Some fast & furious updates: contests and conferences

 Sometime ago, I promised an update on the Writer's League of Texas manuscript contest. It's finally arrived! The contest is open now through July 10. This means winners will not be able to meet in-person with a literary agent during the WLT's 2026 Agents & Editors Conference June 26-28. More on this later.

First, though, this Saturday, April 4 is a chance to meet -- free! -- agent Sandy Lu of Book Wyrm Literary Agency. And, for writers in North Central Texas, without hours long travel.

Sandy Lu is the guest speaker at the Dallas Mystery Writers meeting, 10:15 a.m. to noon, at Olive Garden, 4240 Belt Line (at Midway) in Addison, Texas. OK, I said free, but there is a $10 fee (cash only, please bring small bills) for non-members for the program and drinks-only attendees. The fee is reduced to $5 (again, cash only) for non-members staying for lunch. The program is followed by pay-your-own lunch, or just stay and break breadsticks with fellow writers.

As far as I can tell, Lu will not be available for book pitches at the meeting but see her site or contact james@gaskin.com for additional information. 

***

Image: wikimedia commons

Back to the WLT manuscript contest. It's open for unpublished manuscripts by writers in or out of Texas, in a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres. The winner in each category will meet virtually with a top literary agent (and the final judge in their category) via Zoom. All entrants who opt for a critique, whether winners or not, will receive feedback on their submissions from an experienced editor. 

All 2026 winners and finalists will be featured in the fourth edition of the WLT Inklist, a catalog of short pitches shared with literary agents and book editors in Fall 2026.

Manuscript entry fees are $65 for WLT members/$85 for nonmembers (which includes a written critique. Fees for contestants who opt out of written critiques are $25 for WLT members, $35 for nonmembers.

Contestants may enter as many categories as they like, with up to four entries per category. Each entry requires separate payment and entry form.

Winners and finalists will be notified by mid-October 2026. Any submissions that include a critique will receive their written feedback by mid-September 2026. After winners and finalists are notified, all other submissions will receive emails of the judging results.

Again, refer to the site for additional details, formatting rules, categories, etc.

Also, see the WLT site for information about its Agents & Editors Conference in Austin, Texas, including a list of featured agents and editors. Registration: $549 for WLT members, $599 for nonmembers. Pitch/consultation sessions with literary agents and editors available for purchase as space allows. 

***

Also coming up later this year is the DFW Writers Conference, October 3-4, at the Hurst Convention Center, Hurst, Texas. Registration through September 20 is $449 for both days. Registration includes one complimentary session with a literary agent or editor. See the site for additional information and list of agents/editors so far!

Beat DFWcon's gong: the query gong, that is

For years, I've posted results of one of the most-anticipated events of the annual DFW Writers Conference: the Query Gong Show. And done the post-mortems as one after another, writers of literary query letters heard their efforts go down to defeat.

Last year, I did a review version--reviewing what not to put in a query. So, here goes again. Read this and, I hope, you will not weep.

For those who have never read this blog, and/or never been to a DFW Writers Conference, here are the Gong Show basics. Writers submit their anonymous query letters to a panel of agents and editors. These in turn, strike table-top gongs to signal the point at which they would stop reading if they received such a query in their own emails.

Right now, some readers are wondering, what the heck is a query letter?

In the literary sense, it's a business-like introduction from a writer to an agent asking if the agent is interested in representing the writer's work.

 The basic format includes:

• brief description of why the writer chose to contact the agents ("your website. . . ", "you represent my favorite writer. . . ", etc.)
• the book's title 
• genre
• manuscript word count
• the story's "hook" (attention grabbing sentence)
• brief summary (not including the ending, spoilers, etc.)
• author's credentials, if any

The entire letter typically occupies no more than one page, approximately 300 words in single-spaced, 12 point(ish) sized type. This format is for works of fiction. Querying for nonfiction works is beyond the scope of this post.

Now, back to the Gong Show basics.

Writers can be gonged once, even twice, by any panel member without stopping the reading of their letter. But three strikes and they're out!

