Here’s the timeline:
September 6: The submission windows open
September 20: Selected submissions announced
September 20-October 24: Mentoring takes place
October 25: Revised Twitter pitches posted; agents (and editors!) like their favorites
September 6: The submission windows open
September 20: Selected submissions announced
September 20-October 24: Mentoring takes place
October 25: Revised Twitter pitches posted; agents (and editors!) like their favorites
Submissions
To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions. First, it must be COMPLETE, NEVER-PUBLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the following genres:
PB fiction and nonfiction (all genres)
MG fiction (all genres)
YA fiction (all genres)
Adult fiction (all genres, including commercial, literary, and/or upmarket but excluding erotica)
PB fiction and nonfiction (all genres)
MG fiction (all genres)
YA fiction (all genres)
Adult fiction (all genres, including commercial, literary, and/or upmarket but excluding erotica)
1. All submissions must be sent to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com and include A TWITTER PITCH, A QUERY, AND THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. (PB author-illustrators are also encouraged to share links to their online portfolios.) You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.
2. Please submit ONLY ONE PROJECT. If you submit multiple projects, I'll only consider the first.
3. It would also really help if you INCLUDE YOUR CATEGORY--PB, MG, YA, OR ADULT--SOMEWHERE IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE, but it's not a requirement.
4. THERE WILL BE TWO 30-MINUTE SUBMISSION WINDOWS to (try to) accommodate work schedules and international entrants. The first submission window opens on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Hopefully, you'll be awake and/or not at work during one of these 30-minute intervals!
5. Once you send me your submission, I’ll send you a confirmation e-mail with a summary of these rules.
6. Previous finalists may enter again AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A NEW MANUSCRIPT TO SUBMIT.
Selections
I'll select 6 entries within each major category--PB, MG, YA, and adult--and up to 6 wildcards. I may pick 6 adults or 3 YAs and 3 MGs or just a single PB with those wildcards; it depends on what I know the agents are looking for and which submissions seem strongest.
I'll select 6 entries within each major category--PB, MG, YA, and adult--and up to 6 wildcards. I may pick 6 adults or 3 YAs and 3 MGs or just a single PB with those wildcards; it depends on what I know the agents are looking for and which submissions seem strongest.
Once I've finalized my picks--with Tara’s help, of course--I'll e-mail the winning writers and announce the winning titles here and/or on my Twitter feed on Wednesday, September 20. Then the real work will begin!
Mentoring
For the next roughly 5 weeks, the winning writers will revise their pitches, queries, and first pages with my and Tara’s help. You won’t be obligated to incorporate our thoughts, and the feedback we provide on your queries and first pages won’t actually be featured in the agent round itself. We just want to help you make your pitches, queries, and first pages the very best that they can be.
Mentoring
For the next roughly 5 weeks, the winning writers will revise their pitches, queries, and first pages with my and Tara’s help. You won’t be obligated to incorporate our thoughts, and the feedback we provide on your queries and first pages won’t actually be featured in the agent round itself. We just want to help you make your pitches, queries, and first pages the very best that they can be.
Liking
On Wednesday, October 25, I'll post the revised pitches ON MY TWITTER FEED for the agents (and editors!) to review. Here are the awesome agents who’ll be liking your pitches:
Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency
On Wednesday, October 25, I'll post the revised pitches ON MY TWITTER FEED for the agents (and editors!) to review. Here are the awesome agents who’ll be liking your pitches:
Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency
Joanna MacKenzie of Nelson Literary Agency
Kristin Ostby of Greenhouse Literary Agency
Lindsay Auld of Writers House
Kristin Ostby of Greenhouse Literary Agency
Lindsay Auld of Writers House
Michelle Jackson of LCS Literary Services
Saribel Pages of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency
Shari Maurer of Stringer Literary Agency
Vicky Weber of The Purcell Agency
Saribel Pages of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency
Shari Maurer of Stringer Literary Agency
Vicky Weber of The Purcell Agency
Whitney Ross of High Line Literary Collective
Each like will count as a partial or full request based on the agents’ preferences. Agents will be able to review and like your pitches for at least 24 hours, at which point you’ll be allowed to submit your materials to all the agents who requested them. These likes represent serious interest in your project, so PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION BEFORE GIVING THE #PITCHME AGENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMPETING OFFER.
Each like will count as a partial or full request based on the agents’ preferences. Agents will be able to review and like your pitches for at least 24 hours, at which point you’ll be allowed to submit your materials to all the agents who requested them. These likes represent serious interest in your project, so PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION BEFORE GIVING THE #PITCHME AGENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMPETING OFFER.
I've also enlisted the aid of some lurking editors. Their likes will also represent requests, BUT EVEN IF THEIR PUBLISHERS ALLOW YOU TO SUBMIT WITHOUT AN AGENT, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SECURE REPRESENTATION. A smart, savvy agent is worth their weight in gold, and I'm hopeful agents will be even more interested in your project if they know you've got an editor request (or two!) in your back pocket.
So get those pitches polished up and plan to e-mail them to me--with your queries and first pages--on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. EDT. We can’t wait to read your work!
Have a question? Ask below!
Have a question? Ask below!
25 comments:
Your submission guidelines ask for a TWITTER PITCH. Do you want this pitch to have already been posted on Twitter, or are you just asking to see what will be posted on Twitter if we are selected?
