Tag Archives: Stories

Pitch Wars Webinar with New Leaf Literary Agent Suzie Townsend

January 10, 2018Literary, Webinar/WorkshopAdult, Advice, agent, Authors, books, Diversity, Написання, Письмо, писане, Editing, Escritura, Fantasy, Fiction, First Page, Genres, Hooks, L'écriture, Literary Agent, Manuscripts, Middle Grade, New Leaf Literary & Media Inc., Non-Fiction, Pitch Wars, Pitchwars, Psycological Suspense, Query, Querying, resources, Romance, Schreiben, Science Fiction, scrittura, Stories, Suzie Townsend, Tips, Voice, Women's Fiction, Writers, Writing, Young Adult, 写作pdpabst

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Pitch Wars presents a wonderful webinar with literary agent Suzie Townsend called Query and First Page Bootcamp. It’s no secret among writer’s to hook an agent immediately with their first line and first page if they want to snag a literary agent. What can sometimes be frustrating is the “how”. Suzie Townsend will “cover writing the most effective query letter, starting with your strongest first pages, as well as useful tips and resources about the actual querying process.”

About Suzie Townsend…

SUZIE TOWNSEND is an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. Prior to joining New Leaf, Suzie graduated film school, earned her Masters of Education, taught high school English, and coached a swim team. In her spare time, she read everything she could, which prompted her move to publishing. She got her start as an intern at FinePrint Literary Management where she was hired as an assistant before making the move to literary agent. She’s been part of the team at New Leaf Literary & Media since its inception in 2012. Suzie loves strong characters and voice-driven stories that break out of the typical tropes of their genres, and she’s always looking for unique new voices in stories.

SUZIE IS LOOKING FOR: Women’s Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult and literary Middle Grade. She’s especially looking for inclusive and diverse stories with new and unique voices in all genres and age groups.

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If you want to signup, you’d better hurry because they are only taking the first 50 participants. The cost is $25 (USD) and the webinar will take place Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 8:30pm ET.

Have fun learning!

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

2018 Minnesota Writing Workshop

December 29, 2017Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways2018 Minnesota Writing Workshop, 3 Seas Literary, Agents, Authors, Bethany House Publishers, Betsy Amster Literary, books, Books & Such Literary, Conference, D4EO Literary, Development, Donald Maass Literary, Editors, Experience, Flux Press, Graywolf Press, How To Get Publsihed, ideas, Inspiration, Jolly Fish Press, Manuscripts, Minnesota, Opportunity, P.S. Literary, Published, Red Sofa Literary, St. Martin's Press, St. Paul, Stories, The Seymour Agency, Unpublished, Writers, Writingpdpabst

The 2018 Minnesota Writing Workshop 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 (150 total). This workshop is a full-day “How to Get Published” writing event in St. Paul, MN on February 17, 2018.

Agents and editors confirmed to be in attendance and/or available to pitch are:

literary agent Eric Smith (P.S. Literary)
literary agent Michelle Grajkowski (3 Seas Literary)
editor Lauren Jablonski (St. Martin’s Press)
literary agent Mary Cummings (Betsy Amster Literary)
literary agent Kelly Van Sant (D4EO Literary)
editor Mari Kesselring (Flux and Jolly Fish Press)
literary agent Cynthia Ruchti (Books & Such Literary)
literary agent Laura Zats (Red Sofa Literary)
literary agent Jennie Goloboy (Donald Maass Literary)
literary agent Erik Hane (Red Sofa Literary)
literary agent assistant Lynnette Novak (The Seymour Agency)
editor Yana Makuwa (Graywolf Press)
editor Raela Schoenherr (Bethany House Publishers)
and possibly more to come.

For information on how to enroll and where to stay, go here. As always, good luck!

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

Books I’ve Recently Read and Enjoyed!

December 27, 2017Literary, ReviewsAnimation, Authors, Beloved, books, Caraval, Children, Elly Blake, Enjoyed, Fantasy, Fiction, Fireblood, Foods, Frost King, Frostblood, Game, Giggles, Goodreads, Grandson, Grover, Heartbreak, Illustrations, Jon Stone, Josh Funk, Kids, Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, Magic, Magical, Monster, Readers, Reading, Rhymes, Rhythm, Ruby, Scarlett, Sequel, Sesame Street, Stephanie Garber, Stories, Storytelling, Storytime, Tella, The Hunger Games, The Monster at the end of theis Book, The Night Circus, Writers, Young Adultpdpabst

As I said last month, I don’t often blog about what I’ve read, mostly because Goodreads has my list if anyone is interested. But, I realize some of my blog readers may not be part of Goodreads. I will try to do this more often. So, here are a few books I’ve read recently and enjoyed.

