Tag Archives: Manuscript

Pitch Madness – Mario Kart Edition

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Pitch Madness-Mario Kart Edition

It’s time for another Pitch Madness event brought to you by author Brenda Drake. The contest is for completed manuscripts only, so please don’t submit your current WIP. Since this is a blog contest, here is how it works. You’ll submit a 35 word pitch and the first 250 words of you manuscript via email. Hosts and co-hosts will select the 60 finalists to move into the agent round. They’ll accept MG, YA, NA, and adult fiction. (Sorry, no non-fiction allowed.)

The submission window will open at 12:01 AM EST on February 26, 2016 and close at 11:59 PM EST. Participating agents will be announced on Brenda’s blog on February 17th, so watch her site for updates and submission guidelines.

2016 Florida Writing Workshop

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A writing workshop in the sunny state? You betcha! On March 25 (Tampa) and 26 (Fort Lauderdale) the Florida Writing Workshop will take place. This writing events are wonderful opportunities to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the events (100 per each).

This year’s faculty so far includes literary agent Penny Moore (FinePrint Literary); literary agent Lucienne Diver (The Knight Agency); literary agent Marlene Stringer (Stringer Literary Agency); literary agent Kimiko Nakamura (Dee Mura Literary); literary agent Nicole Resciniti (The Seymour Agency); literary agent Saritza Hernandez (Corvisiero Literary); literary agent Greg Aunapu (Salkind Literary); literary agent Kurestin Armada (P.S. Literary); literary agent Cricket Freeman (The August Agency); literary agent Amanda Leuck (Spencerhill Associates); and literary agent Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Literary).

Registration fills up fast, so hurry and book your seat!

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

2016 Houston Writing Workshop

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Houston Writing Workshop

If you’re in the Houston area, this is the event for you. According to The Houston Writing Workshop site, this writing event is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the event (100 total). There are a few seats available, but you must hurry because this Workshop is February 6, 2016. Seats will close fast!

This year’s faculty so far includes literary agent Paul S. Levine (Paul S. Levine Literary); literary agent Patricia Nelson (Marsal Lyon Literary); literary agent Eve Porinchak (Jill Corcoran Literary); literary agent Rachel Brooks (L. Perkins Agency); and literary agent Tricia Skinner (Fuse Literary).

I hope you have a great time and receive awesome feedback!

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

Pass or Pages Contest

Contests, Literary, , , , , , ,

new blog banner4

Operation Awesome is hosting a contest where agents give feedback on whether they’d pass or request pages from the writers first 250 words. And of course, they might ask for your manuscript! Submissions are for adult completed mystery and thrillers only. The window to sub ends today! For the submission form and link to participating agents go here.

As always, good luck!

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

 

#PitMad Is Tomorrow!

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Just a quick post from my mobile (so excuse any typos or wonky layouts). I want to make sure all my readers know Brenda Drake’s #PitMad is tomorrow! So get your 140 character pitch ready. If you won’t be home, you can always use TweetDeck to schedule your tweets.

And most importantly, be aware of the new rules! You are only allowed THREE pitches per manuscript. This is because #PitMad has become so popular that agents are having issues keeping up with the feed and many pitches are getting lost in the flow of abundance.

Also make a note NOT to RT to show support for a friend. (Tag them without RT to let them know.) And always-always remember to NOT favorite another pitch you like. This is for agents and publishers to request material.

For complete rules, go to the #PitMad page on Brenda’s site.

 

Balzer + Bray Submissions for SCBWI Members

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SCBWI logo-scbwi         BalzerandBray

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins with a list made of picture books, middle grade, and young adult. While they normally don’t take unsolicited submissions, they’ve been accepting them from SCBWI members only the past few months. Whether you were aware of this or not, I wanted to make sure everyone knew the deadline is approaching. If you are a member and want to submit, make sure to do so by December 1, 2015. For more information and how to submit, read the interview here.

As always, good luck!

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

#PITMAD, hosted by @BrendaDrake is TOMORROW 9/10/15

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Don’t forget the quarterly pitch event with Brenda Drake is tomorrow Thursday, September 10, 2015 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 hashtag (#YA, #MG, #A, #NA, #PB, and #NF)
  • Include the genre hashtag (Ex: #PR for paranormal romance or #M for mystery)
  • Change tweets up. (Twitter will remove identical ones thinking they are spam.)
  • DON’T FAVORITE TWEETS! This is for agents or editors 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 congest the feed.
  • Don’t tweet agents and editors directly unless they tweet you first, or openly state it’s okay to tweet them direct.
  • Scammers can’t be controlled on an open pitch party. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you submit from a favorite. You can check against Preditors & Editors, Publishers Marketplace, or Absolute Write Forums.

