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!
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.
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! 
Winner will be drawn by random.org.
Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, July 12, 2012.
How exciting! Count me in :) I would love a first page critique of my picture book. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOkay, here's a bonus entry. I became a follower!
ReplyDeleteAnd another bonus entry, I tweeted about the contest! (do I need to mention again I would like a 1st page crit of PB?)
ReplyDeleteThanks for having another great contest! I would love a critique of my query. (Twitter handle: JessLeake)
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I tweeted about the contest!
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I follow your blog!
ReplyDeleteI'd love a first page critique.
ReplyDeleteI am just starting to query a MG SF/F. Hard to let it out of my grippers.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Bonus entry: I signed up for the email feed
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I follow you on Twitter
ReplyDeleteAnnnd here's a pitch:
ReplyDeleteA 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.
And I follow.
ReplyDeleteAnd I signed up for email.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlready a twitter follower.
ReplyDeleteAnd I tweeted as @Heather_Hawke
ReplyDeleteHere's my pitch :)
ReplyDeleteTitle: 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.
First page critique. I write YA contemporary. I signed up for the e-mail feed.
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
Great contest! Thank you! I'd love a query critique. I'm at stacyastokes@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: following your blog (as SStokes)
ReplyDeleteAnd one more bonus entry: follow you on twitter as stacyastokes. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I follow your blog.
ReplyDeleteI love this too! Getting great feedback that not only reminds us we've got something here, but also helps us to refine our writing.
ReplyDeleteAnd 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
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBonus entry:
ReplyDeleteWhen 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.
I follow your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteI signed up for the e-mail feed!
ReplyDeleteI already follow you on Twitter! @jenmaschari
ReplyDeleteI tweeted about it! @jenmaschari
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesome! Good luck to everyone! And thanks to Amanda and Deanna.
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
I choose a query critique. :-D
ReplyDeleteI follow your blog and Twitter.
ReplyDeleteMG Adventure
ReplyDeleteThe 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!
I tweeted the contest!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would like a query critique please :)itsahardcoverlife@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteOops! Forgot to leave email: ruecole@ gmail. com
ReplyDeleteI'd like a first page critique, please. :)
I would love a query critique for a YA paranormal romance. Thanks!
ReplyDeletemrae74@comcast.net
I tweeted about the contest ;)
ReplyDeleteMeredithRaeJ
I follow your blog ;)
ReplyDeletemrae74@comcast.net
I follow you on twitter.
ReplyDeleteMeredithRaeJ
YA Paranomal Pitch:
ReplyDelete16 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.
I also subscribed to email feeds ;)
ReplyDeleteMrae74@comcast.net (MeredithRaeJ)
I'd like a query critique pleawe.
ReplyDeletestephanie Theban
sltheban@gmail.com
Would love a query critique. I already follow your blog and twitter.
ReplyDelete@sallyspratt
You'd be surprised at what Cinderella has to say. Find out in her own words what her life was REALLY like.
Would love a first page critique. Middle grade.
ReplyDeletesiski dot green at gmail dot com
Bonus entry: I follow your blog.
ReplyDeleteWould love a first page critique. Middle grade.
siski dot green at gmail dot com
Bonus entry: I follow you on Twitter
ReplyDeleteWould love a first page critique. Middle grade.
siski dot green at gmail dot com
I would love a query critique for a middle grade. Thanks for the contest!
ReplyDeleteSusan Lorene
susan @ susanlorene dot com
I subscribed. Query critique please:)
ReplyDeletecsdfrye at frontier.com
I forgot to leave my title and pitch. Here it is, and thanks again!
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
Thanks, Deanna.
ReplyDeleteFirst page, MG contemporary.
Eric Hammond --- EricHammondArt@gmail.com
Please enter me for a first page crit!
ReplyDeleteGenre: YA (sci-fi)
christinaferko(at)gmail(dot)com
christinasbooks.blogspot.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBonus Entry:
ReplyDeleteI follow you on twitter ;)
@christinaferko
Bonus Entry:
ReplyDeleteI tweeted!
Bonus Entry:
ReplyDeleteI follow the blog!
Bonus Entry:
ReplyDeleteTitle: 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.
Very exciting!
ReplyDeleteTitle: 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.
Bonus entry
ReplyDeleteI follow you on Twitter.
maryannjanecka@aol.com
Bonus entry.
ReplyDeleteI am a follower of your blog.
I would like a first page critique of my PB
maryannjanecka@aol.com
Thank you for running this contest. I would love a critique of my query for a MG book. Thanks! I'm on Twittee @JGCanada.
ReplyDeleteAlso bonus entry for signing up for email feed.
ReplyDeleteWould like first page critique of PB
maryannjanecka@aol.com
Ooooh - I just signed up for your email feed. And yes, I'd love a first page critique!
ReplyDeleteDonna Earnhardt
@Donna_Earnhardt
Bonus entry -- I followed you on twitter. (Donna_Earnhardt)
ReplyDeleteWill tweet about it, too!
Hi guys! Here's my comment entry :)
ReplyDeleteTitle: 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.
I already follow you on Twitter! :)
ReplyDeleteI signed up for your email feed!
ReplyDeleteI follow you blog! Yippee!
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/aprilmwall/status/221733304964100096
@aprilmwall
I follow you on twitter :)
ReplyDeleteFollow and love your blog :)
ReplyDeleteTweeted this contest :)
ReplyDeletePlease enter me for a first page crit!
