The contest results are in!

WINNER

You guys made it tough, but I chose Jessica Guerrasio‘s Web site/blog entry—YA writer Natalie Whipple‘s blog—as the contest winner for a few reasons:

• I’m not sure if Jessica intended this or not, but Whipple writes YA—and being that I too write YA, this blog seems a good fit for me.  It felt to me like Jessica tailored her pick to something appropriate for me specifically, and even if it just happened to be a coincidence, I appreciate its relevance to my own writing.

• Whipple is repped by Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Ltd., which pretty much makes me completely jealous of her.  While she is unpubbed, she represents what I hope to be the next step in my writing career, and I think I can learn a lot from her.  I believe the story is that she entered one of his blog contests and snagged him that way, so I need to learn all I can from her!

• The post Jessica chose is interesting and informative, which were really the only requirements.  In it, Whipple discusses her revision process and lists questions she asks herself at every stage.  If the rest of her posts are like that (and, in the poking around I’ve done on her Between Fact and Fiction blog, I’ve found that many are), then I’m a happy girl.

• It wasn’t a site or blog I’ve ever seen or visited.  Some of the entries I got were Web sites I already use, and while you wouldn’t have known that for most of them, a few entries I got were for sites I have linked right on my blogroll.

So, congrats, Jessica!  If you can e-mail me an addy where I can send your 2010 copy of Guide to Literary Agents, I’ll get that in the mail for you.

As well, I decided to institute two runner-up awards.

RUNNER UP goes to Marice Kraal because:

• She’s from Australia (that’s not really why, I thought it was cool.)

• The blog post she entered, Andrea Brown literary agent Mary Kole‘s post “What ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Really Means” on Kidlit.com, was a very close second.  Kole does a great job of showing us—not telling us—how to put that phrase every writer’s heard into action.

• As well, like the winning entry, it showed thought went into the decision, as Mary Kole is an agent who seeks YA lit, which, like I said, is what I write.

MOST RETWEETED goes to JRFrong (Muftopmom/Twittahbug) because:

• I already use her entry (Janet Reid‘s blog), but it’s a really great resource.

• Her own blog cracked me up.

• She RT’d my Twitter posts all last week.

Runners up get their choice of a free critique or edit of up to 30 manuscript pages (good at any time).  Please e-mail me to redeem.

Thanks to all who participated, and stay tuned for another contest soon.  I have another fabulous book just dying to be won!