WOTC Open Call (novel proposals) -- deadline March 1, or before?

[two]

I was just looking over the submission requirements, and came across this:

"We will be accepting proposals through the end of the business day on March 1, 2005. Flooding us with submissions will not help -- please send us only your best proposal."

For some reason I thought that the proposal had to be postmarked by March 1.

Apparantly, NO.

It must be recieved by March 1, meaning: mail it by Feb. 21 to be safe.

Nuts. I just lost a week of time.

Am I crazy or has this always been the deadline? (i.e. not postmarked, but in their hands by March 1?)

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Am I crazy or has this always been the deadline? (i.e. not postmarked, but in their hands by March 1?)

It has always been the deadline.

They ran into problems with the setting search. They asked for a postmarked date and they recieved stuff from all over the world so they kept getting stuff long after they wanted to start evaluating the proposals.

The "recieved by" is more iron fisted, but it helps. Sending early is very wise. Frankly, I'd want to make sure they had it by the 25th. The last thing anyone needs is even a small delay. The 26th and 27th are a weekend and WotC is not going to go out of their way to make sure they have your proposal in hand on the 1st so cutting it close makes no sense.

I think I remember reading on ENWorld during the Eberron novel proposals that some people had UPS or the Post Office hand the thing over on the last possible day but it didn't get to the WotC admin. It's pretty clear that WotC isn't going to dump out their mailbox at 5pm on March 1st making sure they have everyone's proposal.

 

[two]

Thanks for the clarification -- I didn't know the Setting Search had such troubles.

Yup, early is best.

OK. New deadline -- Feb. 21, 2005. Priority mail.

Go.

 

[Pacio49]

Or, for $10 you can earn an extra week for yourself by shipping it Priority Overnight via FedEx/UPS/DHL.

 

[Charke]

I think I remember reading on ENWorld during the Eberron novel proposals that some people had UPS or the Post Office hand the thing over on the last possible day but it didn't get to the WotC admin. It's pretty clear that WotC isn't going to dump out their mailbox at 5pm on March 1st making sure they have everyone's proposal

It must be recieved by March 1, meaning: mail it by Feb. 21 to be safe.
Nuts. I just lost a week of time.

Or, for $10 you can earn an extra week for yourself by shipping it Priority Overnight via FedEx/UPS/DHL.

If you had read the other two messages you might have noticed that the point is that sending it at the last minute won't work. With 11 000 entrants on some of these contests they will use any old excuse to toss your work and cut down entrants to find one.

 

[takyris]

Well, the additional point is that if you're thinking in terms of the last minute, odds are that you're not thinking about a polished final version. You're thinking about a rough draft -- which is gonna be competing with the final versions of the folks who already have theirs in. Not to say that all polished versions are better than all rough drafts, but you might not be sending in your own personal best.

But really, how much time did you lose? You're only sending in the first three chapters. Those need to be really really good. If you get picked to send in everything, well, you haven't really lost any time -- it's just that you send the first three chapters in and then go back to working on the rest earlier than you thought you would. If your problem is that the novel ain't done yet, your situation isn't any different, provided you know enough of how it ends to come up with a slam-bang synopsis.

If your problem is that the first three chapters aren't done yet, not even in rough-draft form, well, you're gonna be wasting postage by applying at this point.

 

[Pencilone]

Last Minute Panicking

Is anyone here posting from UK? Is it better to use Airsure than Airmail? How long does it take for Airsure? I cannot seem to find anywhere a definite answer.

How many pages should the 'Chapter By Chapter' synopsis have?

How many chapters is it best to have? How many scenes in a chapter? (I'm trying to stick to the classic 20 chapters and 60 scenes, but I think I have about 80 scenes instead)


Am I right in thinking that the most important thing is a good story and the format does not matter so much for now?

If one doesn't have previous publishing experience should we say so in the cover letter ? Or this is it something that can be easily understood if no credits are mentioned and we should not waste time commenting on it?

Thanks,

Pencilone

 

[takyris]

Hey Pencilone,

No clue on the mailing question, sorry.

Re: Number of pages in chapter-by-chapter: They've really just said "Three to five sentences per chapter", which means that it's going to vary hugely depending on the number of chapters you have. Mine was six pages, single-spaced, and I had a novel with thirty chapters. I think that as long as you make the effort, and make it interesting to read, you're fine just going with three to five sentences per chapter. Or fewer, if you've got a ton of chapters.

Never heard about there being a correct number of chapters or scenes. Twenty chapters sounds fine, though -- enough to have your synopsis tell a good detailed story, not so many that you're sending them the novel already.

I think you're bang-on about format not mattering, provided that we're talking about "number of chapters" and such. (Make sure that you've got the submission formatted the way that they want you to have it formatted, though, with the appropriate spacing and font and included stuff.)

If you haven't been previously published, I just wouldn't even mention it. It's not something to explain or apologize for. Just make the cover letter short and sweet and let them get to what's really going to sell your novel -- your novel.

Good luck!

 

[Pencilone]

Hi Takyris,

Thanks and one more question: do you guys think we need a contents page and a title page (as they usually say in manuscripts formats). I have not seen anything like that in the WOTC open call guidelines and I was thinking it's not needed. What do you think?

Yesterday I made some major plot changes, anyone else with radical changes at the last minute?

Thanks,

Pencilone

 

[PerryParker]

Hi there Pencilone,
As for your "page counts" for the chapter outline: as per the message board conversation with Peter in January, shorter is better. The guidelines say 3-5 sentences per chapter, but in the question period he said 1-2 lines would be better. With a detailed synopsis, you really shouldn't need to rattle on about every detail in your chapters.
Also, don't add anything to the submission: no table of contents, no titlepage. The guidelines are very strict, and like Charke said earlier, they will use any excuse to toss out the chaff (i.e. no address in top right hand corner of pages, for instance).
Also, if you are mailing from outside the U.S., make sure you get that international reply coupon for your self-addressed stamped envelope, or you'll get TOSSED!
And by now, you better send it super-duper-speedy postal service. Spare no Expense!
Good Luck!!