own words what her life was REALLY like.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Would love a first page critique. Middle grade.

    siski dot green at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  38. Bonus entry: I follow your blog.

    Would love a first page critique. Middle grade.

    siski dot green at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Bonus entry: I follow you on Twitter

    Would love a first page critique. Middle grade.

    siski dot green at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  40. I would love a query critique for a middle grade. Thanks for the contest!

    Susan Lorene

    susan @ susanlorene dot com

    ReplyDelete
  41. I subscribed. Query critique please:)

    csdfrye at frontier.com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I forgot to leave my title and pitch. Here it is, and thanks again!

    My pitch for The Stairs and the Fly, YA magical realism:

    When high school student Taylor Anderson is struck by a car, instead of an afterlife filled with puffy clouds and harp-playing angels, she must climb a seemingly endless staircase; a journey that uncovers surprising truths about her life and what happens when we die.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks, Deanna.

    First page, MG contemporary.

    Eric Hammond --- EricHammondArt@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Please enter me for a first page crit!

    Genre: YA (sci-fi)

    christinaferko(at)gmail(dot)com
    christinasbooks.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Bonus Entry:

    I follow you on twitter ;)

    @christinaferko

    ReplyDelete
  47. Bonus Entry:

    I follow the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Bonus Entry:

    Title: VERITAS (YA sci-fi, 81k)

    christinaferko(at)gmail(dot)com

    One Line Pitch: Leaving Earth was supposed to give them a future--not a death sentence--but when a virus turns Tori's crewmates violent, she'll do anything to save her family and her crush, Declan.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Very exciting!

    Title: STAGE DIRECTIONS (YA Contemporary, 62,000 words)

    mfumarolo(at)gmail(dot)com

    Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Annie, a techie in the drama club, doesn't think high school has anything left to teach her until she gets cast as an understudy in the spring play, her ex-boyfriend wants a second chance at being her leading man, and she starts to fall for her boy-next-door best friend.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Bonus entry
    I follow you on Twitter.
    maryannjanecka@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  51. Bonus entry.
    I am a follower of your blog.
    I would like a first page critique of my PB
    maryannjanecka@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  52. Thank you for running this contest. I would love a critique of my query for a MG book. Thanks! I'm on Twittee @JGCanada.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Also bonus entry for signing up for email feed.
    Would like first page critique of PB
    maryannjanecka@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  54. Ooooh - I just signed up for your email feed. And yes, I'd love a first page critique!

    Donna Earnhardt
    @Donna_Earnhardt

    ReplyDelete
  55. Bonus entry -- I followed you on twitter. (Donna_Earnhardt)

    Will tweet about it, too!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Hi guys! Here's my comment entry :)

    Title: THE FAMILY VYGIL
    Pitch: When thirteen-year-old Jonathan Vygil becomes a part of his family’s secret order of monster protectors, he realizes humans have unfairly labeled the shape-shifting beasts as evil, and should he fail to find his missing creature teacher, a threat known only as the Plague will turn on his parents next.

    ReplyDelete
  57. I already follow you on Twitter! :)

    ReplyDelete
  58. I signed up for your email feed!

    ReplyDelete
  59. I tweeted about this cool opportunity and since I've not said this before, if I win I'd like a first page critique. Thanks again!

    https://twitter.com/aprilmwall/status/221733304964100096

    @aprilmwall

    ReplyDelete
  60. Please enter me for a first page crit!

    Genre: YA Fantasy

    garnerrosch@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  61. Hi, Dee,

    I follow the blog.
    Follow twitter.
    And I'd love to win that first page crit for my MG!

    @kristinlgray

    Thanks! Great contest!

    ReplyDelete
  62. I would love a first page critique--
    shelley
    existing47@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  63. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Cali

    I followed you on twitter.

    csdfrye at frontier dot com

    ReplyDelete
  65. Cali
    Bonus entry: I tweeted the contest:)
    csdfrye at frontier dot com
    I would love a critique of my middle grade query.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Cali
    Thanks for having such a special event for authors:)

    My Pitch: When I switched on the light, my book flew open, fluttering through the pages to my bookmark.