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

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

IT HAS BEGUN: Pitch Wars Mentor Blog Hop

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Woo-hoo! It’s that time of year again when mentors select a mentee to help them rework their entire manuscript for the agent round. This year Pitch Wars (hosted by the fabulous Brenda Drake) has 108 mentors to choose from to help make a writer’s story shine! But unlike past years, writers get to choose five mentors to submit instead of four. This is awesome!

Pitch Wars 2015

From today until submissions day (August 17), writers can peruse blogs of the participating mentors to see their wish list for entries and make sure they’d be a good match. Most of the mentors supply links to their twitter accounts too, where they can be stalked observed for social meshing. Also, a few beloved mentors said they don’t mind some questions via twitter or their blog, but be careful as to not be pitching to them. There are some other important dates when questions can be asked, such as #AskMentor on twitter (August 10), so be sure to check out Brenda’s blog. She has important dates and submission guidelines!

And here are your mentors…

1. Kes Trester (co- mentoring with Jennifer Hawkins) YA 37. Emmie Mears Adult 73. Katie Bucklein YA & NA
2. Mindy McGinnis (co- mentoring with Kate Karyus Quinn) YA 38. Lori Goldstein (co- mentoring with Chelsea Bobulski) YA 74. Kevin A Springer MG
3. N.K. Traver YA 39. Jennifer Hawkins (co- mentoring with Kes Trester) YA 75. Brianna Shrum YA
4. Kristin B. Wright Adult 40. Elizabeth Briggs YA & NA 76. Kate Karyus Quinn (co- mentoring with Mindy McGinnis) YA
5. Laura Heffernan Adult 41. Ron Walters (co- mentoring with Meredith McCardle) YA 77. Kim Graff YA
6. Mary Ann Marlowe Adult 42. Fiona McLaren (co- mentoring with Dionne McCulloch) MG 78. Emily Martin YA
7. Joy McCullough- Carranza MG 43. S.M. Johnston (co- mentoring with Stacey Nash) YA & NA 79. Trisha Leaver (co- mentoring with Jenni Walsh) YA
8. Lisa Lewis- Tyre MG 44. Max Wirestone Adult 80. Kim Long MG
9. Jenni L. Walsh (co- mentoring with Trisha Leaver) YA 45. Jaye Robin Brown YA 81. Catherine Scully MG
10. Sarah Glenn Marsh YA 46. Molly Lee YA 82. Stacey Trombley YA
11. Julie C. Dao MG 47. Rachel Lynn Solomon YA 83. Stephanie Scott (co- mentoring with Valerie Cole) YA
12. Kellye Garrett Adult 48. J.C. Nelson NA & Adult 84. Valerie Cole (co- mentoring with Stephanie Scott) YA
13. K.T. Hanna Adult 49. Holly Faur Adult 85. Lizzy Charles YA
14. Jessie Devine YA 50. Sonia Hartl Adult 86. Dannie Morin (co- mentoring with Alexandra Alessandri) YA
15. Rosalyn Eves YA 51. Natasha Raulerson Adult 87. Kate Foster MG
16. Jami Nord Adult 52. Marty Mayberry YA 88. Elly Blake MG
17. Samantha Joyce YA & NA 53. J.C. Davis MG 89. Julie Sondra Decker YA & NA
18. Helene Dunbar YA 54. Rebecca Wells MG 90. Lady Lioness NA & Adult
19. Jenna Lehne MG 55. Michelle Hauck Adult 91. Susan Gray Foster (co- mentoring with Monica Bustamante Wagner_ YA & NA
20. Linsey Miller YA 56. Tabitha Martin YA 92. Kelly Calabrese YA
21. Jessica Vitalis MG 57. Rebecca Petruck MG 93. Sarah Nicolas YA
22. Stacey Graham MG 58. Sarah Henning Adult 94. Kelly Siskind NA & Adult
23. Dan Koboldt Adult 59. Alex White Adult 95. Roselle Kaes Adult
24. Brighton Walsh NA & Adult 60. Jeanmarie Anaya YA 96. Monica Bustamante Wagner (co- mentoring with Susan Gray Foster) YA
25. Kate Brauning YA & NA 61. Laura Salters YA 97. Renee Ahdieh (co- mentoring with Traci Chee) YA
26. Lisa Maxwell YA 62. Wade Albert White MG 98. Traci Chee (co- mentoring with Renee Ahdieh) YA
27. Wendy Spinale YA 63. Brooks Benjamin MG 99. Janet B. Taylor (co- mentoring with Kathryn Purdie & Shannon Parker YA
28. Sarah Cannon MG 64. Margarita Montimore Adult 100. Jessie Humphries (co- mentoring with Mara Rae) YA
29. L.L. McKinney YA 65. Megan Grimit YA 101. Lynnette Labelle Adult
30. Juliana Brandt MG 66. Charlie Holmberg NA & Adult 102. Erica M. Chapman YA
31. Scarlett Cole Adult 67. Diana Gallager YA & NA 103. Summer Spence YA
32. Hayley Stone Adult 68. Stefanie Wass MG 104. Marieke Nijkamp YA
33. Jennifer Blackwood YA & NA 69. Tamara Mataya Adult 105. Meredith McCardle (co- mentoring with Ron Walters) YA
34. Kendra Young MG 70. Rebecca Sky YA & NA 106. Thomas Torre MG
35. S.P. McConnell NA & Adult 71. Kara Seal MG 107. Phil Stamper YA
36. Nikki Roberti YA 72. Lee Gjertsen Malone MG 108. J.A. Souders YA

