Medium’s NaNoWriMo Synopsis Writing Contest
Enter to win the chance to submit your novel to a literary agent and editor
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Congratulations, ’WriMos!
You’ve reached the end—the end of a month of writing in the morning before work, after the kids have been put to bed, on coffee breaks, and in all of your spare time; of calculating the number of words you’ve managed to write each day; of feeling elation at being hit by flashes of inspiration or, conversely, despair by none at all; of wrestling with your plot and characters, cursing or celebrating them.
You’ve been so focused on making the Nov. 30 deadline that you haven’t allowed yourself to read your draft and think about editing your work. You’re not sure you’d let anyone else see it at this point, either.
But at some point — when you revise, or when people ask what you’ve been working on all month, or if you’re thinking of querying literary agents — you’ll have to describe your novel. And summarizing your work in a succinct and compelling manner is one of the hardest things to do.
Medium is pleased to announce the NaNoWriMo Synopsis Writing Contest: Write 500 words that describe your novel in a way that both encapsulates its essence and makes other people want to read it. Use Medium’s draft feature to share your unpublished synopsis with collaborators who can offer valuable feedback.
How it works:
One you’ve revised your synopsis to your satisfaction, submit it to Medium’s National Novel Writing Month collection by doing the following:
- Publish your synopsis on Medium.
- Send an email to nanowrimo@medium.com. Please include a link to your published synopsis and to your NaNoWriMo profile page on NaNoWriMo.org, and your Medium username.
You must be a NaNoWriMo “winner”—i.e., have completed 50,000 words by November 30, 2014 as reflected on your NaNoWriMo.org profile page—to enter the contest.
After we have reviewed your synopsis, we will add you as a writer to the NaNoWriMo collection. You will need to submit your story to the collection to participate in the contest. The submission period will end at 11:59 p.m. PST on December 12.
Then: Go get Recommends! Tweet your story using #nanowrimo, post it on Facebook, and email your story to all your friends.
The three synopses with the most Recommends at 11:59 p.m. PST on December 19 will be read by a panel of industry judges:
- Amelia Atlas, literary agent, ICM
- Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author
- Kate Lee, senior editor, Medium
- Timothy O’Connell, editor, Vintage and Anchor Books
The judges will select one winner, who will be invited to submit his or her novel to Amelia and Timothy.
As always, if you have any questions, email yourfriends@medium.com.
Good luck!
