The Keys to Query Letters that Work
Updated: 07/15/2010
By Daniel Manus
The query letter is often a writer's first impression - an all-too-important introduction of one's writing ability and personality to an executive or representative. And much like when trying to get a first date, the point of a query letter is to entice whomever is reading it, to want more.
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MovieBytes News 
CineStory Announces Grand Prize Winner
April Rouveyrol has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 CineStory Screenwriting Competition for her script, American Child.
Script Pipeline Announces Grand Prize Winners
The four Grand Prize Winners of the Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition have been announced.
Flagstaff Fest Announces Top 5
The Flagstaff Film Festival has announced their top five screenplay selections. Winners will be announced will at the Festival awards ceremony on August 15, 2010.
AAA Announces Feature and TV Semifinalists
Creative Screenwriting Magazine has announced their 2010 AAA semifinalists.
CSN Announces Semifinalists
The Chicago Screenwriters Network has the announced the semifinalists of their 2nd Annual Screenwriting Competition.
Divebomber Radio Announces Contest Winner
Patricia Fox's Anatomy of a Town has been named the winner of the 2010 Divebomber Radio Screenwriting Competition.
Scriptapalooza Announces Quarterfinalists
Scriptapalooza has announced their quarterfinalists for 2010.
A few tips for contest entrants (and not just my contest)
by Cameron Counts, Founder of the Writing Initiative
AVOID TYPOS: sounds pretty simple, eh? Proof-read then have someone ELSE proof-read
too. But it never fails, close to 75% of the scripts I get have silly typos. Plus, watch out for
things that spellcheck won't catch. There, their, they're. Were, where, we're. Then, than.
Your, you're.
StoryBoard TV Announces Contest Winner
Storyboard TV, an online community of scriptwriters, television producers, and TV enthusiasts, has announced the $5,000 winner of its inaugural competition for best pilot for a television drama: The Reservoir, by Eddy Vallante and Dylan Allen.
Page Announces Quarterfinalists
Page has announced their contest quarterfinalists for 2010.
BlueCat Announces Semifinalists
The BlueCat Screenwriting Competition has announced their semifinalists for 2010.
AceFest Announces 2010 Great American Screenplay Contest Results
Janyce Lapore's 10 Minutes From Paradise has been named the winner of the 2010 Great American Screenplay Contest.
CineStory Announces Contest Finalists
CineStory has announced their 2010 Contest Finalists.
WriteMovies.com Announces Contest Winners
Andreas Resch's FRUCHT DER ERKENNTNIS has been named the winner of the 24th WriteMovies.com Screenwriting Competition.
ScriptVamp Announces June, 2010 Dream Quest Attention Grabber Results
Brett Fowler's Corpus has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the June 2010 Dream Quest: Attention Grabber Competition.
Writers Place Announces Contest Winners
The Writers Place has announced the winners of their November 2009 - April 2010 screenplay contest.
Silver Competition Announces Top 50
The Silver Screenwriting Competition has announced their top 50 scripts from among more than 1,000 entries. The 20 semi-finalists will be announced on August 1st.
The-GreenLight.com Announces May Contest Winner
Steven Arvanites' Beaner Jumping has been named the winner of the May, 2010 The-GreenLight.com Monthly Screenwriting Competition.
Script Pipeline Announces Contest Finalists
Script Pipeline has announced their contest finalists: top 20 for screenwriting, top 10 for TV. The Grand Prize winners will be announced on July 25th at their awards party at Writers Boot Camp in Santa Monica.
Script Savvy Announces May Contest Results
Script Savvy has announced the winners from among 169 entries to their May, 2010 Screenwriting Competition.
MoviePoet Announces May Winners
MoviePoet.com has announced the winners of their May 2010 short script competition.
American Screenwriting Competition Announces 2010 Quarterfinalists
Flat Shoe Entertainment and Hollywood Scriptwriter Magazine have announced the quarterfinalists for 2010 American Screenwriting Competition, representing the top 5% of scripts entered.