While I helped by stating the age category each mentor is requesting, READ THEIR BIO’s to make sure they rep your genre! And before I let you go, here is a peak of some of the participating agents this year! (And Brenda has said more will be coming!)

  • Louise Fury – The Bent Agency
  • Melissa Edwards – Aaron Priest Agency
  • Alexandra Machinist – ICM Partners
  • Saba Sulaiman – Talcott Notch
  • Laura Biagi – Jean V. Naggar
  • Claire Anderson Wheeler – Regal Literary
  • Stefanie Lieberman – Janklow & Nesbit Associates
  • Carrie Prestritto – Prospect Agency
  • Melissa Nasson – Ruben Pfeffer Content
  • Uwe Stender/ Brent Taylor – TriadaUS
  • The New Leaf Literary Agents – Suzie Townsend, Pete Knapp
  • Molly Glick – Foundry Literary
  • Kitty Walker – Eve White Literary Group
  • Moe Ferrera – Booksends
  • Margaret Bail – Inklings Literary Agency
  • Julia Weber – J.A. Weber Literaturagentur GmbH
  • Rachel Brooks – L. Perkins Agency
  • Leon Husock – L. Perkins Agency
  • Christa Heschke – McIntosh & Otis
  • Stacey Donaghy – Donaghy Literary Group
  • Taylor Haggerty – Waxman Leavell Literary Agency
  • Emmanuelle Morgen – Stonesong
  • Amy Cloughley – Kimberley Cameron & Association
  • Brianne Johnson – Writers House
  • And more to come!

As always, good luck!

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

Don’t Forget #Pitmad Is Tomorrow!

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As always, I want to give a shout-out to remind everyone of a fabulous contest. Don’t forget that #Pitmad (hosted by Brenda Drake) will be live tomorrow (June 4th) on twitter from 8am to 8pm EST (New York time).

Twitter-Brenda Image

Get your 140 character pitch ready to capture an agent’s or editor’s attention. (This is for completed manuscripts only!) Be sure to include the hashtag #pitmad and the category (#YA, #MG, #A, #NA, #PB, and #NF). Vary your pitches so twitter won’t delete duplicates thinking they’re spam. And if you are super crafty, you can squeeze your genre hashtag into the tweet!

All the guidelines are on Brenda’s blog here. Be sure to follow her rules so you don’t get a polite reprimand from Brenda. She’ll be watching…mwah-ha-ha!

As always, good luck!

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

MIDWEST WRITERS WORKSHOP

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Often in the universe of writers, there is talk of conferences and workshops. Most of the time they seem to be located in New York or Los Angeles because there are beaucoup agencies in these cities. However, occasionally a few are held in the Midwest. One such workshop is the Midwest Writers Group.

Midwest Writers Group

This workshop will be held at Ball State University Alumni Center from July 23rd-25th, 2015. Not only can you attend intense sessions on learning more about the writing craft and tax options for writers, but you can attend pitch sessions with participating agents. Agents attending for pitches and/or speeches are Alec Shane, Christa Heschke, Brooks Sherman, Michelle Richter, Janet Reid, and Elise Capron. There are also query critiques, manuscript evaluations, head shots, and consultations available (plus much more). And don’t forget to checkout the authors and editors attending to share their knowledge. Sign up for one of their sessions! But slots are going fast. You can go here to learn about costs, lodging, and the facility. Be sure to scroll the headings to learn about all your options.

Have a great day!

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