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Old 04-26-2012, 01:28 AM   #76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KalenO View Post
Good luck to those submitting! It'd be amazing if we could look back at this thread in a year's time and see one of you with a Strange Chemistry deal!
One? Let's dream a little bigger, eh? I'm hoping we all get a book deal.
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Old 04-26-2012, 01:38 AM   #77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ladybritches View Post
One? Let's dream a little bigger, eh? I'm hoping we all get a book deal.
Oh right! I umm, I meant it as the 'AW one'. As in you're all the same community....its like the opposite of the 'royal we'....

....I'll stop now.

*hangs head and shuffles out of thread*
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Old 04-26-2012, 01:48 AM   #78
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Originally Posted by KalenO View Post
Oh right! I umm, I meant it as the 'AW one'. As in you're all the same community....its like the opposite of the 'royal we'....

....I'll stop now.

*hangs head and shuffles out of thread*
lol. No need for that. I knew what you meant.
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Old 04-26-2012, 02:15 AM   #79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stiger05 View Post
Thanks, Laura!

So question for anyone: I'm looking at the submission guidelines and it says the first 5 chapters or, if the chapters are very short or very very long, no less than 10k and no more than 15k.

Once I single space everything, I've got a couple of mid-length chapters, and two that are very short. The first 5 chapters are right at 10k. Should I combine chapters to make it longer? Here's a break down of my chapter length, single space:

1. 6.25 pages
2. 5 pages
3. 3.5 pages
4. 2.1 pages
5. 2.5 pages

If I combine chapters, chapter 4 increases to 4.5 pages and chapter 5 increases to 7.5 pages, and not quite 14k words.

I'm not trying to be dishonest. I don't want them to request (in a dream world I mean) and have different chapters from the submission, of course I can always move the chapters around there too (and still might since they're so short).

On the other hand, they said you can include up to 15k words if your chapters are very short, and I consider 2.5 pages to be pretty short.

What are your thoughts? Combine or leave it alone?
I think you are making yourself too crazy Don't focus on page number but on word count. I don't recall the site saying you can include up to 15k words if the chapters are short. It just says no less than 10k, no more than 15k. For me, that leaves me either a chapter short or in the middle of chapter 5. Haven't decided what I'm going to do yet, but I'm not going to stress it. If they love what they get enough to request more than in the end it doesn't really matter

ETA: GOOD LUCK!!!
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Old 04-26-2012, 02:23 AM   #80
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I thought about this too and ended up combining two chapters to one. But 1) they went together pretty well, It could go either way and 2) I was at 9K before I combined them.


I'd say you could combine them if it makes sense (don't force it) and if it benifits you. If chapter 6 ends at a better place than 5 (and doesn't go ove the 15K) I would probably do it. But your over the 10 they suggest so you by no means need to do anything.
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Old 04-26-2012, 03:22 AM   #81
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stiger05 View Post
Thanks, Laura!

So question for anyone: I'm looking at the submission guidelines and it says the first 5 chapters or, if the chapters are very short or very very long, no less than 10k and no more than 15k.

Once I single space everything, I've got a couple of mid-length chapters, and two that are very short. The first 5 chapters are right at 10k. Should I combine chapters to make it longer? Here's a break down of my chapter length, single space:

1. 6.25 pages
2. 5 pages
3. 3.5 pages
4. 2.1 pages
5. 2.5 pages

If I combine chapters, chapter 4 increases to 4.5 pages and chapter 5 increases to 7.5 pages, and not quite 14k words.

I'm not trying to be dishonest. I don't want them to request (in a dream world I mean) and have different chapters from the submission, of course I can always move the chapters around there too (and still might since they're so short).

On the other hand, they said you can include up to 15k words if your chapters are very short, and I consider 2.5 pages to be pretty short.

What are your thoughts? Combine or leave it alone?
I wouldn't combine. I assume you had chapter breaks where they are for a reason.

If you're just short of 10K, add another chapter. Their guidelines allow for it. If you're over 10K, even by a little, just use the 5 chapters. They're saying that if your chapters are so short that you can't reach 10K with them (or so long that you pass 15K), use the 10-15K guidelines instead.
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Old 04-26-2012, 03:37 AM   #82
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yeah, as above.

i sent 8 chapters.



yup. that's the kinda guy i am. (they totalled 11k, so it's like, cool, n stuff)
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Old 04-26-2012, 08:22 AM   #83
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Thanks guys! I'm trying not to stress out but I totally am. I've waited until closer to the deadline to submit because I knew if I submitted earlier I know I'd find something I needed to fix and wouldn't be able to edit. Yeah, I know it makes no sense, haha.