Screeenplay Search Announces Semifinalists
Semifinalists have been announced for the Screenplay Search Screenwriting Competition in each of seven categories (January - June 2010 round). Finalists and winners will be announced on July 31, 2010.
CSN Announces 2010 Quarterfinalists
The Chicago Sreenwriters Network has announced their 2010 quarterfinalists.
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Contest Deadline Alert
Champion Screenwriting Competition
(March 26, 2010 (early bird); May 15, 2010 (regular); July 30, 2010 (late) )
MARZA Story Circus Competition
(July 30th, 2010)
Slamdance Film Festival Screenplay Competition
(April 9, 2010 (early); June 11, 2010 (final); July 30, 2010 (WithoutABox Extended). )
Get Initiative - The Writing Initiative's Screenwriting Contest
(July 31, 2010)
Yosemite Film Festival
(July 31, 2010)
ScriptVamp's Dream Quest: Short Screenplay Contest
(March 30, 2010 (early); June 30, 2010 (regular); July 31, 2010 (late) )
Downbeach Film Festival Screenplay Competition
(April 1, 2010 (early); July 1, 2010 (regular); August 1, 2010 (late))
Great Gay Screenplay Contest
(May 1, 2010 (early); June 15, 2010 (regular); August 1, 2010 (final))
SFWP Screenwriting Awards Program
(August 1st, 2010)
Filmshift Festival
(February 8, 2010 (early); June 1, 2010 (regular); August 2, 2010 (late) )
La Jolla Film Festival
(December 15, 2009 (early); April 15, 2010 (regular); July 15, 2010 (late); August 10, 2010 (extended) )
Screamfest Horror Film Festival and Screenplay Competition
(Early: June 15, 2010; Regular: July 15, 2010; Final: August 15, 2010.)
Philadelphia Screenplay Festival
(February 2, 2010 (early); May 31, 2010 (regular); Extended to August 15, 2010)
Going Green Film Festival Screenplay Competition
(May 31, 2010 (early); June 30,2010 (regular); August 15, 2010 (final).)
Dixie Film Festival Screenplay Competition
(July 14th, 2010 (early); July 28th, 2010 (regular); August 4th, 2010 (late); August 16th, 2010 (Withoutabox extended).)
Screenwriting Expo Screenplay Competition
(June 30, 2010 (early); July 31, 2010 (regular); August 24, 2010 (midnight oil) )
Nevada Film Office Screenwriters Competition
(August 31, 2010)
One in Ten Screenplay Competition
(September 1, 2010)
Gotham Screen
(August 15th, 2010 (early); August 31st, 2010 (regular); September 7th, 2010 (extended))
Shiver's Short Horror Screenplay Competition
( Extended to September 11, 2010)
Soggy Mops Production Short Script Contest
(September 15, 2010 (final))
Guy Hanks & Marvin Miller Screenwriting Program
(Must be postmarked between July 15th to September 15th. )
Red Inkworks Screenwriter's Competition
(September 28th, 2010 (firm and final) )
SCRIPTOID Writer's Challenge
(June 30th, 2010 (early bird); August 15, 2010 (general); September 30th, 2010 (late). )
Famfest LA
(March 31st, 2010 (early bird); June 30th, 2010 (regular); September 30th, 2010 (late) )
Zed Fest
(Extended to September 30, 2010)
Scifi Screenwriting Contest
(September 30th 2010)
The-GreenLight.com Annual Script Contest
(May 30th, 2010 (early); July 30th, 2010 (regular); September 30, 2010 (late) )
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New Contests
Flagstaff Film Festival
(May 31, 2010 (late); June 15, 2010 (Withoutabox extended))
Soggy Mops Production Short Script Contest
(September 15, 2010 (final))
All Genres Writing Contest
(August 15, 2010 (early bird); October 1, 2010 (regular); October 15, 2010 (extended). )
Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition
(August 5, 2010 (earlybird); September 15, 2010 (regular); November 1, 2010 (late); December 15, 2010 (final). )
Internet Movie Logline Creator Monthly Logline Contest
(25th of each month.)