Frostblood by Elly Blake. Okay, so I actually listened to the audio book. But boy was I sucked into the world of Ruby hiding her fire gift in the cruel world of the frost king. And of course, like all creatures who try to hide things, they get found out. But when frostbloods rescue her from the frost king’s prison, she must learn to trust them and help save them from the evil king. Oh, and she just might fall in love with her enemy. What a fantastically imagined world! I enjoyed it so much, I had to listen to the sequel immediately afterwards:

Fireblood by Elly Blake. For those who might’ve skimmed the previous paragraph, this is the sequel to Frostblood. Again, Ruby’s world lured me in as she left her frost king–her love–to learn about her homeland of fire, a world she never knew growing up. In this book, her powers grow stronger and she risks never seeing her beloved frost king again. Oooh, this story was just as good as the first. How many times can you say that about sequels? My only complaint is that I have to wait until June 5, 2018 for the third book in this saga. Waaaaaa!

The Monster at the end of this Book by Jon Stone. Yeah, I read to my grandson people! Find a youngster and read this Sesame Street book. My grandson laughed and asked me to read again and again and again. Of course, when Grover says not to turn the page so the reader will never get to the end of the book because he’s afraid of seeing the monster at the end, I kept asking my grandson, “What do you think? Should we turn the page?” And of course, after some giggles, he’d say yes. What fun we had!

Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Entertainment weekly described this as The Hunger Games meets The Night Circus. Needless to say, I HAD to read it! The blurb says it best as Scarlett becomes “enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic” as she searches to find her sister before Tella disappears forever. Loved it and can’t wait for the sequel!

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast by Josh Funk. (No, not the Josh Funk I went to school with. LoL) This was a wonderful rhyming book that reminded me of some of the Dr. Seuss books I’ve read. My grandson loved the rhythm and seeing the illustrations of some of his favorite foods animated. Grab a kid and get to reading!

And there you have a quick view into what I’ve read lately. Let me know if you have any recommendations! Have a fantastic day.

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

2018 San Francisco Writers Conference

December 21, 2017Literary, Writing Conferences & GetawaysAdult, Amazon Bestselling Author, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Arts, Authors, books, Constance Hale, Dana Gioia, Editorial, Editors, Evelyn Skye, Feedback, Fiction, Film Producer, Full Circle Literary, Fuse Literary, Genre, HarperCollins, IBPA, Jim Azevedo, Kimberley Cameron Literary, Learning, Liza Dawson Associates, Lucky Boy, Manager, Manuscaripts, Marily R. Atlas, Mark Coker, Mark Hopkins Hotel, Marketing Director, Marsal Lyon LIterary, Middle Grade, Mitali Perkins, New York Times, Non-Fiction, Opportunity, Peter Beren Agency, Pitching, Poet, Poet Laureate, Presenters, Red Sofa Literary, Rober Dugoni, San Francisco, Sand Hill Review Press, Scholastic, Shanthi Sekaran, Simon and Schuster, Smashwords, St. Martin's Press, Stories, Tanya Hall, The Prayer Room, Tim McCanna, Wall Street Journal, Writer's Conference, Writers, Writing, Young Adultpdpabst

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The 2018 San Francisco Writers Conference will be held on February 15-18 at the historical Mark Hopkins Hotel. Meet keynoters:

Robert Dugoni – New York Times, Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author.
Dana Gioia – California Poet Laureate. Former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Shanthi Sekaran – Author of the critically acclaimed novels,
Luck Boy and The Prayer Room.
Mitali Perkins – Author of ten novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl

But the SFWC presenters list also includes many more bestselling authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers from major publishing houses. There are experts on self-publishing, book promotion, platform building, social media, and author websites.

