Editing Advent 2011: Day 23! Win a FREE $35 Gift certificate from Freelance Editor Cassandra!

Editing Advent 2011: Day 23! Win a FREE $35 Gift certificate from Freelance Editor Cassandra!

All through December, I'm giving away an editing prize to a lucky commenter each day! Check back now through Christmas Eve to win!

The previous winner was Tome!! Please email me within 24 hours to claim your prize!

Behind today's door there's a $35 gift certificate!!

That's good for any of my services,  

including towards the cost of a full edit or to give as a gift!

To win:

• Follow this blog and leave a comment on this post +1
• Tweet using #editingadvent with a link to camarshall.com or editorcassandra.com +1
• Blog about the editing advent event +5

• Leave a comment for each entry (only one comment needed for blogging. Please post links to tweets/blog posts)
• Winner will be announced the following day and they have 24 hours to contact me to claim their prize.
• Only one prize per person.

Do you want even MORE chances to win $35 gift cards?  I've teamed up with Gabriela Leesa for a Christmas to Epiphany Wishlist contest!

On Christmas day, we'll both post our a form for you to fill out with the details of your book. If we like what we see, you could win a $35 gift certificate from EditorCassandra.com to be used towards ANY services or a 40 page edit and 30% discount on any services from GabrielaLeesa.com!

The entry form will be up on both of our sites from Christmas day to January 6th. You'll be asked to enter your information plus your query (500 words max) and your first few pages, ending on a natural break (1,500 words max). You’ll also be asked to choose a judge (me or Gabriela), so make sure you check both our wishlists and pick the one that fits you best. 

So what's on our wish lists? 

Gabriela wants:

• Really cool and well-written multicultural fiction. Multicultural is hard to write because it’s hard to introduce a different culture without getting too descriptive. I’ve seen good ideas, but no fantastic manuscripts. Nothing that makes me think of Javier Moro’s Passion India, my favorite multicultural ever. I would love to see a story full of flavor from a country I don’t hear about often, a manuscript that takes me somewhere I’ve never been and still gives me a fantastic plot that mixes cultural clashes, romance and overcoming difficulties sometimes unknown to other cultures.
• Anything that focuses on cultural or age clashes, written in an original way.
• Outstanding contemporaries that really bring something cool to the genre. There’s a hunger for great contemporaries out there. Good contemporaries are never too much. So I definitely want to see great contemporary MG, YA and adult fiction.
• Romance that is truly original and brings something very unique to the table. I particularly love contemporary romance, romantic comedy, chick lit (yeah, I said it) and general fiction with strong romantic elements.
• Literary fiction with a commercial appeal and a really strong voice (if it’s sarcastic or bitter, even better). Like Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists and Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You.
• Historicals that deal with important issues and transcend genres. I’m very picky about historicals. Really.
• Anything that could be turned into a movie and starred by Robert Downey Jr.
• Women’s Fiction that brings something new to the table. Like Jennifer Weiner or Emily Giffin.
• Suspense / thrillers with an original “villain”. Somehow it seems to be always the Russian, the Chinese, the Middle Eastern or the Colombians, always the medical industry, the terrorists, the Wall Street guys or the drug dealers. Yeah, I know, I’m eliminating all normal possible villains. What can I say? I’m really all for originality.
• Memoirs with a great, fun voice, like Jen Lancaster’s Bitter is the New Black, or with a multicultural theme and strong difficulties, like Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father and Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel.
• Voice, voice, voice. A great voice is everything.

My list will be posted tomorrow! I've got you YA writers covered! YAY!