What makes agents hit those dreaded gongs?

Some items stand out repeatedly. One is word count. Writers should have some clues about industry standards for their genre, especially for debut authors. At the first Gong Show, multiple simultaneous gongs sounded for a query which boasted 135,000 words. Luckily, the queries are anonymous. No one dashed from the room in tears.

Over time, writers have grown cannier about the word count issue. However, last year I was startled to hear agents carping about a 70,000-word entry for middle grade readers. "Middle grade" is a publishing term for readers aged approximately 9-12: those old enough to read independently.

Novels aimed at adult readers can easily hover around 80,000 words--higher for science fiction and fantasy works. Even classic middle grade novels such as the original Harry Potter clock in over 75,000.

How far out of bounds was a book of 70,000 words?

Ask a dozen agents, authors, and internet sites and you'll get two dozen answers. Writer's Digest cited 20-55K for middled grade, again, slightly higher for science fiction and fantasy.

WD also stated that middle grade word counts have been trending upward. Agents at the 2024 DFW said otherwise. That the opposite, in fact, is the case. I won't detail the reasons for this drop but be aware if you're writing for younger audiences.

Another, even more common reason for agents to hit the gongs has shown little improvement over the years: taking too long to get to what one agent called "the beating heart of the story."

This is the "brief summary" mentioned earlier. It's not a synopsis. If the agent wants a synopsis with the query letter, they'll ask for it. Check their or their agency's websites for specifics.

The brief summary typically will extend for no more than two paragraphs. It should include:

• main character
• character's desire/goal
• who or what stands in the way of achieving that goal (antagonist)
• consequences of reaching the goal--or not (the stakes)

Although this list sounds generic, agents still asked writers to let their own voices shine through. Just not in multiple paragraphs.

I probably should mention that though the query itself is in the writer's first person, the summary should be in third person to avoid confusion about who's talking!

Less frequently mentioned but significant dislikes from agents were queries that failed to follow through on the expected tropes of their genre or leaned on generic descriptions. 

Also, use of trendy, cliched, or overblown language; opening with unlikeable characters, gross-out language, or depressingly sad situations; assuring the agent that the story is "intriguing" or "a good fit" for them (they like to decide that for themselves); querying for sequels or a book series (although some agents are OK with mentions that a book is a stand-alone with sequel/series potential); misspelling the agent's name (really!); and failure to exercise sensitivity about issues such as gender/ethnic stereotypes, disabilities, and racial language.

And while getting the agent's name right, consider checking the Ms./Mr. honorifics. These can be tricky, especially if the agent/editor hasn't indicated what they prefer, or if they're nonbinary individuals. Best advice, simply use "first name + last name" as indicated on the individual's or agency's website.

Image: Wikimedia

After last year's Gong Show, a writer unable to attend asked plaintively, "what do agents like?"

The specifics of what a particular agent likes are beyond the Gong Show's ability to answer. The first steps are checking the agent's website and Manuscript Wish List, if available.

Additional sources of information include:

• Query Tracker, with lists of agents and links to their websites and other published information. The basic version is free, or pony up $25 annually for more info.
• Publishers Marketplace, listing deals (sales) by the agent, their market performance, and more. $25/month or $10 for "Quick Pass" with more limited features. There's also a free Publishers Lunch version.
• Your favorite authors. The acknowledgment sections of their books often list and thank their agents.

And although I haven't heard it addressed at the Gong Show, an issue agents at conferences often mention is that of comparative (comp) titles. These are books in your or similar genres, usually published with the past two to three years, with similarities to your manuscript.

That's not similarities of plot. As one agent said, if it's the same plot as something already published, why would I want it? Instead, the similarities can be in tone, setting or point of view. They also need to be books which have significant readership. This information gives agents an idea of where your book should be shelved in a bookshop, which in turn helps them pitch it to publishing house editors.

For readership information, check Amazon and Goodreads both free.