I was still considering combing chapters anyway, so I'll take another look. And try not to stress. : )
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Old 04-27-2012, 11:19 PM   #84
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I'm fine tuning my MS for submission. Although I think it's pretty much ready for submission I am wondering about continuing to edit it after I submit it. There's *always* more improvements one can make after all! However they are asking for a word count so I am wondering if they ask for the whole thing and it has a slightly different word count if it would matter? Not planning on any significant changes, just some tightening up. Anyone have ideas on this?
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Old 04-27-2012, 11:40 PM   #85
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Just submitted. As if I wasn't apprehensive enough, my heart thumped harder when the "Are you sure?" box popped up.

And now, we wait.
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Old 04-27-2012, 11:52 PM   #86
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Shiva, they aren't looking for exact word count, but nearest 1K. And probably even the nearest 5K is fine with them (which is what I use in queries)
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Old 04-28-2012, 03:26 PM   #87
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Just submitted!
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Old 04-28-2012, 08:48 PM   #88
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I am getting my submission package together right now!

Good luck to everybody.
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Old 04-29-2012, 01:11 AM   #89
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Anyone know how long they took to get back to people last year?

Just curious.
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Old 04-29-2012, 01:50 AM   #90
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What lauralam shared is all we know
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauralam View Post
I subbed March 30, got a request for the full MS in June, found out I was going to editorial in July, had a rewrite request in late November, subbed the new revision in early March, offer 3 weeks later in late March, announced early April. So, all told, it was about a year.

But things might work out very differently with this Open Door. Lee Battersby and Lee Collins heard way before me because they didn't need to do rewrites.
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Old 04-29-2012, 02:24 AM   #91
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Just submitted as well. Good luck to all!
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Old 04-29-2012, 02:27 AM   #92
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Actually they answer this on the site as well.
http://strangechemistrybooks.com/opendoor/

"How long will it be before I hear from you?
You know – we don’t really know. Last year Angry Robot received nearly 1,000 submissions, and it took 9 months to get through them all. As a general rule of thumb, it generally takes us 3 months or more to respond to solicited manuscripts. Yours might take longer. On the other hand, it might be sooner. You will get a response, though. Feel free to drop us a query if you’ve not heard anything after 6 months."
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Old 04-29-2012, 03:06 PM   #93
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I've just submitted my young adult fantasy adventure. It's on sub to agents at the moment, but we all know how long that can take and I didn't want to miss this opportunity!

Best of luck to all those submitting their work!
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Old 04-29-2012, 11:19 PM   #94
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I'm finishing up my synopsis tonight and then sending it off So freaking excited! I'm definitely gonna send the full 15k, might as well give them as much to read as possible.
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Old 04-30-2012, 02:34 PM   #95
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Last day to enter! Any last-minute submissions?
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YA GLBT gaslight fantasy:
Pantomime - February 5/7 2013 - Strange Chemistry Books
Shadowplay - January 2/4 2014 - Strange Chemistry Books

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Old 04-30-2012, 06:06 PM   #96
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Add me (actually my YA alter-ego) to the "Waiting for an answer" line outside the Open Door.

I've been querying agents for a few months and have three fulls still out as well.
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Old 04-30-2012, 10:00 PM   #97
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Just submitted
Just submitted...hopefully my breath will come back soon. :-)

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Old 05-01-2012, 05:04 AM   #98
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Submitting today, super nervous! Complete newbie here!!
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Old 05-01-2012, 08:51 AM   #99
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ms submitted! I'm super duper nervous! Just submitted a novel I've been working on for a little over two years. First one ever submitted so I'll be happy with any feedback I get! I'm really happy I found this forum, many of the threads have been soooo helpful!!
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Old 05-01-2012, 01:33 PM   #100
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Via Amanda's Twitter feed:

Final count for the Open Door is 687. Of those 217 are for AR (epic fantasy) and 470 are for SC.
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Pantomime - February 5/7 2013 - Strange Chemistry Books
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