Will Trade Pride for Votes...

So today is the day you probably feared – somewhere deep inside – would come as a result of reading my blog.  I know and I’m sorry.  Sigh. It pains me too.

I’m about to ask you for a favor.

The good news is I’m not asking you for money or to buy anything (although if anyone is interested in Yankee Candle’s or Boy Scout Popcorn, we have tons of fundraisers going on in this house).

Cue adorable kitten drowning in sand to garner votes...

No, instead I need a vote from you in a contest. Harlequin Romance is holding their “So You Think You Can Write” Contest (yes, I cringe a little at the title). It’s a writing competition for unpublished novelists. Over 600 writers have submitted the first chapter of their books, in all the 19 different romance lines Harlequin publishes – from sweet & Christian (like mine) to the more Fabio-inspired. 

Harlequin is asking the general public to help them narrow it down to the best 25, by voting once per day for their favorite from Oct 2-11. The top 25 (actually 28; 25 by popular vote, three “wildcard” picks by editors) will submit their full novels. From there, the editors will narrow it down to three and then the public will again vote.

Anybody who makes it into the top28 is guaranteed to have their full manuscript read by an editor and feedback provided by the middle of November.  As someone who has had a query into Harlequin since March and has yet to hear a word of feedback, I have come to truly appreciate the opportunity to have feedback in such a short turnaround.

So, I need your help this week in form of your vote. You can either read all 600+ entries and judge for yourself or just trust that mine will be your favorite and vote for me without reading the others. :-)

Vote for my chapter every day from October 2-11. You only get one vote per day, but you can vote from every computer, ipad, smart phone, dumb phone  or anything else that has an Internet browser in your house, office, school, shed, neighbor’s house…whatever.  You don’t have to sign up or give any personal information to vote.

Click here to vote for Janie's chapter: Unbreak My Heart

Oh yeah, you can even read my chapter if you want to. :-)