Finally remember all Gong Show queries are anonymous and not addressed to specific agents. Use the information from them to revise and send to appropriate agents. They probably won't even remember hearing the first version at the Gong Show! 

Looking ahead to fall: a contest & a conference

I was ready to post about the annual DFW Writers Conference, October 4-5, when a related post hit my inbox: a contest for a scholarship to the conference.

First, because the scholarship contest deadline is September 1, here's the lowdown about it.

The scholarship is from Dallas Mystery Writers, in memory of LaRee Bryant, a founding member of the group. The scholarship's winner will receive paid-in-full registration for the 2025 DFW Conference, valued at $500, to be awarded at the September 6 meeting of the DMW.

Now for the contest rules:

• No entry fee!
• Open to all fiction genres
• Contestants must be on the Dallas Mystery Writers mailing list. There's no for joining the list. See the site and click on the link "James" -- that's James Gaskin, the group's tech coordinator. Or email him directly at james@gaskin.com
• Contestants cannot have had fiction traditionally or self-published within the last five years. This applies to both short and long-form fiction works.
• Contestants must submit a 1000-1500-word writing sample, along with a bio of not more than 300 words, to include their writing goals.
• Entries must be submitted electronically as Word (docx.) documents, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, in 12-point Times New Roman font.
• Email entries to sandysteenwrites.@gmail.com  

All entries will be judged by the DMW Board of Directors. The deadline, again, is September 1.

LaRee Bryant was involved for more than 34 years with Dallas Mystery Writers. She was also a chapter administrator for both the Harvard Club of Dallas and the Harvard Business School Club of Dallas. See the DMW site for additional information and/or to contribute to the Harvard Clubs GoFundMe campaign to renovate LaRee's homestead.

Now, for some asides.

I'm not eligible to participate in the contest, due to recent short fiction publications. However, I hope my previous experience with this group may be helpful. 

A few years ago, I and several members submitted writing samples for evaluation by the DMW board. My sample was written in present tense. One of the board members insisted--loudly--that she couldn't even read anything written in present tense. Another simply wrote "Present tense. Ick," on my pages. The matter generated a protracted discussion in the group about how many of them detested anything written in present tense.

It's possible the prejudice about tense no longer exists. But you have now been warned. If the winner turns out to be someone who sent an entry in present tense, I'd love to hear from you!

I'm also not sure how the scholarship winner's registration to the DFW Writers Conference will be dealt with if the person had previously registered. That's probably a question to put to the conference organizers themselves.

Image: Pixabay 

So, now to the DFW Conference information.

The conference is a program of the nonprofit DFW Writers Workshop. It will be held at the Hurst, Texas, Conference Center, 1615 Campus Dr. As of this writing, the adjoining Hurst Garden Inn Dallas still has rooms available at conference rates.

 

Regular conference registration for both October 4-5 is $449 through September 21. Regular one-day registration for either day is also available through September 21 for $250. Late registration from September 22-October 2 is $499 (two-day) or $299 (one day only).

Registration includes attendance at craft and business workshops with industry professionals, one complimentary pith/consultation session with a literary agent or editor (with additional pitch sessions available for purchase), lunch with keynote speakers, and more. 

See the site for additional information and a list of agents and editors who have committed. 

The conference also hosts a pre-con workshop, "Finding Your Voice," taught by award-winning, multiply-anthologized author Ari Tiso, a member of the Bribri tribe of Costa Rica.

The pre-conference workshop is October 3, from 12:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. Attendance is $50 for conference attendees, $100 for non-attendees. See the site for additional information and registration.

DFWCon Query Gong Show: early morning edition

 Another great DFWCon literary conference in the books, with lots of classes and panels. But probably what readers are awaiting most anxiously are the results of the conference's famous -- maybe infamous -- Query Gong Show. 

For those unfamiliar with the conference this is a riff on the 1970's TV talent show in which contestants performed until judges stopped them by striking gongs. DFWCon's version with anonymous entries is less brutal.

