The submission window is OPEN FROM 9:00 AM TODAY until May 18 at noon EDT. There is no cap on entries.
If you don't receive email confirmation within an hour of submitting your entry, check spam, and then contact us via Twitter and let us know. Kontestants will be revealed on May 25, and the tournament will kick off on June 1. If selected, please notify us if you receive an offer from an agent during the kontest.
IMPORTANT: The Query Kombat team reserves the right to disqualify any entrant at any time for any reason. If an entrant is disqualified before the agent round, an alternate will take its place. If an entrant is disqualified after the agent round, the opposing entry will automatically advance to the next round. The only time we will ever disqualify an applicant is if you say or do something to blemish the spirit of query contests. Query Kombat is supposed to be fun…
So none of this!
In order to enter the contest you MUST follow formatting guidelines, and submit during the contest window. All entries that follow said guidelines will be considered.
The Query Kombat Tournament is open only to unagented writers seeking representation. Your manuscript must be complete, polished, and ready to submit. If your manuscript has been in the agent round of another major contest within the last four months, you are not eligible to participate in Query Kombat. Please don’t try to sneak in. The QK team includes about a hundred industry professionals, and a few hundreds of spectators. Someone will notice and inform us. If you're unsure if a contest qualifies as major, contact us through Twitter before submission.
Submissions for MG, YA, NA, and Adult works will be accepted (Sorry, we aren't accepting Picture books or Chapter Books this year). Only one entry per person. Do not attempt to submit more than one entry by using different email accounts. Again, the QK family is huge. Someone will notice.
In the event that we receive more than the available 64 spots (this is highly expected), Michelle, Mike, and Kara will savagely attack the slush pile in attempts to build the best team. We will pick (and announce) three alternates in case a submission is disqualified.
Entries should be sent to: QueryKombat (at) gmail (dot) com.
Formatting Guidelines:
Font: Times New Roman (or an equivalent), 12pt font, single-spaced with spaces between each paragraph. No (I repeat: NO!) indentations.
Subject line of the Email: A short, unique nickname for your entry [colon] your genre (audience included). Do not skip this step or your entry will be deleted. (ex. I Fell in Love with a Ken Doll: Adult Erotica). Nicknames should be 25 characters or less. Make it as unique as possible so there are no duplicates. These will be the names used in the tournament, so keep it PG-13 and make it relate to your story.
In the body of the email (with examples):
Name: Michael Anthony
Email address: myboyfriendwasbittenbyashark (at) gmail (dot) com.
Twitter Handle: @BarbforSenate36 Title: Eunuchs and Politics
Entry Nickname: I Fell in Love with a Ken Doll
Word count: 68K
Genre: Adult Erotica (Note Ownvoices here if applicable)
Query:
Barbara B. Doll seemed like a woman who had it all, from the perfect body to her own dream house, McDonald's, and a variety of vehicles. She even managed to become a U.S. Senator and go to the moon! However, something seemed missing. She didn't have any idea what it was until she met Ken.
Ken Dahl is funny, good-looking, and may have ties to the Illuminati. Barbara is immediately drawn to his shiny, perfect hair and teeth. When he offers to teach her surfing, they hit it off instantly. Everything seems to be going perfectly until Barbara discovers Ken has no genitalia. She must search within herself to determine whether love can overcome plastic, non-removable underwear.
EUNUCHS AND POLITICS is adult erotica, complete at 68,000 words.
First 250: Words, words, words. 250 of them, in fact.
Don't include the chapter title and please, don't stop in the middle of a middle of a sentence. If the 250th word puts you in the middle of a sentence, you may go up to 258 to finish that sentence. Do not abuse this rule. Both Pages and Google Docs will return incorrect word counts if you have hyphens, em-dashes, and ellipses. Microsoft Word counts correctly.
Please use this site to give you an accurate word count if you are concerned about your standard word counter: https://wordcounter.net/. If you must, count by hand. A properly hyphenated word is one word. Words separated by an em-dash or ellipse are two words. Do not include a bio or comp title in the query.
All entries submitted are FINAL. We will not edit them in any way, shape, or form. Please read, reread, and rereread your submission before you hit send. Competition will be fierce.
Best of luck in the tournament!
TWITTER PARTY!
Contests need to be fun. To help keep you from worrying as the hosts read through the emails, we're having a party! These are the daily topics, but feel free to start your own as well.
May 16th Tweet your category and genre. Ask questions about genre if you’re unsure where your manuscript fits.
May 17th Nerves and jitters can be calmed by sharing with others. All day long tweet out what your entry Nickname is and why you chose it.
May 18th Last Day of submissions! Judges get fun secret names. Entrants get to create nicknames. Your poor hosts are left out. Create nicknames for Kara, Michael and Michelle! (Keep it clean. We blush easily.) And tweet your favorite comp title.
May 19th Tweet your main character’s name and a special tidbit about them. See what sorts of names are popular and if anyone else shares MC’s names with you.
May 20th Tweet what your writing weakness. Everyone should know their weaknesses. For example, I tend to avoid adding conflict. Have to make myself threaten my characters. We won't hold weakness against you because we all have them.
May 21st Let's talk books. Reading in your genre is important. What are you reading now and what's your favorite book?
May 22nd Tweet something about how you write. Do you use music or prefer silence? Morning or late at night? We celebrate our differences.
May 23rd Tweet us your villain’s name and something evil about them.
May 24th If you’re looking for some beta readers or CP, now is the time to tweet about it. Also Tweet us your favorite line from your novel. If you read any you like, favorite it. Have any favorite lines from a novel that’s not yours? Tweet those too!
May 25th The big reveal day. Tweet your thanks to the agents, editors, and judges of Query Kombat 2016. They’re dedicating a lot of time to help out. The least we can do is take a day to celebrate them! (We'll be running around like crazy gerbils getting everything ready.)
Don't hesitate to start your own topics on #QueryKombat! Get inventive, but keep it fun and friendly.
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