Does our entry have to be for something we've already written? Or can it be about something still in its infancy?
It can be for any thing you choose.would you prefer we do a different story pitch (supposing we got to enter last time), or could we rehash the last one and try again?
It can be a reworking of previous entries, or a new one
You wrote "whether it's YA or adult." What about those of us who write younger?
I thought ADULT was a default setting. Should that spot not be blank unless it is something other than Adult?
Adult is NOT the default setting. Make sure you tell me what your target audience age group is
If we're in the throes of editing one novel (with beta readers) and in the process of writing another, can we submit TWO or is that getting too BONKERS?
I must be kind of slow today. I don't understand what the 100-word paragraph is.
No
It's the first paragraph of your query I think. It's intended to give me fodder for understanding the pitch and helping you pick out details that might be more helpful to include in the pitch.
Can a pitch be given in the form of a question? For example, "What if..."
You can do whatever you want. The only test is "does it work?"
If we missed the short version contest, would it be okay to include two versions of your pitch (one under 15 words, one up to 30)?
No
Lotsa chum in the Pacific Ocean as well. Y'know, out west, three hours later? O mighty Sharkstress, could a Puget Sound herring prevail on you to start feeding at a time when we might be awake 'n' swimming out here? :-)
How about 3am?
What was the deal you made with the devil that grants you 32 hours in a day when most of us mortals are limited to 24? (from JD ms Frain)
I promised to show him your manuscript.
Here are the pitch guidelines:
Write out your pitch ahead of time (as in don't type it directly in the comment column first!)
Let it sit for a bit.
Go back and review/revise.
Do this till you have something you like.
Select your target audience: adult/YA/MG/picture book. PICK ONLY ONE
Select your genre: romance, crime, SF, fantasy, western, or commercial fiction. PICK ONE
Select your "context material"--generally this will be what develops and explains your pitch. I think of it as the first paragraph of your query. This is a work in progress, so don't worry about making a mistake.
THEN POST all of this as one comment in the comment column of this blog post.
ONE entry per person
NO DO OVERS.
(that is, you cannot erase your entry and start over)
This means it's essential to draft in a place that is NOT the comment you intend to post.
30 words max. Fewer are fine.
Please do NOT talk about this on Twitter, Facebook or other social media platforms. I'd like to keep this to regular blog readers for now.
Be prepared for me to discuss your work here on this blog if you enter.
If you do NOT want me to do that, DO NOT ENTER.
The contest will for this will open tomorrow (5/5/18) at 10am in a separate blog post.
I will close the comments on this post. (In other words, post to the right place!)
They will close sometime thereafter, sooner if we get a lot of entries, rather than later.
My comments will be posted no earlier than Monday.
Questions? Tweet to me @Janet_Reid
17 comments:
I really can't thank you enough for this. It's been unbelievably helpful to have to sit down and write out these pitches.
I agree with Emily. Even if I miss posting in time, or I do make it but you don't pick mine, this process was so worth it. My WIP is definitely going to benefit from my having done this. Thank you!
In fact, I think I'm going to make it a habit to do this for every novel I write.
"I promised to show him your manuscript." This line made me laugh. Out loud.
Thank you so much, Janet. You're incredibly kind to us. I've learned a lot from your blogs over the years. And keep learning. Thank you.
And here I was planning an early night...midnight posting it is!
I'm excited for round two~ This is definitely a fun new exercise, and super helpful. Many thanks, Janet!
...I want to go back to bed now. Didn't see this last night. Oops.
I agree with everyone else. Thank you so much for doing this stuff for the woodland creatures!
Boy, I've worked on this all day yesterday and then today when I read it, I realized it still wasn't right. For some reason, I have a mental block when it comes to queries! Anyway, thank you, Janet, for this opportunity. It's been a struggle, but a big help in seeing things a bit clearer.
I got your contest post, dated May 4th on May 5th. Wondering where the contest is supposed to be posted?
Ryder Ziebarth, it'll be here on Janet's blog (not this post) and not until 10 a.m. EDT.
Thanks so much for this, Janet! It's been crazy helpful!
Thank you so much for doing this.
I thought I had it. Now, it looks bland and I want to start all over again, but I don't have a clue where to start.
Good grief.
An interesting exercise, every word looks out of place. The timing and sentence structure is unbalanced...maddening. (How fun)
Thanks for doing this Janet.
I've been a faithful lurker for a long time. I've only commented twice. Missed the 15-word pitch by a cat hair and was determined to enter this time.
When I read this last night, I swear it said 7am, which is 4am here. So, like a good little hamster, I set an alarm for 3am. I knew I'd need coffee, lots of coffee.
Needless to say, when I stumbled in bleary-eyed at dark o'clock and re-read this post, I found I was mistaken.
I did manage a few fitful hours of sleep, but lordy, I'm tired. Good luck everyone.
Question: I'm having trouble determining where to post the pitch entry. This post, dated 5/5/18 on my computer, says not to post here, but to a separate blog post, but this is the last Ive received so when ten o'clock hits I'll post here by default. It appears fron the lack of questions from others about timing that I'm being dense, but please clarify for me anyway if posting here is wrong.
I could practically hear everyone's bated breath, index finger poised over the mouse, eye on the lower righthand corner of the screen. When is it gonna be 10am!
Goodluck everyone! Relax and enjoy this exercise generously brought to us by the Shark.
Copy and paste like you've never copied and pasted before!
ngcornett, there will be a new/separate post.
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