The rules: writers submit their anonymous literary queries to a panel of agents and editors who strike table-top gongs to signal the point at which they would stop reading if receiving one of these queries in their own emails. Writers can get gonged once, even twice, without stopping the reading by DFW's mellifluously voiced George Goldthwaite. But three strikes and they're out!

The query contest has typically been the final day's afternoon event of the conference. This year, it was moved to first thing in the morning. Perhaps organizers hoped panelists would be less alert to query faults before they were adequately caffeinated.

If so, that hope was vain. Of the 10 queries read this past weekend, none survived the final gong.

Possibly because they read these posts, writers avoided some stumbling blocks from prior years. Queries for gazillion-word books were rare (or at least, less outrageous). Most writers seemed aware of their books' genre. In hopes of preventing still more literary tears, here are the most-frequent issues that doomed 2023's query hopefuls.

First -- the panelists. These were five agents, and one acquisitions editor: Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong of The Purcell Agency, T.S. Ferguson of Azantian Literary Agency, Lynnette Novak of The Seymour Agency, Jacqui Lipton of Tobias Literary Agency, Sara J. Henry of Crooked Lane Books, and Eloy Bleifuss of Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

By far the most gongs rang because the query took too long to get to what Lipton described as "the beating heart of the story."

"What's it about?" Henry asked about a similar query. "It just kept going."

Image by Prawny for Pixabay

Writers are understandably eager to get as many words as possible before an agent.

 But as Hedrick-Armstrong noted, she once received 1,000 queries in three days after accidentally opening, even though she posted no notification of accepting queries.

 Even if none of these exceeded the 300-word maximum I once heard a writing coach describe, reading them all would be the equivalent of getting halfway through War and Peace (described as nearly 600,000 words, although that may depend on the translation).

For literary queries, be short to be kind. Bleifuss suggested using no more than two short paragraphs to describe that "heart of the book."

This should include what Hedrick-Armstrong noted as the five essentials (also available at her Manuscript Wish List site):

1. Who is the main character?
2. What does the main character want?
3. What or who is standing in the main character's way of getting what they want?
4. What must the main character overcome to get what they want? 
5. What are the consequences of reaching that goal? What might they gain or lose?

Somewhat similar to these "stakes of the story" issues were failure to mention the story's genre and word count in queries. (Agents differed -- some wanted this information upfront; others were content to see it nearer the end.)

Excessive length was such a major sticking point, some agents said they would have kept reading despite additional issues, if only the query had told them what they needed to know more quickly. Among the tips, despite sheer wordiness, agents noted, "don't start with setting," "cut out filler words," and "no flowery language."

Issues gonged less frequently included:

• Querying for sequels or series of books. "Don't write the sequel if the first book doesn't sell well," Novak cautioned. (Most panelists were OK if an author mentioned that a first book was a stand-alone "with sequel/series potential.)
• Excessively high word counts for the genre, although agents varied. However, in debut novels, word counts outside of norms may indicate problems with pacing, Lipton said.
• Stories that seemed too familiar/stale/tropey. "Try to find a fresh perspective," Bleifuss urged.
• Objectification of female characters. 

Although panelists realized Gong Show entrants had no way of knowing who they would be addressing, the salutation "Dear Agent" hit sore spots from agents who've received similarly addressed queries too many times.

When addressing agents/editors, please use their names. And get them right.

Ferguson bemoaned the number of times he's been addressed as "T.J." (He's properly T.S. Ferguson.) And "don't call me Mr.," Henry said.

In fact, honorifics are tricky, especially if an agent/editor has not specifically indicated which they prefer, or if they are nonbinary individuals. Better to use simply "first name + last name" as indicated on the individual's or agency's website.

Again, all queries were anonymous. So, here's to revamping and sending to appropriate agents. (They probably won't even remember seeing the first version after doing their half-W&P worth of subsequent query readings.)

Every cover tells a story – world’s worst cover art & more

Because we really do judge books by their covers, author Russell C. Connor’s “Cover to Cover” workshop at this year's DFW Writers Conference  – make that, show and tell for indie published-authors promised to reveal “the worst book cover . . . in the world!” But fear not, he learned better. Maybe a million times better.