PRESENTERS:
Nina Amir, author and writing coach
Marilyn R. Atlas, film producer/personal manager
Jim Azevedo, marketing director at Smashwords
Angela Bole, CEO of IBPA
Andrew Burleson, BetaBooks
Frances Caballo, SFWC Social Media Director, author, social media strategist for writers
Stephanie Chandler, is an author and CEO of the NonfictionAuthors Association
Melissa Cistaro, author, bookseller and event coordinator at Book Passage
Mark Coker, author and founder of major eBook publisher Smashwords
Martha Conway, author of The Underground River and Sugarland
Robin Cutler, director of IngramSpark
Jared Drake, film director and co-founder of Wildbound PR
Julia Drake, co-founder of Wildbound PR
Aya de Leon, novelist, poet and theater artist.
Eric Elfman, author and writing coach
Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author, coach and speaker
Grant Faulkner, executive director of National Novel Writing Month
Diane Frank, author and poet
Joel Friedlander, is an award-winning book designer, blogger, and author
Constance Hale, journalist and author
Tanya Hall, CEO Greenleaf Books
Andy Jones, author, poet, professor at UC Davis; “Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour”
Mike Jung, author of Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities
Carla King, author and self publishing expert, founder of Self-Publishing Boot Camp
Bharti Kirchner, the prolific author of 11 books. her latest novel is Season of Sacrifice: A Maya Mallick Mystery is out in hardcover and as a Kindle edition.
Brenda Knight, author and marketing expert
Mary E. Knipple, writing mentor and speaker
Adair Lara, author, teacher and writing coach
Michael Larsen, author, co-founder/co-director of the SFWC
Linda Lee, web site designer and WordPress expert
Donna Levin, author
Mary Mackey, author
Tim McCanna, children’s picture book author and Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI
Isabella Michon, president/founder of ImMedia, a publicity company
Tyler Moss, managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine
Anne Perry, international bestselling historical novelist
Lissa Provost, poet and author
David Rasch, lecturer with Stanford University’s Continuing Education program
Olivia Rivers, award-winning YA novelist of Tone Deaf & movie-optioned In The Hope of Memories
Barbara Santos, author of Practice Aloha and Marketing Director for SFWC
Penny Sansevieri, founder of Author Marketing Experts
Helen Sedwick, lawyer and author of Self-Publishers Legal Handbook
Naheed Senzai, author
Rusty Shelton, founder and CEO of Zilker Media
Evelyn Skye, bestselling YA author of The Crown’s Game series
Ransom Stephens, physicist, author, award winning technologist, speaker
Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, author and manuscript consultant
Cathy Turney, author of Get 10,000 Twitter Followers Easily, Quickly, Ethically
Lyzette Wanzer, San Francisco writer, editor, and creative writing workshop instructor.
Penny Warner, award winning author
Alex White, author of The Salvagers series (Orbit, 2018)
Victoria Zackheim, author, editor and screenwriter

The lists for attending agents and editors looks topnotch! Some of the agents will even be accepting pitches during the Speed Dating For Agents. You can see a list of those participating here. But for an idea of the many agents and editors that will be in attendance, here is a list:

AGENTS:
Lisa Abellera, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Peter Beren, Peter Beren Agency
Amy Cloughley, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Laurie Fox, Linda Chester Literary Agency
Dawn Frederick, Red Sofa Literary
Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary
Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary
Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Monica Odom, Liza Dawson Associates
Jody Rein, Jody Rein Books
Nicki Richesin, Wendy Sherman Associates, Inc.
Andy Ross, Andy Ross Agency
Ken Sherman, Ken Sherman & Associates
Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Gordon Warnock, Fuse Literary
Carlisle Webber, Fuse Literary

EDITORS:
Mary E. Knippel, Independent editor, writing mentor and author
Tory Hartmann, Sand Hill Review Press
Georgia Hughes, Editorial Director at New World Library
Brenda Knight, Author, President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter
Hilary Lawson, HarperCollins
Karla Olson, Editorial Director at Patagonia Books
Daniela Rapp, St. Martins Press
Meghan Stevenson, Independent Editor
Weslie Turner, Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint at Scholastic
Jennifer Ung, Simon Pulse, an imprint at Simon and Schuster
Brooke Warner, Publisher at She Writes Press
Hannah Wood, Independent Editor

For those attending, this sounds like a great four days of learning and marketing yourself!

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

#SFFpit is Tomorrow!