    ReplyDelete
  67. I tweeted again! @jenmaschari

    ReplyDelete
  68. Just tweeted again :) @MeredithRaeJ

    ReplyDelete
  69. First page critique, please :-) sarah.nicolas.ya at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  70. I also follow you on Twitter. @sarah_nicolas

    ReplyDelete
  71. I'd love to have a query critique for my picture book or a first page critique for my YA contemporary novel. :)

    ReplyDelete
  72. Bonus entry #2: I follow via email too :)

    ReplyDelete
  73. Bonus entry #3: I follow you on twitter (@vbartles)

    ReplyDelete
  74. Bonus entry #4: I tweeted about the contest

    https://twitter.com/vbartles/status/222287015306211328

    ReplyDelete
  75. Here's my pitch:

    THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS (Picture Book)

    Princess Cassandra loves frogs and wants one for a pet, but she can't help kissing them and everyone knows what happens when a princess kisses a frog!

    ReplyDelete
  76. And my other pitch:

    KISSING FROGS (YA contemporary)

    Ever since she escaped rape last year, Alaina’s afraid of most boys, and when a boy she trusts steals a kiss, she’s afraid she’ll never find someone who isn’t just trying to get in her pants.

    ReplyDelete
  77. I recently found your blog. What a great contest! I would love a critique of the first page of my MG fantasy adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  78. And I just became a follower of this fun blog.

    ReplyDelete
  79. And my pitch

    Thunderbird Dreams

    If tomboy Christine Miller is ever to find peace from her nightmares, she must save the last Thunderbird who is trapped inside the mountain. To do that she'll need to pretend to be a boy to get inside the mine, defy her father, and face the big mine boss in a climactic race to free the Thunderbird before the boss can steal his powers and trap him here forever.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Hmm, my other posts didn't go through. I recently found your blog. Thanks so much for this wonderful contest. I'd love a first page critique for my MG fantasy adventure.
    (tracivanwagoner (at) me.com)

    ReplyDelete
  81. I am a new twitter follower! @laurimeyers

    ReplyDelete
  82. I tweeted the contest! @laurimeyers

    ReplyDelete
  83. Thanks for the great contest, Deanna! I'd love a query edit.
    @emcushi

    ReplyDelete
  84. I follow you so Twitter.
    @emcushi

    ReplyDelete
  85. I tweeted about the contest @emcushi

    ReplyDelete
  86. Fun contest! I'd love a query critique.

    ReplyDelete
  87. I follow on twitter. :) @lchardesty

    ReplyDelete
  88. Oh, I'll go for a query critique.

    ReplyDelete
  89. And here's my pitch:

    DRAGON

    It’ll take all the strength of one small dragon to save their kind from extinction. Maayin is that dragon. Trouble is, she believes she’s human.

    ReplyDelete
  90. First page critique please:)

    Here's my pitch:
    MOONDREAMER: The Sowing - When the corrupt Fae council manipulates Syxx into attending a creepy traditional Fae breeding ceremony, she has three options; submit (no!), die (hell no!), or overthrow the system.

    ReplyDelete
  91. And my twitter is https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker

    I follow the blog, and follow on twitter.

    I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker/status/222723972800839680

    ReplyDelete
  92. And my twitter is https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker

    I follow the blog, and follow on twitter.

    I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker/status/222723972800839680

    ReplyDelete
  93. Amanda sounds awesome! I'd love a query crit from her, for sure. :)

    @sharigreen

    ReplyDelete
  94. Title & one-line pitch...

    THE HOLY WILD (YA): an empathic teenager searches for the truth about her father's death in the Yukon wilderness.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  95. Ms. Lewis is on my soon to query list! I would like to win a first page critique.

    SARAH8778 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  96. Bonus entry, email follower:
    SARAH8778 (at) aol (dot) com

    BUTTERFLY GIRL (Upper MG / magical realism):

    Abandoned on her grandfather's farm, twelve-year-old Madison stumbles on a spell in her ancestor's journal, awakens magic hidden in her genes...and grows wings!