“One million – that’s the number of books published in a year in the U.S. More than half are self-published. Four – that the number of books the average person reads in a year. You have to be sure your book is one of those four!

“How to do that? I don’t know. But I can tell you from experience what doesn’t work, and that’s a bad book cover!”

Connor admittedly picked a difficult kind of book to sell – horror. But things started to look up when he got an offer from a small publisher. “They gave me two covers to choose from.” 

The one on the left in the illustration for today’s post was his choice. Although the less awful of the two offered by the publisher, he still hated it. 

“It took me a long time to realize why I disliked it: it doesn’t tell a story.” 

(The illustration on the right represents his own attempt at cover art after regaining rights from the original publisher. Better, but see his page at amazon.com for the final, knock it out of the ballpark version.)

World's worst cover -- but improving

However, he learned the ropes of publishing from his small press experience and decided to try it on his own. Which mean starting totally fresh with cover art – from talking a friend into designing covers (and inadvertently choosing “the most overused font in the world”), he talked his boss at his day job into letting him take classes in Photoshop and End Design and took a shot at cover design on his own. (Something he now says authors should never do.)

He kept his publishing business afloat by producing books for other authors, but several self-published books into his career, he finally decided to hire a professional artist. It increased his publishing costs by 400 percent, “but, it started to get interest.”

He also continued to refine the font he used. At last with a sympathetic cover artist, he has persuaded increasing numbers of readers to give his words a look, garnering awards as readers’ favorites and from the Independent Book Publishers Association. 

“Take those covers really seriously!” 

***

It didn’t feel like a good day to pitch a novel to agent Kristin Nelson. An unforeseen family obligation had already forced me to miss the first half of her two-day master class, “Write the Perfect Query Letter for Your Novel” at this year's DFW Writers Conference. More unforeseen circumstances, this time at the conference’s end moved my pitch session from mid-morning to early morning. And after carefully plotting the route from my house to the conference venue in a neighboring city, I found the highway closed for construction.

Kristen recognized flustration when she saw it and coached me through the pitch. “You’ve got the character, the setting, the goal,” she said. Then, before I could beam, she asked, “but what are the stakes?”

Stakes. The terrible stuff that will happen if the character doesn’t achieve her goal. If she can’t find a way through the unexpected construction in time to make her appointed meeting with a literary agent. Or fails to impress said agent because leaving out a story’s stakes is like getting dolled-up for a red-carpet event but forgetting your shoes.

And no, it’s not obvious to an agent – or readers – that the character will die a painful death if she fails in her goal. As far as they know, Ms. Character will say, “stakes, shmakes,” saunter over to the hotel restaurant and happily chow down an order of blueberry pancakes. 

This time, though, Kristen gave me her card and asked for the first 30 pages of my manuscript. Which I silently vowed not to send until I had thoroughly revised my query. And attended the second half of Kristen’s master class on query letters that afternoon. 

Helpfully, she did a quick recap. Her preferred format (but check individual agents for their preference) is for a subject line that includes QUERY: Title; an opening paragraph on how you know/know about her; the genre and word count and the pitch. 

As Kristen read a random dozen or so sample queries – written after the previous day’s workshop – it was a relief (or not) to hear that some of my mistakes had been repeated. 

“Get to your inciting incident quick! Your real estate is expensive, so don’t waste it.” And of course, “What is at stake? Make it personal.”

As with all writing, Kristen advocates reading the query letter aloud. She needs for the story to show up in the query (major plot elements only – her recommendation is nine sentences at most). 

“Don’t get so enthralled with the fabulousness of your world that you (miss) the story.”

Given that she gets 100-200 queries daily, “if I can’t figure out where the story is going, it’ll get a pass.”

***

Malaga Baldi opened her workshop on “How to Land a Literary Agent” with the disclaimer that as a New Yorker being depressed is her default mode. Lucky for her, her sidekick was the irrepressible North Texas writer A. Lee Martinez, who if he is ever depressed at least hides it behind hilarity. 