ReplyDeleteGenre: YA Fantasy
garnerrosch@gmail.com
Hi, Dee,
ReplyDeleteI follow the blog.
Follow twitter.
And I'd love to win that first page crit for my MG!
@kristinlgray
Thanks! Great contest!
I would love a first page critique--
ReplyDeleteshelley
existing47@aol.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCali
ReplyDeleteI followed you on twitter.
csdfrye at frontier dot com
Cali
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I tweeted the contest:)
csdfrye at frontier dot com
I would love a critique of my middle grade query.
Cali
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.
I tweeted again! @jenmaschari
ReplyDeleteJust tweeted again :) @MeredithRaeJ
ReplyDeleteFirst page critique, please :-) sarah.nicolas.ya at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteI also follow you on Twitter. @sarah_nicolas
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have a query critique for my picture book or a first page critique for my YA contemporary novel. :)
ReplyDeleteBonus entry: I follow your blog
ReplyDeleteBonus entry #2: I follow via email too :)
ReplyDeleteBonus entry #3: I follow you on twitter (@vbartles)
ReplyDeleteBonus entry #4: I tweeted about the contest
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/vbartles/status/222287015306211328
Here's my pitch:
ReplyDeleteTHE 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!
And my other pitch:
ReplyDeleteKISSING 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.
I recently found your blog. What a great contest! I would love a critique of the first page of my MG fantasy adventure.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just became a follower of this fun blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd my pitch
ReplyDeleteThunderbird 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.
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.
ReplyDelete(tracivanwagoner (at) me.com)
And I am a follower!
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower!
ReplyDeleteI am a new twitter follower! @laurimeyers
ReplyDeleteI tweeted the contest! @laurimeyers
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great contest, Deanna! I'd love a query edit.
ReplyDelete@emcushi
I follow your blog.
ReplyDelete@emcushi
I subscribe.
ReplyDelete@emcushi
I follow you so Twitter.
ReplyDelete@emcushi
I tweeted about the contest @emcushi
ReplyDeleteFun contest! I'd love a query critique.
ReplyDeleteI'm a GFC follower. :)
ReplyDeleteI follow on twitter. :) @lchardesty
ReplyDeleteI signed up for email. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I'll go for a query critique.
ReplyDeleteI'm following the blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd on twitter.
ReplyDeleteAnd I tweeted it.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's my pitch:
ReplyDeleteDRAGON
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.
First page critique please:)
ReplyDeleteHere'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.
And my twitter is https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker
ReplyDeleteI follow the blog, and follow on twitter.
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker/status/222723972800839680
And my twitter is https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker
ReplyDeleteI follow the blog, and follow on twitter.
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/FeakySnucker/status/222723972800839680
Amanda sounds awesome! I'd love a query crit from her, for sure. :)
ReplyDelete@sharigreen
Title & one-line pitch...
ReplyDeleteTHE HOLY WILD (YA): an empathic teenager searches for the truth about her father's death in the Yukon wilderness.
:)
blog follower! :)
ReplyDeleteMs. Lewis is on my soon to query list! I would like to win a first page critique.
ReplyDeleteSARAH8778 (at) aol (dot) com
Bonus entry, email follower:
ReplyDeleteSARAH8778 (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!
Thanks for the opportunity! First page critique for me, please. YA dark fantasy. @thesaturnbull
ReplyDeleteAND WE ARE ALL DAMNED
ReplyDeleteOn 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
Following the site! Thanks for your updates on contests - super helpful.
ReplyDelete@thesaturnbull
Email feed sign up complete!
ReplyDeletesaturnbull (at) gmail (dot) com
Following on Twitter - for sure.
ReplyDeletesaturnbull (at) gmail (dot) com
Okay, last one :)
ReplyDeleteTweeted about the giveaway! https://twitter.com/thesaturnbull/status/222774356328194048
@thesaturnbull
Query critique please! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteraneesclark(at)yahoo(dot)com
YA Fantasy
And for a bonus entry: My title and pitch.
ReplyDeleteTitle: 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.
And another ... I follow now. :)
ReplyDeleteAll right, you got me :-)
ReplyDeleteQuery critique please!
@trionabmurphy
Title & one-line pitch:
ReplyDeleteTHE 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.
Somehow I wasn't following you yet, but I am now!
ReplyDeleteI'm already following you on Twitter, as you probably noticed :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm already following you on Twitter, as you probably noticed :-)
ReplyDeleteAaaannd I just tweeted about the contest! Phew!
ReplyDeleteWow. Lots of entries. Thanks for hosting this!! I would love a critique of my first page, please.
ReplyDeletesarahwedgbrow(at)gmail(dot)com
I tweeted about the contest.
ReplyDeleteTweeted about contest using hashtag @mgwritermhaynes
ReplyDeleteFollower on twitter
ReplyDelete@mgwritermhaynes
I'm following you on twitter. (forgot to mention my genre before: YA Contemporary)
ReplyDeleteI signed up for email versions of blog posts some time ago.
ReplyDeletemarileehaynes(at)hotmail(dot)com.
Hi Merideth lovely idea for a contest: find me at jujuberry37 on twitter. Cheers Julie Grasso
ReplyDeleteHere 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.
Tweeted again :) Good luck everyone. MeredithRaeJ
ReplyDeleteHere goes:
ReplyDeleteThis 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!
Contest is now closed. Thanks for entering!
ReplyDelete