December 13, 2017Contests, Literary#SFFpit, Adult, Agents, Authors, books, Characters, Dan Koboldt, Editors, Fantasy, Fiction, Hashtags, Horror, Manuscripts, Middle Grade, New Adult, Opportunity, Picture Books, Pitch, Pitching, Polished, publisher, Publishing, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Stories, Tweets, Twitter, Unpublished, Writers, Young Adultpdpabst

Hello my lovelies! Tomorrow (December 14, 2017) on twitter is #SFFpit hosted by Dan Koboldt. This is for Sci-Fi and Fantasy manuscripts only! Please do not pitch if your manuscript is not finished, polished, and unpublished.

Now that twitter has expanded most tweets to longer characters, the limit of 140 is no longer necessary. Tweet the full 280 if you have the ability! Just make sure that your pitch includes the hashtag #SFFpit. Additional hashtags that can be used are:

AGE CATEGORY
#PB – Picture book
#MG – Middle grade
#YA – Young adult
#NA – New adult
#A – Adult

GENRE/Subgenre
#FA – fantasy
#CF – contemporary fantasy
#DF – dark fantasy
#EF – epic or high fantasy
#FR – fantasy romance
#HF – historical fantasy
#LF – literary fantasy
#AH – alternate history
#MYF – mythic fantasy
#PN – paranormal
#UF – urban fantasy
#MR – magical realism
#SF – science fiction
#AF – apocalypse fiction
#ML – military science fiction
#PA – post-apocalyptic SF
#SFR – sci-fi romance
#SFT – sci-fi thriller
#SH – superhero / superhuman
#SO – space opera
#DS – dystopian
#SP – steampunk
#TT – time travel
#WW – weird west

The contest will run through 8am to 6pm EST. Also note the change of allowed pitches! Writers will only get 10 pitches (that’s one per hour). For more information check out the #SFFpit webpage. To show Dan Koboldt your appreciation for throwing together this awesome contest, be sure to follow his blog, twitter page, or buy his books.

As always, good luck!

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

Happy Writer Days $2000 Giveaway in Coaching and Classes

December 6, 2017Contests, Literary, Mentor Program, Webinar/Workshopadvise, agent, Authors, Authros, Classes, Coaching, Critique, Elise Capron, Enter, Fiction, Free, Giveaway, Happy Writer Days, Lauren marie Fleming, Manuscript, Mentors, Non-Fiction, Opportunity, Query, Sandra Dijkstra & Associates, Stories, Winter Writing, Workshops, Writers, Writingpdpabst

Lauren Marie Fleming

Lauren Marie Fleming is hosting a Happy Writer Days giveaway. The prize(s) are worth over $2000 in coaching and writing classes. Writer will need to enter by December 10, 2017. Along with the prize(s) will be a free critique of a query letter by literary agent Elise Capron of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

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There are also free workshops for everyone all week long. If you miss one, you can watch the replay for free too! So, if you want some cool advise on the manuscript you’re writing, go here for a chance to win and to sign up for the free workshops!

Have a great writerly day!

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

Brenda Drake’s #Pitmad Is Almost Here!

December 5, 2017Contests, Literary#amediting, #amwriting, #Pitmad, Adult, Age Category, Agents, Authors, books, Brenda Drake, Category, Characters, Children's, Editors, Fiction, Genre, Guidelines, Hashtags, Manuscripts, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Opportunity, Picture Books, Pitch Party, Pitch Wars, Pitching, publisher, Publishing, Rules, Stories, Sub-genres, Tweet, Twitter, Writers, Writing, Young Adultpdpabst

Nothing soothes the writerly soul than a good twitter pitch party! Thursday, December 7, 2017 is Brenda Drake’s infamous #PitMad between the hours of 8am-8pm (EDT). Common age category and genre hashtags are below.

Age Categories:

#PB = Picture Book
#C = Children’s
#CB = Chapter Book
#CL = Children’s Lit
#MG = Middle Grade
#YA = Young Adult
#NA = New Adult
#A = Adult

Genres/Sub-genres:

#AA = African American
#AD = Adventure
#CF = Christian Fiction
#CON = Contemporary
#CR = Contemporary Romance
#DIS = Disabilities
#DV = Diversity
#E = Erotica
#ER = Erotic Romance
#ES = Erotica Suspense
#F = Fantasy
#H = Horror
#HA = Humor
#HF = Historical Fiction
#HR = Historical Romance
#INSP = Inspirational
#IRMC = Interracial/Multicultural
#MR = Magical Realism
#M = Mystery
#Mem = Memoir
#LGBT
#LF = Literary Fiction
#NF = Non-fiction
#R = Romance
#P = Paranormal
#PR = Paranormal Romance
#RS = Romantic Suspense
#S = Suspense
#SF = SciFi
#SPF = Speculative Fiction
#T = Thriller
#UF = Urban Fantasy
#W = Westerns
#WF = Woman’s Fiction

The rules clearly state to only pitch THREE times per manuscript during the contest. Don’t break the rules and clog the feed! Also, please remember anyone can stalk the feed. So, do your research before submitting your manuscript!

