Yesterday I learned of a competition where fifteen editors volunteer their time to work on a manuscript (or two) with writers who wish to tighten and strengthen their fully-completed MSs.

After those 15-30 MSs are honed and polished, there is an “agent round” where the writers can pitch their now-stronger novels to prearranged literary agents with the hope of “fast-tracking” the otherwise arduous process of doing the editing and pitching in (usually) isolation.

Here’s the catch: It’s capped at 100 entries per editor and then, as I mentioned above, one (maybe two) is picked. That’s an abysmal 1%. And I’m going to take those odds and submit. On Saturday, the entry gates open at 12:00 PM and remain open for 24 hours. As it’s a first-come-first-in-line deal, the best bet is to be ready to hit the “submit” button at high noon.

I can almost hear the “horses to their gates” announcement–with the anticipation of the bell.

And 100-to-1 and 110-to-2 odds sound pretty bleak, right? That’s about the odds of getting published anyhow.

Place your bets: the race is about to begin.