I just finished tweeting out congratulations to the 2021 #RevPit finalists. I was not one of them. Another contest entered, nails bitten while I waited for the results, and another disappointment.
Or was it?
First off, you might be wondering what #RevPit is. If you know and/or are already part of this particular Twitter community, please skip to the next paragraph. #RevPit is a Twitter competition hosted by Revise Resub (www.reviseresub.com) where developmental editors volunteer two months of their time to do a complete developmental edit of a novel and query for a unagented author. Think this is generous? You’re right – it is. And the competition is fierce for these lovely people’s time and attention.
In 2020, I entered #RevPit for the first time. I chose my two editors and an alternate, was online the minute the contest window opened, hit submit, and tried not to hyperventilate. Then…crickets. No requests, nothing. I’ll admit, I had a hard time tweeting congratulations last year. Especially since the novel I entered, my love child and first novel ever completed, wasn’t getting any love from agents either and by the end of April, I’d decided to shelve it (for now.)
This year, I entered with a shiny new novel that had been critiqued and beta read and I was happy with the query. Again, the minute the contest opened, I was online and ready to upload my masterpiece. It’s a good thing I didn’t wait – this contest has gotten amazingly popular and several editors capped out in the first twenty minutes (each editor is capped at 100 submissions. So if you plan to enter next year – take heed and do it early).
A few days after entering, I got a request! Okay, not a request for the full manuscript, but my top editor pick asked for the synopsis. But still – I had a chance! Then…nothing. That didn’t mean I was out of the running but not being asked for a full MS had me doubting my future standing as a finalist. And I was right – I didn’t win. But this year, I’m honestly really happy for those who did. What’s the difference? Well, for one, I’ll get feedback on why I didn’t make it to the winner’s circle. Although I pretty much already know why. Because in addition to having fun playing #revpitgames since March with an awesome writing community, I also found two new critique partners (CPs) who reached out to me on Twitter. One of my new CPs pointed out that although she’s thoroughly enjoying the novel, it doesn’t match the query. And…sigh…she’s right.
The query I delivered, while it’s a good query (if I say so myself), really doesn’t deliver the promised novel. So, back to the drawing board. But that’s a good thing because I haven’t queried the novel to any agents yet. Who knows, maybe that’s not the feedback I’ll get back. If not, then I have something else to look at and be able to improve. Let’s face it, feedback is valuable and something to be appreciated.
So, next steps? I’ll wait for my chosen editor to get back to me with feedback and my CP to finish reading the entire novel (while I do the same for her) and go back to work fixing the query so it accurately represents the novel. Just as soon as I do something nice for myself as a pick me up.
Ann Dudzinski 