Tag Archives: Brenda Drake

#PitMad TWITTER PITCH PARTY 3/11/15

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Tomorrow is another fantastic pitch event hosted by Brenda Drake for your completed and polished manuscript. You will need a 140 character pitch that includes the #PitMad hashtag. But create several varied pitches so Twitter doesn’t think you’re spam. Also, if you can squeeze in the category and age group, it will be a plus. Such as:

  • #YA=Young adult
  • #MG=Middle Grade
  • #A=Adult (I don’t suggest spelling adult out unless you want a bunch of porn spam!)
  • #NA=New Adult
  • #F=Fantasy
  • #PR=Paranormal Romance
  • #R=Romance
  • #SF=Sci-Fi

If you work during #Pitmad, you can always use TweetDeck or Hootesuite to schedule your tweets so you won’t miss out on the opportunity. Of course, you will go bonkers trying to find a moment to peak at the twitter feed, but you’re on your own with that one.

There are more hints you can find on Brenda’s website. And don’t forget, although there are legitimate agents that have committed to stopping by, any one can troll the feed. So, DO YOUR RESEARCH before sending your manuscript or signing a contract.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

PITCH MADNESS: SORRY EDITION 2015

Contests, , , , , , ,

Don’t forget that tomorrow (February 20th) is PITCH MADNESS hosted by the fabulous contest guru Brenda Drake. This fabulous contest is for writers, of course, and the submission window will be open for 72 hours.

PitchMadnessSorryEdition

You need to have a completed and polished manuscript to enter (MG, YA, NA, & A fiction, there won’t be any non-fiction this year). The required elements are a 35 word pitch and the first 250 words of your manuscript. A team of readers will choose 60 top entries for agents to play a game of Sorry to try and win their favorites. The agent round will be March 3-4, 2015. If you want to see the list of participating agents, go here.

As always, good luck and happy writing!

P.D.Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

#PITMAD, hosted by @Brenda Drake

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Don’t forget the quarterly pitch event with Brenda Drake is coming up this Thursday, December 4, 2014 on twitter under the hashtag #PitMad. If you are new to the game of writing, this is where you create a 140 character pitch for your FINISHED manuscript and tweet for agents to read. Things to remember:

  • Pitch submission time is 8am-8pm EDT (New York time)
  • You must fit the hashtag of #Pitmad within the 140 characters.
  • Include the category and genre in the 140 characters.
  • Change tweets up. (Twitter will remove identical ones thinking they are spam.)
  • DON’T FAVORITE TWEETS! This is for agents only. (If you want to support a friend, do it by retweeting.)
  • If you won’t be available this day, schedule tweets using Tweetdeck.
  • Only tweet once per thirty minutes so you don’t hog congest the feed.
  • Don’t tweet agents and editors directly unless they tweet you first.
  • Scammers can’t be controlled on an open pitch party. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you submit from a favorite.

For additional tips, go to Brenda’s Drakes Pitmad page. As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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Thanksgiving is a designated time to remember what we are thankful for in life. For many, it’s having our health to spend time with family and friends while gorging on amazing meals until our stomach feels like it will explode. But there are others who might be joyful they survived a fatal illness to be here celebrating with people they love. Or maybe, there are those thrilled to still have a job, maybe paid a mortgage off, or even happy because they got that iPhone they’ve always wanted.

As for me, I’d like to thank:

  • My family and friends who’ve supported me with my writing.
  • My readers. (Because without y’all, I’d have no reason to have a blog!)
  • All my critique partners, beta readers, and anyone who has ever glanced at a few pitches/pages/chapters and offered feedback (The list is SUPER long and I LOVE you guys!).
  • Contest hosts for supplying fabulous opportunities with agents and mentoring, and for selecting me at some point in the past for one thing or another. (For example: Brenda Drake, Authoress, and Jessa Russo.)
  • Slush readers. (I know your eyes cross and we don’t send enough chocolate!)
  • The creator’s of Preditors & Editors, Writer’s Beware  and Absolute Write Forums. (Trust me when I say they’ll save you from agent and publishing scams.)
  • All the Amazing author’s who’ve allowed me to interview them this year!
  • And finally (but not last), to God for giving me the strength to get through each day. (For numerous reasons, but especially my health.)

I’m sure there are many things and other people I may have forgotten, and ask forgiveness if I have. Everyone in my physical and virtual life are very important to me. Y’all give me strength to become the best me. And yes, you complete me! (Go ahead, grab a tissue.)

Whatever your reason for being thankful today, I wish you the Happiest of Thanksgivings!

XOXO

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA Fiction

Pitch Contest with Entangled Publishing, hosted by Brenda Drake

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The Queen of Contests, Brenda Drake, is hosting a pitch event with Entangled Publishing on November 10, 2014. If you write romance, or have romantic undertones in your novel, this pitch event might be for you.

To enter, you’ll need a 100-word pitch (max) and the first 100 words of your manuscript. You will also need to research which line your MS falls under and know what the editors are looking for.

Single-title Imprints

Category Romance Imprints

Brenda breaks these lines down and offers a link to the editors likes here. The event will be live on Brenda’s blog, so be sure you’re following her! You’ve only got a few more days to polish those pitches.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

 

PITCH WARS: MEET THE AGENTS

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In case you’re wondering, PITCH WARS is a super cool contest hosted by the fabulous Brenda Drake. And, of course, it’s a writing contest. What else would I post? And what’s seriously special about this contest is writers will be selected for mentoring. That’s right, winners will get help polishing their ENTIRE manuscript to get it ready for the agent round.

Girls wanna have fun

Today Brenda posted the awesome lineup of agents that will be participating from agencies such as The Bent Agency, Dystel & Goderich, Sarah Jane Freymann, Park Literary, Writers House, Andrea Brown Literary, and—and more! So go check them out here.

The submission window is fast approaching…August 18th, 2014 to be exact. Get your fingers flying on those keyboards and finish that novel to submit. I know you can do it!

Good luck and happy writing!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

 

PITCH WARS CONTEST IS APPROACHING

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This is not an event where writers sit around a table spitting saliva all over each other fighting for a chance to get the attention of the agent they strapped to the center, all while spewing their loglines. Oh no, this is much safer…and dryer. I promise.

Girls wanna have fun

(Photo used with permission.)

 

This is a wonderful contest hosted by the contest queen herself, Brenda Drake. What’s great about this particular contest is the winning entrants get mentored by either an agented (and published) author or a professional editor. These are people who’ve been in the trenches and/or worked in the writing industry long enough to offer priceless feedback. And further, they will critique the winner’s entire manuscript. That’s right…THE WHOLE ENCHILADA.

And after months of the winners pulling their hair out making all requested edits, they will be rewarded with an agent round. It begins November 4, 2014. What does that mean? The participating agents will begin requesting their favorite entries to read from pitches posted to the blog. This years agents haven’t been revealed yet, but you can go here to see the agents from the previous Pitch Wars.

You must have a polished manuscript to enter the contest, but no worries because submissions start August 18, 2014. But know, this date will fall upon you before you realize. So, get to crackin’, er tappin’!

And don’t forget, check out the mentors for this year here and be sure to follow Brenda’s blog for updates on the contest.

As always, good luck and happy writing.

 

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