One on One

I just entered my first contest.

One on One.

Each contest is different, (see my post on Sun vs Snow).

But with this one, you send your query to the person holding the contest - this one is offered by a writer named Mike Anthony . From the first 50 queries he receives, he will choose the best 10.  He will post those 10 on his blog site, at which time all the writers posted will vote on the best one, and then the winner will get a one-on-one chat with literary agent Pooja Menon for 30 minutes.

So, pretty cool, right?

Not a guaranteed request for pages or anything - but definitely a chance to ask an agent ALL OF THE QUESTIONS. And a chance to see what other writers think of my query.

And THAT is what has my heart racing. Because other than my (amazing, fantastic, wonderful) beta readers, I haven't really put my writing out there for anyone to see.

I mean, I know there's this blog (thanks for reading, Mom!) but this contest is a much bigger forum and a much wider net. Which means I am about to - I hope - receive feedback from the other people out there in the query trenches with me, people who have been doing this longer.

I love the idea of great advice. And I am NERVOUS about the idea of great advice, because, while as a reporter I did grow thick rhino skin to ward off rejection and tough comments, that skin has thinned somewhat since I left THAT business.

It has begun to toughen up a bit since receiving my first agent rejections, but I am still feeling pretty delicate. And just putting out a query letter - not even my ms - brings up ALL OF THE FEARS.

Which is silly, and I'll get over it. But I just had to blog, because did anyone else ever feel like this in the beginning? When you first started putting out your stuff for others to see? When the queries weren't just going to the slush pile but actually subject to LIVE INSTANT COMMENT?