And the Finalists Are…

17 Jan

Before I begin, I want to send a big thank you out to all our contestants. Your pitches were all so wonderful. I can’t imagine how Grace could narrow the field down to only ten. I wish everyone could move on to round two, but I think Grace might come after me with a weed-whacker if I changed the contest rules on her, LOL.

Without further delay, the Passionate Reads Pitch Contest first-round finalists (in no particular order) are…

Hearts on Fire by Catheryne E. Layne

The Market by Sorcha Mowbray

Beyond Prudence by Anya Richards

Scarred by Kendal Ashby

Collision by Cassandra Carr

To Tame a Wild Filly by Jeannene Walker

Project NSA by Alexa Day

Dancing Shadows by Abby-Rae Rose

Dark Star by Callie Russell

Spirit Island by Adelle Laudan

And the winner of our reader’s choice vote, who will also be moving on…

Sacking Austin by Lori Beth Johnson

Congrats to all our finalists!  For those who didn’t make the cut, we wish you all the best in your publishing endeavors. This is such a subjective industry, so keep at it!

If your manuscript finaled, you will need to send your 1st chapter (.doc or .rtf file/no more than 5000 words) to passionatereads (at) gmail . com by midnight January 21. (If manuscripts are not received by then, you will be disqualified from the contest.)

Then, Saturday, the next round of voting will begin. :)

Thanks again to everyone.
~Brandi Evans & the rest of the Passionate Reads Bunch

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22 Responses to “And the Finalists Are…”

  1. Lori Beth Johnson January 17, 2011 at 7:43 am #

    Thank you, Brandi! I do have one question. In which format do we need to send our first chapters? doc/docx, etc?

    Thanks,

    Lori Beth

    Reply
    • Grace Bradley January 17, 2011 at 7:49 am #

      Hi, Lori,

      I have Windows 7, so I can open docx files, but I always tell my authors to save their documents as a Word 97-2003 document as it is accessible to most everyone. I’m looking forward to reading your chapter :)

      Reply
  2. Grace Bradley January 17, 2011 at 7:47 am #

    Congratulations to all the winners. This was a difficult choice, indeed. For those of you who did not move on, I wish you all the best in your pursuit of publication. This business is subjective, so keep fine-tuning your writing skills and keep submitting. Thank you to everyone for sharing your story ideas with me.

    Warmly,
    Grace

    Reply
  3. Kendal Ashby January 17, 2011 at 11:09 am #

    This is exciting! Thanks for your time on this great contest. I look forward to sending in my first chapter.

    Reply
  4. Kaily Hart January 17, 2011 at 11:12 am #

    I just wanted to say a big congratulations to the finalists! The quality of the entries was staggering and it was wondferful to see such a great turn out.

    Reply
  5. evecassidy January 17, 2011 at 11:18 am #

    Congrats to all the finalists!

    Reply
  6. Crystal Kauffman January 17, 2011 at 1:36 pm #

    Congratulations finalists! I really enjoyed reading all of them.

    Reply
  7. Sorcha Mowbray January 17, 2011 at 2:02 pm #

    So excited to get through. Thank you Passionate Reads for having this contest, and thank you to Grace for judging. Now, it is time to go reread that first chapter!

    Reply
  8. KJ Reed January 17, 2011 at 2:29 pm #

    Congratulations to each and every finalist! Grace has a tough job on her hands, that’s for sure! Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

    And thanks again, Grace, for your time and effort on the contest. Though, with this much good reading ahead, is it really work? :)

    Reply
    • Jeannene Walker January 17, 2011 at 3:18 pm #

      SO excited to be a part of this. Woot woot! Thank you all for the sponsorship. And thank you Grace for giving your time to this. Now to get to work on the final polish of that chapter.

      Reply
      • Brandi Evans January 17, 2011 at 5:22 pm #

        You know how hard it was for me NOT to tell you about this at the DSRA meeting Saturday, LOL? ;-)

  9. Adelle Laudan January 17, 2011 at 9:11 pm #

    I’m very excited to have made it to the next round. Thanks to Passionate Reads and Grace for taking the time to offer such an amazing opportunity.
    Good luck to all finalists.

    Reply
  10. Abby-Rae Rose January 18, 2011 at 8:07 am #

    Thanks to Passionate Reads and Grace for taking the time to offer such an amazing opportunity. I’m excited to have made it to the next round.I look forward to sending in my first chapter.

    Good luck to all finalists.

    Reply
  11. Catheryne E. Layne January 18, 2011 at 8:20 pm #

    Thanks so much for having this contest! I am so excited to be moving onto the next round!

    Reply
    • Catheryne E. Layne January 21, 2011 at 5:54 am #

      I sent my chapter and am excited to see all the entries! :) Thanks again.

      Reply
  12. Alexa Day January 19, 2011 at 8:03 pm #

    I’m thrilled to be moving to the next round! Many thanks to Grace and to Passionate Reads for the opportunity!

    And now a perhaps silly question.

    Midnight on the 21st. Is that late Thursday night, or late Friday night?

    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Brandi Evans January 20, 2011 at 1:38 pm #

      Friday evening/midnight is good. :-) Sorry, for not getting back sooner, but I started my last semester of college crud this week. Needless to say I’m a bit frazzled, LOL. And since I didn’t specify earlier, I’ll go with midnight Pacific Time.

      Reply
      • Alexa Day January 21, 2011 at 11:44 pm #

        Wonderful! My chapter’s in, and I’m looking forward to checking out the work from my fellow finalists.

        Thanks again for your help and this opportunity.

      • Lori Beth Johnson January 22, 2011 at 12:07 am #

        Mine is in, too. How exciting! I’m sure everyone will have wonderful chapters. Good luck to all!

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