Tag Archives: Authors

Writing Retreat in Venice, Italy

Writing Retreat in Venice, Italy!

The Pink Panged writing retreat in Venice is for women only during June 11-15, 2017. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next novel, this might be the spot. The retreat is filled with adventure, culture, art, shopping, restaurants, and history. During Pink Panged writing retreat in Venice authors will:

  • Express themselves through the written word
  • Experience Venice’s age-old beauty
  • Immerse themselves in Italian culture
  • Participate in Pink Pangea’s interactive workshops
  • Connect with participants from all over the world
  • Feel emotionally refreshed and physically rejuvenated

If you’re wanting to visit this scenic place and write your novel, hurry because seats are filling fast! And enjoy your writing vacation.

P. D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Pitch Wars Webinar with Michele Rubin of Cornerstones US

PitchWars-LogoWEBINARS

The Pitch Wars Webinar will be on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 from 8:30pm-9:30pm EST. The speaker will be the Managing Editor at Cornerstones US, Michele Rubin. She previously had been a Senior Executive Literary Agent with Writer’s House for almost 25 years where she represented everything across the board before joining the literary consultancy team at Cornerstones. Join this webinar and ask Michele all of your burning industry questions—no topic is off limits!

While the cost is free, there is a limited seat of 50. However, if you can’t make the event, the webinar will be prerecorded for access afterwards.

About Michele Rubin . . .

MicheleRubin-140x180Twitter | Cornerstones US | Cornerstones UK

Michele Rubin was a literary agent at Writers House for 25 years, leaving agenting in 2013 to work full-time as a freelance editor, writer, ghostwriter, and conductor of writing workshops. Her areas of expertise and interest are broad; she is open to all genres. Michele is a Cornerstones industry editor.

As for myself, I’m thrilled to say she is my editor at Cornerstones US and I can’t wait to get her feedback! Now, go forth and learn a lot!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Inklings Literary Agency Critique Giveaway

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Inklings Literary Agency interns are giving away a critique of a query plus first 250 words to FIVE lucky winners! Each winning author will get at least 3 critiques, which means 3 points of view on their work from folks who love books and who’ve worked alongside agents for months. Many of these interns are published authors themselves!

For complete details and the Rafflecopter entry, visit Inklings’ PR Manager CM McCoy. She has all the important deets!

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Writers of Today, It Matters

Lately, I’ve found typo after typo on MSN news snippets from stories plucked from places like The Associated Press, or other reputable news feeds. While my eyes are freshly rolling, I thought I’d revisit a post I made a few years ago.

***Writers of Today, It Matters***

An education doesn’t always mean a writer can capture your attention. Even those with years of experience might leave you to hunger for something more profound. Or the pen artists with a natural ability for prose can fall short of fulfilling a story. Nothing guarantees a writer’s success.

Nothing.

But the internet has empowered people to become writers regardless of education, experience, or natural ability. They type across blog pages, or self-publish a novel, and pray someone will fall in love with their words. Unknown people become journalists and authors overnight. And this is Fab-tastical! (Even for making up words.)

So what’s the problem? The lack of planning, researching, and editing before publishing. No matter who you are…read the rest .

The Daily Mail and Penguin Random House Crime-Writing Competition Closing

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Have you written a crime novel? Do you live in the UK or the Republic of Ireland? Then this contest is for you. The Daily Mail and Penguin Random House competition to search for a new crime-writing talent ends May 5, 2017.  So you’d better hurry! Here’s the deets. The winner of the First Novel Competition will receive a £20,000 advance and publishing contract with Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, and the services of literary agent Luigi Bonomi. Now that’s something to talk about people!

Entrants are invited to submit the first 5000 words of their novel along with a 600 word synopsis.  The submissions must be in the crime and thriller genre and entrants must not have had a novel published before. And let me reiterate, submissions must be postmarked by May 5, 2017. For guidelines and submission address, go here.
As always, good luck!
P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Children’s and Teens Fiction/Non-Fiction #DVPit Hosted by Lit Agent Beth Phelan

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The search for diversity within books has increased, not just with secondary characters but main characters. The world wants to see a fabulous palette of colors and cultures among the stories they read and the publishing industry is responding! This prompted literary agent Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency to create DVpit.

According to the site, #DVpit is a twitter event created to showcase pitches about and by marginalized voices. This includes (but is not limited to): Native peoples and people of color; people living and/or born/raised in underrepresented cultures and countries; disabled persons; people with illness; people on marginalized ends of the socioeconomic, cultural and/or religious spectrum; people identifying as LGBTQIA+; and more.

The next event will spread over two days. April 25th will be for Children’s & Teen Fiction/Nonfiction (picture books, chapter books, graphic novel, middle grade, young adult). April 26th will be for Adult Fiction/Nonfiction (all genres, commercial and literary). Each day the event will run from 8am-8pm ET using the hashtag #DVpit. Be sure and pitch your manuscript on the correct day because agents/editors will search the feed on the specific day of the categories they represent/acquire.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Curtis Brown and Conville & Walsh’s #PitchCB on #Twitter

This Friday (April 21st) will be the #PitchCB twitter event hosted by Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency and Conville & Walsh. These events are held on the fourth Friday of most months (so you can catch the next event if you miss this one), hosted by Jess Whitlum-Cooper and Richard Pike of Curtis Brown

In order to submit, prepare a 140 character pitch including #PitchCB hashtag for your completed manuscript. The window will be open for 24 hours and remember to only pitch once! If your pitch is “liked”, submit directly to that agent following the agencies’ submission guidelines.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Last Day for Query or First Page Workshop via Brenda Drake

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Brenda Drake and her team have put together to have a free query or first page critique workshop to help authors prep for PitchWars! During May, June, and July, Pitch Wars mentors will be helping writers shine up their query or first page. They will be posted after being critiqued on the blog, so only enter if you’re willing to have everyone see it.

They have 80 query spots and 80 first page spots. Whoa, that’s a lot! But only you’re only allowed to choose one and enter your information.

This is for all genres in the middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult categories of fiction. Your manuscript does not have to be complete to enter. Winners will be announced April 17th and will receive an email, so be ready to submit your sample for critique immediately. But today is the last day to enter, so hurry to get a chance to shine that query or first page!

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

#TeenPit Submissions Open Today!

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This is a reminder that #TeenPit submissions open today at 8am EDT. The event is hosted by K. Hopkins. The main objective is to select a teen writer for a guaranteed slot in PitchWars (hosted by Brenda Drake) later this summer. Teens who wish to enter #TeenPit must be high school-aged students (grades 10-12). The mentors are only accepting middle grade and young adult manuscripts (absolutely no adult stories, sorry).

For complete details, go here. As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA Fiction.

The Bent Agency Adult Fiction Intern

The Bent Agency

The Bent Agency is looking for an adult fiction intern. This is a great way to learn more about an agent’s work and decision-making process. Past interns have been writers for adults, adult librarians, elementary school teachers, MFA students, and passionate readers. This is an unpaid internship which will require a ten hour per week commitment and you do NOT have to live in New York.

They’re looking for someone who enjoys books by authors such as:

– Erin Morgenstern
– Tana French
– Eleanor Brown
– Jacqueline Sheehan
– Jodi Picoult
– Gillian Flynn
– Lori Roy
– Laurie Notaro
– Celia Rivenbark
– Elin Hilderbrand
– Kristin Hannah
– Jeannette Walls
– Kate Atkinson

They’ve had this posted for two days, so don’t delay if you’re interested. The candidates pile up super fast and the submission window could close soon. For complete details, go here. As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.