OMG! I came runner up in a competition..

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

//www.writersandartists.co.uk/2010/11/you-have-50-words-to-sell-me-your-novel/#more-8859And the publishers have sent me a message on twitter saying that my book 'sounds intriguing I must say!' Should I erm...send it to them

[fidelma]

Yes Fantastic

[hobbgoblin]

Yeeeeeeeeees! Well done.

[TmiEdward]

Well done Belle!
I won a joint 2nd place in a writing contest with a bit of my smutty fiction.
It's a wonderful feeling to know someone enjoyed reading your words, isn't it?

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

It's great I'm not sure if the 'intriguing' means 'can we see it' though??

[hobbgoblin]

Well, you could check out whether it was polite encouragement after not scooping top prize (doubt it!) by asking if they'd be interested in reading more, you;d be delighted to send, blah blah

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

They normally won't accept anything unless it's been sent by an agent, which I don't have. Would it be wrong to send it to an agent and state that they have said they want to see it???

[hobbgoblin]

Belle, you have nothing to lose but maybe phrase the last suggestion carefully!

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

I'll have a think. It's really not easy to break into this.

Thank you

[ninah]

Bloody great! i would do
a) send to publisher, with a note saying how pleased you were to be runner up of x and you hoped they kindly look over the rest
or b) sub to agents, runner up of x and descibed by y as intruiging
personally I'd have a go at a, nothing to lose. I'd do it today.

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

Thank you They said this on Twitter; 'Well done!!! It sounds intriguing I must say!'I'm not sure it's the normal banter though to be honest and doesn't mean anything. I've ordered some books on how to self edit so I'll make it look good before I send it off. I had an agent ask me to re-send it in the new year as they are full at the moment, she gave me the name of the right person to send it to aswell. This was after seeing just a few paragraphs and a synopsis. I've sent it off to a small publisher already and am waiting to hear back from her, I'm not sure when people will start hearing from penguin aswell. It's eggciting!!

How are things with you?

[jonicomelately]

Belle, I've been following your writing career and I have to say you really deserve this. Well done.

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

Thank you, that's a really lovely thing to say. Still a long, long way to go.

[Novelist]

Congrats! You really can't be backwards about coming forwards in this game, so I would tweet back (or email is better if you have an email addie) and ask if you can submit. You don't always need to have an agent, even if a publisher says you need to in order to submit -- there are all kinds of times editors open up to submissions, such as at writers' conferences, during competitions etc.. Any contact you can get is very helpful. As long as you're polite and professional and don't hassle, editors won't mind a simple, 'Would I be able to submit, please?' at all.

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

I have their email

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

I emailed and have asked. Wish me luck!

[ninah]

ooh good luck belle keep us posted!

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

I'm not expecting a reply. I did get the book though. Who knows hey! At least I tried.

How are you?

[ninah]

All OK here, under stampede of real life stuff that had piled up duing nano ... about to pass draft of first half of ms to my brilliant aunt for her views so hopefully as to avoid pitfalls last one got into
you emailed them to ask if you could submit, you mean? good for you, they should reply one way or t'other

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

I really do hope it goes well for you

I emailed this:

Dear (lovely lady)

I apologise for this as I am unsure if it is the correct etiquette to ask. After replying to your email I received a tweet from [your lovely company] which said the following:

'Well done!!! It sounds intriguing I must say!'

This is the first competition that I have entered any of my work in and, being a new writer, I am unsure as to whether this means 'please send it to us so we can read it.' I would be more then happy to send the manuscript to you if this is the case but I thought it best to check whether it is appropriate in fear that I will commit some cardinal sin that will end my career before it's begun.

I would really appreciate it if you could clarify this for me as I am scratching my head a little.

Yours

In hindesight, I'm not 100% sure it was a good idea. I thought it best to check though.

[DisparateHousewife]

I think that's fine. Well done!