The MWA New York Chapter Mentor Program

Here is one of the great benefits of membership in the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter.  If you live in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or West Virginia and are a member of MWA you can get help and support from one of our published authors.  Follow the advice below.  If you are not a member, you may want to consider joining--for lots of reasons, but his one benefit has motivated a number of our members to join.  I have never heard from anyone who regretted it.

Annamaria Alfieri

The 2013-2014 MWA-NY Mentor Program committee invites members of the New York Chapter of MWA, unpublished and published, to submit their work for critique by an active member of the chapter.

For a new low fee of twenty dollars, you may submit the first fifty pages of a completed novel, the first fifty pages of a novel in progress, the first fifty pages of a screenplay or TV script, or one or two short stories totaling fifty pages or less. A slightly shorter or longer submission is fine if a scene or chapter ends a few pages before or after the fifty page limit. A synopsis of 500 words or less (needed to help us match you to a mentor) is required for novels. The synopsis should describe the whole plot for completed novels and what you know of the plot so far for works in progress. If you are submitting short stories, include a paragraph describing each. Only crime-related submissions will be accepted.

As in past years, completed novels submitted will be ranked by the mentors as to publication readiness and the committee will select up to two of the highest ranked to be read by established literary agent.

Please read and follow the submission requirements very carefully or your submission will be rejected.

1. All submissions MUST BE electronic submissions. DO NOT SNAIL MAIL.

2. Only WORD documents in .doc format will be accepted (no docx or pdf or anything else). 

3. The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2013.

4. The fifty pages of the manuscript/short story/screenplay/script and the synopsis/paragraph must be double-spaced with one-inch margins all around. Use either a Times New Roman or 12-point Courier font. Include your name, the title and the page number at the top of each page.

5. Package the fifty pages followed by the synopsis/paragraph in the same single WORD file with your last name as the file name. Example, Maiorisi.doc.

6. Attach the Word document to an e-mail addressed to mentors@mwa-ny.org. Include in the body of the e-mail: your full name, phone number, and e-mail address, another copy of your synopsis and an indication of your subgenre. (Choose from the following – cozy, traditional, hardboiled, thriller, suspense, romantic suspense, noir, police procedural – and use more than one to characterize your work if necessary).  Short stories, screenplays and scripts do not require a subgenre.

7. Send, by snail mail postmarked no later than November 1, 2013, the enclosed application/release form with both parts completed and a check for $25 payable to MWA-NY.  DO NOT SEND YOUR MANUSCRIPT.

                If you want to join in say so here.  I will get the mail in information to you.

Critiques will be e-mailed to you in mid-February. The 2013-14 Mentor Program will close with a panel discussion in February. 2014. Topic and location will be announced later.

One final note. The active members of the chapter who serve as mentors do so without payment. Their only commitment is to critique the work in writing. This program does not involve face-to-face discussion or an ongoing relationship between mentor and mentee, unless initiated by the mentor.

Refer to the chapter website for additional information about the program and e-mail Mentors@mwa-ny.org or debpines@aol.com if you still have questions. The e-mail subject should be Mentor Program.

The Mentor Program Committee looks forward to receiving your submission.

  Deborah Pines, Chair
  Catherine Maiorisi
  Ken Isaacson
  Persia Walker
  Shizuka Otake
  Kate Lincoln

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MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA
New York Chapter
2013-2014 MENTOR PROGRAM APPLICATION

NAME:______________________________________________________

PHONE NUMBER:_____________________________________________

ADDRESS:___________________________________________________

E-MAIL ADDRESS:_____________________________________________

MWA MEMBERSHIP NUMBER:___________________________________

TYPE OF MEMBER (circle one):    ACTIVE           AFFILIATE         ASSOCIATE

SUBMITTING (Circle one):   NOVEL    NOVEL IN PROGRESS       SHORT STORY

TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT:________________________________________

SUBGENRE: __________________________________________________________

RELEASE

I acknowledge that I have requested a mentor from the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America to review my manuscript entitled____________________________________________
and provide editorial and publishing advice regarding the manuscript. In connection therewith, I hereby release Mystery Writers of America, its employees, agents, and representatives, and the reviewer from all claims, suits, and damages related to or arising from this review and the advice provided, including but not limited to any claim of copyright infringement or use of intellectual property.

            SIGNATURE OF AUTHOR:__________________________________________

            PRINT NAME OF AUTHOR:________________________________________

            DATE:___________________________________________________________


REMEMBER: DO NOT SEND YOUR MANUSCRIPT WITH THIS RELEASE FORM. MANUSCRIPTS MUST BE SENT ELECTRONICALLY, AS DESCRIBED IN THE ACCOMPANYING E-MAIL. THE RELEASE FORM MUST BE SENT BY REGULAR MAIL