    ReplyDelete
  97. Thanks for the opportunity! First page critique for me, please. YA dark fantasy. @thesaturnbull

    ReplyDelete
  98. AND WE ARE ALL DAMNED

    On an isolated island, beneath a canopy of resurrection ferns and palmettos, a preternatural plague is unleashed on a grotesquely insular Victorian colony when orphans Haeden and Veanne unearth the dark legacy of their bloodline.

    @thesaturnbull

    ReplyDelete
  99. Following the site! Thanks for your updates on contests - super helpful.

    @thesaturnbull

    ReplyDelete
  100. Email feed sign up complete!

    saturnbull (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  101. Following on Twitter - for sure.

    saturnbull (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  102. Okay, last one :)

    Tweeted about the giveaway! https://twitter.com/thesaturnbull/status/222774356328194048

    @thesaturnbull

    ReplyDelete
  103. Query critique please! Thanks!
    raneesclark(at)yahoo(dot)com
    YA Fantasy

    ReplyDelete
  104. And for a bonus entry: My title and pitch.

    Title: BLOOM
    Pitch: Born into one of the Big Three families of the Enchanter realm, 17-year-old Finna Claremont’s lineage—yeah, lineage—should mean she’ll make a great guardian…. Right.

    ReplyDelete
  105. And another ... I follow now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  106. All right, you got me :-)

    Query critique please!

    @trionabmurphy

    ReplyDelete
  107. Title & one-line pitch:

    THE LONG-TIMERS (YA sci-fi/thriller)

    When a privileged teenage boy learns the horrific truth behind a miracle drug that prolongs the life of the rich, he must try to bring down his parents' all-powerful company from the inside.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Somehow I wasn't following you yet, but I am now!

    ReplyDelete
  109. I'm already following you on Twitter, as you probably noticed :-)

    ReplyDelete
  110. I'm already following you on Twitter, as you probably noticed :-)

    ReplyDelete
  111. Aaaannd I just tweeted about the contest! Phew!

    ReplyDelete
  112. Wow. Lots of entries. Thanks for hosting this!! I would love a critique of my first page, please.
    sarahwedgbrow(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  113. Tweeted about contest using hashtag @mgwritermhaynes

    ReplyDelete
  114. Follower on twitter
    @mgwritermhaynes

    ReplyDelete
  115. I'm following you on twitter. (forgot to mention my genre before: YA Contemporary)

    ReplyDelete
  116. I signed up for email versions of blog posts some time ago.
    marileehaynes(at)hotmail(dot)com.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Hi Merideth lovely idea for a contest: find me at jujuberry37 on twitter. Cheers Julie Grasso

    Here is my query for Upper MG Sci/Fi Fantasy. 53 000 Words

    Escape From The Forbidden Planet
    Caramel is one pint sized little elf with a difference. Sure she can read and speak into thoughts like every other elf on the Planet Cardamom, but that’s not what makes her special.
    A visit to the rainforest canopy, changes everything Caramel has ever believed about herself, but now she is in a pickle. Her new found ability may overshadow her hopes of becoming a healer just like her mum, but that is the least of her worries.
    Her grandparents, King Basil and Queen Juniper have suddenly vanished and Caramel holds the key to unlock the mystery of their disappearance but she simply can’t remember. She has no choice but to watch as the sinister new queen takes over and plunges the kingdom into an alliance with the villainous IQ Corporation.
    Unbeknownst to Caramel the Corporation are watching when she stumbles upon their closely guarded secret and she finds herself marooned on a forbidden planet called Earth. Can she unlock the secret that the Corporation are guarding, armed with nothing more than a smartphone, a water pistol and delivery of sushi. One thing’s for certain, Caramel will find more than a way home.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Tweeted again :) Good luck everyone. MeredithRaeJ

    ReplyDelete
  119. Here goes:

    This is my pitch for Talha's Trouble with Two (PB)

    Talha never imagined that turning two years old would bring so much trouble. Time-outs and tantrums trick him, tackle him and leave him in a tizzy. He's determined to figure this whole two year old business out before it ruins all of his fun.

    email: justwrite4hannahb(at)gmail.com

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  120. Contest is now closed. Thanks for entering!

    ReplyDelete

Please note: ALL SPAM COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED without being posted. If you're here to add a paid link, save yourself some time and skip it. Actual blog reader comments are happily accepted. :)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.