#pg70pit—A New Kind of Pitching Contest!

3 March, 201523 March, 2016Leave a comment

Note: due to some nasty spam hijacking the #70Pit hashtag on Twitter, please use BOTH #pg70pit and #contest in your tweets, and when searching for tweets, enter “#pg70pit #contest -click -watch -video -movie -followers” into the search bar. Then save that search. Hopefully that will eliminate spam!

This July I’m hosting a new type of contest and pitching opportunity for writers with complete, polished novels (Middle Grade, YA, or NA/Adult) in any genre except erotica.

What makes 70-pit different?

No 35-word pitch, no query, no first page.
Age categories are submitted on different days and will be given equal attention.

Find out more about this contest on the #70pit page.

You have until July, so get those manuscripts critiqued, read by beta readers, and revised.

Interested in co-hosting or reading through the slush? Contact me on Twitter. To be considered, you must be agented, have prior experience working with a literary agency, or have a degree in English, writing, or literature. You’ll need to read through all slush entries and choose seven titles from each category to post on your blog.

Stay tuned for more information! I also hope to host a GRAPHIC NOVEL contest later in the year.

The 10 Commandments for CPs

22 January, 201522 January, 2015Leave a comment

I was just tweeting about Commandment #10 on @LaraEdits today. See those tweets here: https://twitter.com/LaraEdits/status/558268174664486913

8 Query Tips No One Tells Writers

13 January, 201526 June, 2015Leave a comment

Literary agent Carly Watters has practical advice for querying authors. Follow or bookmark her blog—she’s a great resource!

Carly Watters, Literary Agent

There is a bounty of query letter writing advice on the web. I’ve written about it before too: The Biggest Query Letter Mistake, and How To Format Your Query.

However, here are some tips you might not have heard yet that will set your querying strategy apart from the rest.

Querying in 2015? Read 8 Query Tips No One Tells Writers:

1. There are no second chances. Send a query letter with an agent’s name misspelled and resend 5 minutes later? You might already be written off. We get so many queries that we’re always looking for reasons to say no (even though we’re looking for gems!). Sometimes there are easy no’s.

2. If you say you’ve been published we assume that means traditional. And if you don’t share the publisher, year, and maybe some sales information we’ll assume you’re pulling our leg.

3. Telling agents you’ve self published…

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Agent perspective: What’s wrong with your manuscript

22 December, 201422 December, 2014Leave a comment

Carly Watters, Literary Agent

Pitching your book to no avail?

Are agents not being forthcoming with advice?

Getting ready to submit in the new year?

The definitive guide to what’s wrong with most manuscripts:

1. All internal conflict, no external conflict. Does more happen in the character’s head than in the plot? This is going to be a problem whether it’s literary or commercial fiction. Make sure enough things happen.

2. Pace. The most important thing to get an agent’s attention is to keep us turning the pages and stop us from doing other things. The moment things lag, you’ve lost us.

3. Voice. This one’s more subjective, but the way to check if your book has voice is whether we can tell the difference between whose head we’re in or who is speaking at any given time. Everything about your writing style needs personality. What makes your book special? Your voice. It’s how…

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