Monday, September 24, 2012

Get Your Pitch On Workshop: Submit Now





How to submit: Email your draft pitch to pitchonws@gmail.com. Workshops start on October 1, but send pitches now to secure your spot with a host blog. Include PitchOnWS and manuscript title in the subject line. Pitches must follow these formatting guidelines:

Name: Kaitlin Adams
Email: jkaitlinadams(at)gmail(dot)com
Country of Residence: USA
Title: FORCED TO FLY
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Word Count: 70,000

Pitch: In Easten, a parents’ status depends on their child’s talent. Lori can fly, so her parents register her in Easten’s Talent Show. If she impresses the judges, her parents move into the Palace. If she doesn’t impress, she’ll hang. During registration, Lori befriends Davis. His talent isn’t so impressive- he holds his breath. Lori devises a plan to save him. If she gets caught, she’ll hang before she even performs.

Important Rule: If you want to participate in a workshop, you must be prepared to comment on at least one other pitch. 

*There is no date deadline for the workshops. Each blog has allocated a set number of pitches they can host. Once those spots are full no more submissions will be taken. Draft pitches will be evenly distributed between host blogs.

When the pitches are posted, make sure to check out all of the workshop host blogs to critique more pitches. For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host Sharon Johnston and workshop hosts Larissa Hardesty, Stephanie Diaz, Catherine Scully, Jodie Andrefski, Paula Sangare, Talynn Lynn and Kaitlin AdamsAlso, Sarah Nicolas will be giving away three query critiques! Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. The opportunity ends 10/14/2012.

An interview with Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be coming up soon on Down Under Wonderings so you have an idea of what she's looking for before she takes your pitches both on Down Under Wonderings and YAtopia on October 15th. The exact contest opening times will be included in that post.

If you have any questions, just ask them in the comments section. Have fun honing your pitches!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Get Your Pitch On!



Hello Writing Warriors!

I hope you've got your pitches ready, because an awesome contest is underway, thanks to Sharon Johnston over at Down Under Wonderings and YAtopiaGet Your Pitch On (#PitchOn) is October 15th (more details below), but first read about the Pitch Workshop on October 1st!

Workshop Info (October 1st)

Just as it's important to get someone else to look over your manuscript before you query, it's a good idea to get feedback on your pitch before you post. We have about twenty blogs who are ready to help you hone your pitch. These workshops start on October 1 and you can find the list of blogs participating here.

Contest Info (October 15th)

Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, Marisa Pintado, will be poised and ready to take your pitches both on Down Under Wonderings and YAtopia on October 15th.

Marisa is looking for YA in any genre and is accepting submissions from any where in the world. It's your chance to skip the slush pile and put your pitch right under the nose of a fantastic editor. There's even better news - there is no limit on how many requests Marisa will make from the contest!

Rules:
  • Your manuscript must be complete, polished and ready to query - this means no first drafts or almost finished manuscripts.
  • It must be YA.
  • When the contest goes live on October 15th, post your entry details in the comments section of either YAtopia or Down Under Wonderings - each blog is accepting 100 entries only.
  • Your entry detail needs to include a 50 - 70 word pitch.
  • You can enter more than once if you have more than one complete, polished, ready to query manuscript.
Your contest details should be formatted like this:

Name: Sharon Johnston
Email: smjohnston [ @ ] live.com.au
Country of residence: Australia
Title: SLEEPER
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Word-count: 58,000
Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Mishca Richardson is a sleeper soldier with a weak heart. She has no idea that a life saving heart transplant has accidentally triggered her programming. In the search for answers, she discovers the truth and that her creator, Wirth, has classified her remaining "sisters" from her experiment group as defective, scheduling them for termination. Mishca sets out to save them before they're eliminated.

I'm so excited to be a part of this competition. So now it's time for you to Get Your Pitch On!


Please feel free to ask any questions in the comment box below!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Welcome, Writing Warriors!

I will be posting more later, but in the meantime:
  • Check out the details for Get Your Pitch On Workshop/Contest (9/20/2012).
  • Tell me a little bit about yourself! What are you writing? Why do you write? What's something crazy on your bucket list? (besides publishing a novel- heh.) Dedicated writers tend to cross paths often, and it's always fun to get to know each other.
  • See my Contests/Critiques page and throw out some good ol' suggestions.
  • Sign up for my Contest/Post Alerts and become a Writing Warrior Follower. Along with my own contests and critiques, I'll be posting a list of monthly contests other bloggers are hosting. They'll most likely be better than mine so you'll want to stay in the loop! Or, fill me in on the ones I missed :)