As always, good luck!

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

MasterClass With Author Judy Bloom

November 30, 2017Literary, Webinar/WorkshopAre You There God? It's Me Margaret, Authors, Banned, Blubber, books, Characters, Children's Fiction, Class, Creativity, Critique, Dialogue, Feedback, Fiction, Genre, Judy Bloom, Kids, Learn, Learning, Lessons, Libraries, Manuscripts, MasterClass, Middle Grade, Opportunity, Picture Books, Pre-Enroll, Readers, Realistic, Stories, Superfudge, Tiger Eyes, Videos, Words, Workshop, Writers, Writing, Young Adultpdpabst

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Judy Bloom will be teaching a Master Class in early 2018. While the dates don’t appear to be set, you can pre-enroll for only $90. The award winning author broke the rules. Her refreshingly honest children’s books were banned by hundreds of libraries—and loved by generations of readers, who bought 85 million copies of classics like Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Superfudge.

Learn with one of the best with 24 lessons on writing vivid characters and realistic dialogue. There will be a workbook along with the videos, and Judy will critique select members of the class. Have fun and learn lots!

P.D. Pabst

Blogger and writer of MG/Fiction

Hachette Imprint Open for Submissions!

November 27, 2017Literary, Publishing OpportunityAdvance, Andrea Levy, Authors, BAME, Bestsellers, David Mitchell, December, Disabilities, Diversity, editor, english, Fiction, Graham Norton, Hachette Imprint, Hodder & Stoughton, International, Jodi Picoult, John Murray Press, Katie Piper, LGBTQ, Manuscript, Marganlized Voices, Marketing, Martina Cole, Mo Farrah, New Voices, Non-Fiction, Opportunity, Publicist, publisher, Royalties, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Stories, The Future Bookshelf, The Sideman, Unagented, Underrepresented, United Kingdom, Writerspdpabst

Hodder & Stoughton, John Murray Press (Hachette Imprint) will be opening for unagented submissions on December 1, 2017 (12am GMT) and close on December 7, 2017 (11:59pm GMT) for THE FUTURE BOOKSHELF! Although this is an United Kingdom publisher, they will be taking international submissions for fiction and non-fiction. This is an exciting opportunity because big houses don’t often open their doors to unagented writers.

Some of the authors Hodder & Stoughton publishes is Stephen King, Martina Cole, Jodi Picoult, The Sidemen, Stieg Larsson, Trevor Noah, David Mitchell, Andrea Levy, Katie Piper, Mo Farrah, Graham Norton, and many more. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be one of the great writers added to this list?

If chosen, you will get paid an advance and royalties. They’ll set you up with an editor and publicist, as well as have a marketing campaign. So, you’ll get all the perks of a bestselling author! A few of the rules are:

Must be over 18.
An underrepresented writerly category (see their guidelines for descriptions).
Fiction (any genre) and non-fiction works must be over 50,000 words.
Must be written in English.

But they have more requirements than this. For complete rules and how to submit, go here. As always, good luck!

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

2018 Laura Crawford Memorial Mentorship

November 25, 2017Contests, Literary, Mentor ProgramApplications, Art, Authors, books, Children's Fiction, Chilidren, Critique, Development, dreams, Editing, Experience, Feedback, Fiction, Genre, Illustrator, Inspiration, Julia Durango, Kids, Laura Crawford Memorial Mentorship, Manuscripts, Memborship, Mentorship, Opportunity, Picture Book, Published, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Stories, Writers, Writingpdpabst

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators will open for applications to the Laura Crawford Memorial Mentorship. The mentorship was established in memory of picture book author Laura Crawford.

This year’s mentor will be author Julia Durango, who will help with one picture book manuscript for a six month period.

Julia Durango

In order to apply, you must be a SCBWI member with an application dated between December 1-7, 2017. Applicants must never have had a picture book traditionally published. For complete details, go here.

As always, good luck!

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

About Suzie Townsend…

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