In honor of my initiation into the world of querying (and the fact that I always liked those guess-how-many-jellybeans-are-in-the-jar competitions), I’m having my first-ever contest!
What do you need to do? Simply guess how many queries I’ll have to send out before I land my dream agent. This will be the one and only post about my querying even once I’ve found my agent- no updates! Here’s the rule run-down:
1. Be a follower of this blog. (Yes, this is shameless self-promotion.)
2. Guess a number in the comments of this post.
3. Want a second guess? Advertise on your blog or Twitter about the contest and enter a second guess in the comments of this post.
4. The fine print! In the event of duplicate guesses, the first guess will given priority. If no one guesses the exact number I will take the closest guess without going over (in homage to The Price is Right). The winner will be emailed to let them know they had the closest guess- I promise to be honest, but I’m not going to post the actual number it took.
Now the fun stuff! What do you win? I decided I couldn’t decide on a prize so I’m going to offer the winner a choice of the following:
1. A $20 Amazon gift card
2. A stack of books. On the list right now are Evermore and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel and Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell.
3. A query critique
4. A partial MS critique (50 pages or so)
Heck, when I get that call I’ll probably be so excited I’ll give away all four to the winner! So pick a number, any number! And don’t worry about hurting my feelings with the high numbers- this is a tough market. But I intend to crack it!
Good luck!
And for another couple of cool contests check out Elana Johnson and Shelli Johannes-Wells. More contests- ohdalolly!
Oh man– This is a cruel contest, Stephanie.
I am going to guess 52, because that is at least how many queries I'm sending before the end of the year.
Now, with my luck, you'll probably get a request within 10, because I'm kind of my own jinx. (I read somewhere the average is one request for a partial per 25 queries sent out. Prove it wrong!)
P.S. I am excited that we are in the trenches together.
I'm going with 42 — seeing as it's the answer to everything and all.
Tweeting it now! Matt's Tweet.
Second guess is 13. Why? Because it's a lucky number for me.
I am going to guess 30. But, as much as I have a vested interest, I hope the querying process goes quickly for you — I'm looking forward to picking Hatshepsut up from the local Borders one day soon. 🙂
I am thinking 37. I don't think you'll get that many rejections though. I just think that's how many you will have actually sent before you get that call from your new agent!
Good luck!
Darn it, I was going to say 37, but then I got to thinking–You're really optimistic with this whole query-agent contest. So, I'm going to say 17. Good luck!
45.
Tough market and all. But you'll get there.
I was going to say 31, but I don't want to look like a jerk to Guinevere, so I'll guess 21. (But if I was on TPiR, then all bets are off!)
I plan to mention this in my next blog, but in case I forget (or you get an agent really quickly) I'll come back to guess again later.
Good luck!
I'm going with 27
75. Because seven is my favorite number- in scripture it indicates completeness. Five is my second favorite number.
Happy querying!
I'll go with 63. And, good luck!! This is exciting!!
I'm thinking 22…
And also in homage to The Price is Right, if I were that jerk on the end I would guess 1.
But I will say: 25.
Woo-woo! Cheering you on, good luck with the queries!
Yikes. I feel you deserve to land your dream agent in 1 query. But for no pressure, I'll say 14.
Ouch! Tough question, Stephanie. I'm going to do this in a stupidly random way and say 44 – 4 is my favorite number, so I'll just double it! 🙂
How many? Enough. The right number.
Best of luck, Stephanie. Be calm and logical and prepared. That agent is out there somewhere – it's finding him/her that's the trick.
I think you have such a unique idea. I'm going with 10 queries sent. We sent in batches of 10–so here's to the first batch!
Well, if it's your dream agent, hopefully number 1. Good luck!
i was going to say 27 because i had a good feeling about it, but Anissa already said it. SO we will go with 33.
EXCITEMENT!
I agree that this is a cruel contest! But I'm going to give you my best of luck and guess 33.
Oh, and thanks for the shout out about my contest!
My guess is 32. And I'm sticking to it.
Fab contest, chica!
Mmmm, my kingdom for a jar of jellybeans!! I was going to guess 21 for the length of Hatshepsut's rule but that's taken. So, I'll add 7 and guess 28. Good luck with your Q's!
Yikes – have to go up and check the other guesses….
Okay 19 – I'm with Lisa & Laura on the sending in batches of 10 & I think it'll be in the 2nd batch 🙂
Love Elspeth's answer though 🙂
Oooh…yes, a cruel contest. I think maybe I'll just say good luck instead?
5-I'm an optimist
23 is my guess, but I hope it's sooner!
26! I hope no one else guessed that already. I'd check, but I'm feeling lazy, LOL!
Ooh–how fun! I was going to say 14, but it's already been guessed. I'll guess 8! GOOD LUCK!
I'm gonna guess 17. Seems like a decent number.
I'll link to your post on my blog. 🙂