The (MMRA) Make Meredith Read Again contest runs every
January.
The history behind this contest:
In 2008, I suffered a horrible writer’s block that extended
into my reading. I couldn’t
concentrate. This lasted for months. As time marched into the New Year, I decided
that enough was enough. I had to get
back into the reading game. To help me out
I designed a contest on my blog. It was
called “Make Meredith Read Again”.
I requested the first two pages from any writer, published
or unpublished, to be sent to my inbox.
The response to my plea was overwhelming. I ended up recruiting my oldest daughter to
help out with the reading. The point of
the game was that the writer had to make me at least pay attention to their
work till I reached the end of their second
page. Those that accomplished this were
read again. We chose three winning
places as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I also handed out Honorary Awards that year.
Winners for MMRA 2009
First Place: Lauren Whitney
Second Place: Karen Kincy
Third Place: Judy Mammay
Honorary Awards:
Brian Kell
Shana Silver
Leah Clifford
At the end of 2009, I decided to make this a yearly thing. I ran the contest again at the beginning of
January of 2010.
Winners for MMRA 2010
First Place: Lindsay Leggett
I judge with 20 to 1 odds. 2010 only had one winner.
The dates for 2011 contest will be January 6,7,8,9. During those four days, I will be accepting
the first two pages of any writer’s novel at the email address: makemeread (at) gmail (dot) com.
Here are the rules:
In the subject line of your email put MMRA. Inside your email, tell me your name and, if it
places, whether I am allowed to post your entry on my blog. A link to your own blog or website is
great. That way if you do place I can
link to you.
How I judge:
The entries are judged on 20 to 1 odds, meaning that for
every 20 entries I get I will choose 1 winner.
I don’t pick at grammar or punctuation, though having a clean entry does
increase your odds in placing. I judge
on characterization, tension, and intrigue. My daughter is sweet enough to print all entries out for me with neither the name nor the title of the book. This contest is judged solely on the pages in front of me.
I don’t care if your book starts with action or drama. I don’t
care if your book starts with narration or dialogue. All I want is a good story that makes me sink
into it.
The purpose behind this contest:
It’s not to find flaw with any work. It’s to showcase good story tellers and praise
them for a job well done. Writing is difficult,
and that’s putting it mildly. On the
business side, it’s heartbreaking.
There are times we need someone to say, “Great work!” and
mean it. This is what I do with my
contest. You never know where a person
might be on their writing journey. To
place in this contest might be the one thing that keeps them from throwing in
the towel.
To me, part of being a writer means praising other writers
for their outstanding work.
Meredith Wood