The latter, @cld2cents! You don't need to have already posted whatever Twitter pitch you submit (but if you have, you can still use it, of course).
Thanks for continuing to provide this great opportunity for writers. Natalie @ Literary Rambles
Hi Krista, if we participated in the first PitchMe but wasn't selected can we submit again with the same project given significant changes have occurred to the query and manuscript?
You're so welcome, Natalie. Thanks for all your help promoting it!
Good question, Anon. Yes, you're welcome to submit a project again if we didn't pick it as a finalist the first time, but I will warn you that, if I think I've seen something before, I'm usually less inclined to pick it because I worry that it's already been queried extensively. So if you--or anyone--decides to resubmit a project, I'd be upfront about it in your query and highlight the changes you've made so we'll know the project's fresh.
Can agented authors participate for the editor pitches?
That's a great question, Anon. It's always driven me crazy that I couldn't participate in #DVpit as an agented writer, but unfortunately, I don't think I can take entries from agented writers for #PitchMe. It's just because I've promised all the agents who've signed on that the projects I'll pitch them are complete, never published, and ready to query, so they're going to assume that every project's up for grabs. I'm so sorry! (That said, if you think one of this year's #PitchMe editors would be a good fit for your current project, tell your agent to submit to them with a note that you think it's awesome they're participating in #PitchMe!)
Hi Krista!
I wondered if a story is less than 250 words, if it is still eligible?
Also, are art notes included in the 250 word word count?
Thanks so much for hosting this fantastic event!
Good questions, mhberg! Yes, if a story is less than 250 words, it's still eligible. And for the purposes of this contest (read: to standardize the number of words Tara and I will have to read for each entry), please do include art notes in your 250-word limit. We can't wait to read your work!
Hi! Quick question: I can't seem to find the email address we will be submitting to. Will that info be released later, or do I need a new prescription on my eyeglasses. (Seriously. Both options are equally plausible.)
Erin, the e-mail address you'll be submitting to is mine, kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com. I always kind of disguise it when I type it on my blog (because, for some reason, I think that will throw spam bots off my scent), so it's easy to miss! :)
Hi there! I'm totally new to this and so in advance, please forgive my questions and thanks for the patience!
I'm a first-time author, unagented as of now. I have a fully written novel- the problem is, I sent out my first round of queries early this month. I know August is slow and I'm ready to put in the patience as needed, especially since I'm writing another fun novel in the meantime. However, speeding up the process is, in most cases, nice, and this sounds like an awesome chance to try to put myself out there!
Would I still be allowed to enter, if I'm querying? Naturally, if the answer is yes, I'll refrain from sending out another batch until the end of the competition.
I just so happen to be querying an agent from one of the agencies you listed. I'm aware it's unprofessional to query two agents from the same company at the same time, but I'm not entirely sure how soon I'll get a response from said agent. How should I proceed?
What exactly you mean by a Twitter pitch? I don't have Twitter so I'm a bit uncertain.
Lastly, is there an age restriction on the contest?
Thank you for bearing with me here, I just really appreciate this opportunity and want to make sure I get this right. On behalf of many other writers, I'm sure, thank you for doing this!
Hi, Anon! You're absolutely allowed to enter #PitchMe even if you've already been querying the project you plan to submit.
Due to the nature of this contest, it isn't unusual for an agent to request a project one of their agency mates is already considering. In that case, I think transparency is key. As long as you're upfront about the situation, I'm sure they'll find a way to work things out amongst themselves.
As for what I mean by a Twitter pitch, you can look up last year's finalists' Twitter pitches here: https://kristavandolzer.blogspot.com/2022/10/pitchme-2022-results-and-wrap-up.html Basically, it's a 280-CHARACTER summary of your book. You should include one with your entry just so we'll get an idea of what your starting point will be, but I'd say the Twitter pitch is the least important part of your entry. Hook us with a great concept in your query and great voice in your first 250 words, and we'll be eager to work with you!
And nope, no age restriction, though if you're a minor, I'd certainly encourage you to keep your parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) posted on #PitchMe so they'll know what's going on.
Would you like the query as a general query template or should it be addressed to you and/or Tara specifically?
Up to you, Miriam! Tara and I try not to be too finicky:)
Sounds good, thanks!
Should we include the title in our 250 words? If the title counts, can we leave off the title?
You're welcome to include or not include the title in your 250 words, @cld2cents! (And even if including the title pushes your word count a few over 250, that's fine. We're not going to start counting words unless it's obvious that a submission is way over.)
Hi Krista, if my picture book MS is 380 words, do I cut it off at exactly 250 words?
Good question, Valorie. The reason we set the word count at 250 even for picture books is to standardize the amount of material Tara and I will have to read across submissions, so even if your PB is only a little longer, we'd still ask you to cut it off at (about) 250 words. We're not going to start counting words unless a submission is egregiously over the limit, so if you need a few more words to get to the end of a sentence or paragraph, that's totally fine.
Thank you so much, Krista!
Do middle grade graphic novels count in the middle grade fiction category?
Yes, they do, Julie. (And if you're an author-illustrator, it would be great if you could include a link to your online portfolio or even a private link to finished sample pages!)
Hi Krista,
For picture book submissions, do you only want to see the first 250 words or should I put the entire 560 words in the query letter email body?
Thanks so much,
Jean
Thanks for asking, Jean; see my answer above! (It's the one timestamped September 5, 2023 at 3:46 PM.)
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