“For me, the query letter is very important. I probably get one really wonderful query letter maybe every 11 months that makes me want to stop everything and ask for the manuscript,” Baldi said. Before audience members could faint, she added, “I get other queries that I respond to.”

In fact, despite being “really important, “the query is only 10 percent of the total. . . most important is writing a really good manuscript, clean, lean and mean! Workshop it. But if your mother says it’s great, forget it!”

What’s less important to her? Titles. Do you want to see the book’s title, an audience member asked.

“Yes. It has an immediate impact but prepare not to be wedded to it. And if you don’t have a title in mind, that will work out. If I sell it, the title will change for marketing anyway.”

How about length, another audience member asked. “When I mention 200,000 words, I hear deafening silence. Is that a death knell?”

“Not necessarily,” Baldi said. “I sold a 300,000-word novel for a person who was able to cut 40,000 (words). It only sold for $2,000, but it won a best book award.”

What does she really look for in a query? “Voice. The voice that makes me empathize, that really speaks to me. (Also) enough foreshadowing in your letter to provoke me.”

Wordcraft – It’s your world and welcome to it!

You know how sometimes you hear the same thing so many times you tune it out, and then somebody says it a different way and wow! it’s brand new? That’s how I felt at last weekend’s ArmadilloCon writers workshop in Austin about the world building discussion. Hadn’t I memorized the Five P’s of World Building (people, places, problems, practices and peculiarities) espoused by Jaye Wells ,(author of the Prospero’s World and Sabina Kane paranormal series), among others?

Was there anything new, I wondered, that the ArmadilloCon workshop leaders could say about world building? And then they did.

The keys to world building are to choose emotionally-charged, telling details that convey information to readers without burying them under a pile of information and to display those details through the characters’ interactions with their world

“Find the right details that will show something that you may not think of,” said Amanda Downum, particularly sensory details – texture, taste and scent. And, added Joe McKinney, author of the Dead World series, “those details have to come organically through your character.”

And as with any information, the best way to reveal details is through our characters’ interactions. “It’s the characters’ impact on the world and the world’s impact on the characters that world building happens without your readers knowing it,” said Patrice Sarath.

An example McKinney particularly likes is the tea ceremony in the City of Stairs series by Robert Jackson Bennett, in which a character’s enactment of the ceremony not only allows the writer to describe it, but to have the ceremony become an integral element of the plot.

That kind of integration requires writers to have a grasp of the world their characters will inhabit before starting to write. “Sometimes people get excited about a plot and start writing before the world is fully formed in their heads,” cautioned writing instructor Urania Fung . Right, Sarath agreed. “Don’t retrofit your characters’ actions to fit something in your world later. In romances, this is called ‘too stupid to live’. Readers will understand when you’re playing them false.”

Is this starting to sound very, very complicated? Maybe you’re saying, hey, I write contemporary fiction set in the here and now, so do I really need to build a world? Isn’t it already there for my readers?

Panelists said, yes. Even when dealing with a real city, it may not be one readers are familiar with. And consider that even the town you live effectively contains multiple worlds, such as those within Austin, Texas. Is the story set in the rapidly gentrifying version of Austin or the funky music and arts version – or a myriad of others?

And don’t discount the limits of that world, whether mostly real or wholly imagined.

“Think about constraints,” Sarath said, including economic constraints – yes, even in fantasy and science fiction. “When you tighten the screws on everything, interesting things happen. When you take away freedom, you have an interesting plot.”

And finally, leave room for the readers’ imaginations as well, because their participation is integral to a story.

Well, almost finally, because there’s still a lot of brick and mortar help out there, including those “Five P’s” of paranormal fiction writer Jaye Wells, which I discussed at “Jaye Wells on building a world all your own” on this site.

(Next Tuesday, Wordcraft continues tales from ArmadilloCon: now that you’ve written a book, how do you get anyone to care?)