Phenomenal First Pages Contest – Guest Editor Edition

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Writing Help

Hey, wonderful writerly people! It’s time for our monthly critique contest! This month, we have a HUGE prize!
3 winners will receive feedback on 20 pages from a professional editor. So exciting!

This contest is closed. Please try again next month. If you’d like to be notified when the next one goes live, consider subscribing to the blog (in the sidebar).

If you’re working on a story and would like some objective feedback, please leave a comment. Any comment :). As long as the email address associated with your WordPress account/comment profile is up-to-date, I’ll be able to contact you if you’re a lucky winner. Please know that if I’m unable to get in touch with you through that address, you’ll have to forfeit your win.

Here’s the editor you’ll be working with:

Stuart Wakefield

With 26 years in theatre, broadcast media, and coaching under my belt, I have a visceral understanding of what makes stories work, and I love to share that with others because the world of storytelling is like the ocean: deep, mysterious, and a little scary to those who don’t know how to navigate it. With so much left to luck and timing, it’s my life’s mission to give great books the best chance of getting into readers’ hands. I particularly love to coach Romance, Commercial Women’s Fiction, YA, New Adult, and Contemporary Fiction. 

As a writer myself, I have an MA (Distinction) in Professional Writing, and my debut novel, Body of Water, was one of ten books long-listed for the Polari First Book Prize. My latest novel, Behind the Seams, was a 2021 BookLife Fiction Prize Contest semi finalist.

I’m an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach, a proud Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, and I was recognised as one of the top book coaches by Coach Foundation: https://coachfoundation.com/blog/top-book-coaches/ You can find my website, blog, and free self-editing cheat sheet right here: https://linktr.ee/thebookcoach

Contest Guidelines

  • Please be sure your first 20 pages are ready to go so Stuart can critique them before next month’s contest rolls around. A4 paper size (you can find this in Word settings), 1-inch margins, double-spaced, and 12pt Times New Roman font. Feedback will consist of in-line comments concerning what’s not working and what is.

  • You’ll need to have a synopsis ready (a rough one is fine) so Stuart can make sure his feedback is in context.

  • This contest only runs for 24 hours, start to finish, so get your comment in there!

Three commenters’ names will be randomly drawn and posted tomorrow morning. If you win, I’ll contact you with information about sending it to me. Then, I’ll forward it to our amazing editor for feedback.  

We run this contest on a monthly basis, so if you’d like to be notified when the next opportunity comes around, consider subscribing to our blog (see the right-hand sidebar). 

Good luck! I can’t wait to see who the winners will be. 🙂

Save the Date!

Becca will be back to critique first pages next month, but in the meantime, she wanted you all to know about an upcoming opportunity to grow in your craft. On January 28th at 2pm EST, she’ll be presenting an online webinar on Using Character Emotion to Wow Readers. Romance Writers Online are opening this event up to everyone, and registration is live. Use this link to learn more about this webinar or to save yourself a seat!

PS: If you want to amp up your first page, grab our helpful First Pages checklist from One Stop for Writers. And for more instruction on these important opening elements, see this Mother Lode of First Page Resources.

Mindy Weiss

Mindy Alyse Weiss is a glitter-loving kid at heart and serves as WHW’s Administrator. When she’s not keeping things organized around here, she’s writing middle-grade novels, picture books, and mentoring writers through PBParty chats, draft challenges, and annual contests. (Mindy also does picture book critiques, too!) She is represented by Joyce Sweeney at The Seymour Agency.

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