The First 150 Words, called the opening, often determine the fate of your story. It is how much of your submission that is usually read by agents, editors, and publishers before they decide whether or not to continue reading and evaluating your novel, short story, or essay. This is understandable given the size of the "slush" piles of submissions from aspiring, unknown writers that they have to sift through. You may have just written the greatest story in human history, but if your first 150 words fail to interest an editor, it may not get published and humanity will have lost out.
DullPencil has a unique process of soliciting and choosing submissions for publication in our anthology series that highlights the importance of the first 150 words, and we invite the YA reader/writer community to participate in this process:
1) Signup – it's free! (Privacy Policy: Very simple. We'll never share your email address with anyone. And you'll only receive emails from us to verify your account when you first signup, to let you know when someone has commented on your 150-Words, and weekly notifications if there were any new submissions during that week.)
2) Submit the first 150 words of your story (short fiction, novel excerpt, essay). Don't worry about submitting late in a cycle. It usually takes only a week or two for your 150-Words to register most of the votes it is likely to receive. Your submission will also remain in contention for subsequent cycles as long as you leave it posted. You can submit as many as you'd like. You own and keep the copyrights to the works you submit.
3) Read other writer’s submissions, comment on their work, and click on the "Publish This!" icon at the end of the opening if you enjoyed it. You can vote for as many openings as you like.
4) Log back often to track how your submissions are doing, to read other writers’ and readers’ thoughts on your work, and to read/comment/vote on new submissions.
5) You can edit your 150 words at any time and as often as you wish, based on the feedback you receive, to strengthen your opening and to attract more votes - your votes won't disappear when you edit.
6) That’s it!
This is how we'll select submissions for publication in our anthology and how our schools will benefit:
1) On June 30 of every year, starting in 2013, we will review the vote counts as of 9 pm PST, and will notify the authors of the Top 25 voted submissions of their selection.
2) The authors of the Top 25 voted first 150 words will be invited to submit their short fiction, novel excerpt, or essay in full form (no more than 5,000 words per story).
3) A donation of $50 will be made for each full submission received from among the Top 25 voted, to the middle or high school of the author's choice (if the author is a middle or high school student, the donation will be made to the author's school) - unless instructed otherwise, the authors will be identified to the receiving schools. Authors also have the choice of donating to Room to Read, an incredible charity devoted to building libraries and schools, and other educational causes in the neediest parts of the Third World.
4) DullPencil editors will then thoroughly read and evaluate all of the full submissions, and will select 15 stories for publication in the anthology.
5) An additional donation of $100 will be made for each selected full submission to the author's chosen school (author's school of attendance, if the author is a student) or Room to Read.
6) The book will be in print and e-book forms that anyone can purchase, and 100% of the profits from the book will be donated to Room to Read.
And the benefits don't stop there. Mainstream publishers will now be much more interested in you because you're a published writer with a proven appeal to those most important to them: serious YA readers who buy books, just like the ones who voted for you. Even if you're not selected for publication in the anthology, posting your first 150 words here will provide you with valuable feedback directly from your target audience which you can then use to hone your opening.
* There must be at least 50 qualifying posts in contention. Otherwise, there will be no publication for that period. However, all submissions will continue to qualify for voting and remain in contention for the next period. DullPencil reserves the right to withdraw from publication any previously selected submissions for any reason, or to not even publish the anthology in any given year.
DullPencil has a unique process of soliciting and choosing submissions for publication in our anthology series that highlights the importance of the first 150 words, and we invite the YA reader/writer community to participate in this process:
1) Signup – it's free! (Privacy Policy: Very simple. We'll never share your email address with anyone. And you'll only receive emails from us to verify your account when you first signup, to let you know when someone has commented on your 150-Words, and weekly notifications if there were any new submissions during that week.)
2) Submit the first 150 words of your story (short fiction, novel excerpt, essay). Don't worry about submitting late in a cycle. It usually takes only a week or two for your 150-Words to register most of the votes it is likely to receive. Your submission will also remain in contention for subsequent cycles as long as you leave it posted. You can submit as many as you'd like. You own and keep the copyrights to the works you submit.
3) Read other writer’s submissions, comment on their work, and click on the "Publish This!" icon at the end of the opening if you enjoyed it. You can vote for as many openings as you like.
4) Log back often to track how your submissions are doing, to read other writers’ and readers’ thoughts on your work, and to read/comment/vote on new submissions.
5) You can edit your 150 words at any time and as often as you wish, based on the feedback you receive, to strengthen your opening and to attract more votes - your votes won't disappear when you edit.
6) That’s it!
This is how we'll select submissions for publication in our anthology and how our schools will benefit:
1) On June 30 of every year, starting in 2013, we will review the vote counts as of 9 pm PST, and will notify the authors of the Top 25 voted submissions of their selection.
2) The authors of the Top 25 voted first 150 words will be invited to submit their short fiction, novel excerpt, or essay in full form (no more than 5,000 words per story).
3) A donation of $50 will be made for each full submission received from among the Top 25 voted, to the middle or high school of the author's choice (if the author is a middle or high school student, the donation will be made to the author's school) - unless instructed otherwise, the authors will be identified to the receiving schools. Authors also have the choice of donating to Room to Read, an incredible charity devoted to building libraries and schools, and other educational causes in the neediest parts of the Third World.
4) DullPencil editors will then thoroughly read and evaluate all of the full submissions, and will select 15 stories for publication in the anthology.
5) An additional donation of $100 will be made for each selected full submission to the author's chosen school (author's school of attendance, if the author is a student) or Room to Read.
6) The book will be in print and e-book forms that anyone can purchase, and 100% of the profits from the book will be donated to Room to Read.
And the benefits don't stop there. Mainstream publishers will now be much more interested in you because you're a published writer with a proven appeal to those most important to them: serious YA readers who buy books, just like the ones who voted for you. Even if you're not selected for publication in the anthology, posting your first 150 words here will provide you with valuable feedback directly from your target audience which you can then use to hone your opening.
* There must be at least 50 qualifying posts in contention. Otherwise, there will be no publication for that period. However, all submissions will continue to qualify for voting and remain in contention for the next period. DullPencil reserves the right to withdraw from publication any previously selected submissions for any reason, or to not even publish the anthology in any given year.