#PitchMe Results + Feedback

Another year of #PitchMe is over, and our finalists killed it. Their pitches logged 84 total likes, several of which came from 2 additional agents who joined in on the fun. Here's a summary of the action:

#1 PB: DEAR MATH Anjanette Barr

#2 PB: BAD HAIRCUT Amy Nielsen

#3 PB: I AM JEWISH, I AM PROUD Callie Hansen

#4 PB: CLEVER & CRAFTY: HOW FRANCES GLESSNER LEE TAUGHT POLICE TO OBSERVE Amy Nielsen

#5 PB: MOSQUITO IN A BURRITO Amy Nielsen

#6 PB: ONIONS FOR BREAKFAST Anjanette Barr

#7 PB: 42 FOLDS Anjanette Barr

#8 MG: THE GHOST LIGHTS OF FROSTPROOF Shannon Hassan

#9 MG: ALEX BROOKSBY: BORN A THIEF Shannon Hassan, Amy Nielsen, Callie Hansen, Lindsay Auld

#10 MG: MERRYN ICEFALL AND THE DEEP Vicky Weber, Callie Hansen, Stefanie Molina-Santos, Andie Smith

#11 MG: SOS Michelle Hauck

#12 MG: JAREN SILVERWING AND THE FORBIDDEN SPELL Vicky Weber

#13 MG: GOOD NEWS FROM HIGHER GROUND Callie Hansen, Stefanie Molina-Santos

#14 YA: THE TAILOR OF BRIDEWATER BAY Vicky Weber

#15 YA: STORM, TEARS & STARLIGHT Vicky Weber, Shannon Hassan, Callie Hansen, Lindsay Auld, Michelle Hauck, Stefanie Molina-Santos

#16 YA: THANKS FOR WAITING Elisa Houot, Callie Hansen, Andie Smith

#17 YA: EVANGELINE AND THE HORRENDOUS UNDEAD Christina Lopez, Amy Giuffrida, Elisa Houot, Ann Leslie Tuttle, Lindsay Auld, Michelle Hauck

#18 YA: SANDALWOOD & ROSE Shari Maurer, Stefanie Molina-Santos

#19 YA: HORNED MOTHER, HUNGRY MOTHER, BRIDE OF THE WOODS Amy Nielsen, Ann Rose

#20 YA: AN INVITATION TO THE BANGTAIL Shannon Hassan, Callie Hansen, Kristin Ostby

#21 YA: SEND RUDES Ann Rose, Jen Nadol

#22 A: THE BLOODHOPPER WIVES Kimberly Fernando

#23 A: A HEALTHY BABY Anjanette Barr, Jen Nadol

#24 A: GALVESTON GOTHIC Christina Lopez, Vicky Weber, Shannon Hassan, Amy Giuffrida, Ann Leslie Tuttle, Michelle Hauck, Jenna Jankowski, Kristin Ostby, Kimberly Fernando

#25 A: THE FORGOTTEN INN Elisa Houot, Ann Leslie Tuttle, Jenna Jankowski, Stefanie Molina-Santos, Ann Rose

#26 A: ORDINARY CRIME Anjanette Barr, Kimberly Fernando

#27 A: BEYOND THE PAGE Kimberly Fernando, Shannon Hassan, Amy Giuffrida, Elisa Houot, Amy Nielsen, Callie Hansen, Ann Leslie Tuttle, Lindsay Auld, Kristin Ostby, Andie Smith

#28 A: THE GIRL WITH BLOOD ON HER DRESS Kimberly Fernando, Vicky Weber, Elisa Houot, Lindsay Auld, Stefanie Molina-Santos

#29 A: THE HAPPY EVER AFTER HOUSE Kimberly Fernando

#30 A: DUST IN THE LIGHT Amy Giuffrida, Elisa Houot, Lindsay Auld, Michelle Hauck

In addition, we had two finalists drop out of #PitchMe after accepting offers of representation in the last couple of weeks, but luckily, we had two alternates waiting in the wings!

Last but certainly not least, one last thank-you and shout-out to Tara Shiroff and Melissa Trempe for all their hard work. You ladies are amazing! And to everyone who entered, thank you so much for entrusting us with your work. If you'd like feedback on your entry, you're more than welcome to respond to your original submission with a request for notes, and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can.

#PitchMe Finalists 2024

Without any ado, this year's #PitchMe finalists:

PB

J.L.'s 42 FOLDS

C.S.'s I AM JEWISH, I AM PROUD

S.H.'s ONIONS FOR BREAKFAST

S.M.'s CRAFTY & CLEVER: HOW FRANCES GLESSNER LEE TAUGHT POLICE TO OBSERVE

M.D.'s MOSQUITO IN A BURRITO

M.H.B.'s DEAR MATH

MG

A.T.'s THE GHOSTLIGHTS OF FROSTPROOF (magical realism)

W.W.'s ALEX BROOKSBY: BORN A THIEF (adventure mystery)

J.R.'s GOOD NEWS FROM HIGHER GROUND (contemporary)

C.L.'s PHOTO NEGATIVE (horror)

D.A.'s JAREN SILVERWING AND THE FORBIDDEN SPELL (fantasy)

S.B.'s SOS (historical adventure)

YA

M.M.W.'s THANKS FOR WAITING (contemporary romance)

J.O.'s AN INVITATION TO THE BANGTAIL (historical)

C.E.'s SEND RUDES (contemporary)

C.R.F.'s THE TAILOR OF BRIDEWATER BAY (historical horror)

A.M.'s EVANGELINE AND THE HORRENDOUS UNDEAD (contemporary fantasy)

V.S.'s SANDALWOOD & ROSE (historical Gothic fantasy)

J.W.'s STORM, TEARS & STARLIGHT (fantasy)

J.H.'s HORNED MOTHER, HUNGRY MOTHER, BRIDE OF THE WOODS (horror)

Adult

B.G.'s ORDINARY CRIME (cozy mystery)

M.B.'s DUST IN THE LIGHT (mystery)

J.M.'s THE FORGOTTEN INN (cozy fantasy)

H.D.'s SYMPHONY OF A HAUNTING (horror)

F.H.'s THE BLOODHOPPER WIVES (speculative thriller)

R.L.'s BEYOND THE PAGE (contemporary romance)

C.J.P.'s GALVESTON GOTHIC (historical Gothic romance)

J.E.W.'s THE GIRL WITH BLOOD ON HER DRESS (psychological thriller)

J.S.'s A HEALTHY BABY (book club)

D.C.'s THE HAPPY EVER AFTER HOUSE (paranormal romance)

Congratulations, finalists! We can't wait to get to work!

To all the other entrants, I'm so sorry. As a fellow writer, I know how much rejection hurts--and how much it makes you question yourself and your abilities. I wish I had more answers, but please believe me when I say I'm rooting for every one of you. Your stories have value because YOU have value, and I hope that, someday, you'll have an opportunity to share them with the world.

I'm hoping to offer feedback to everyone who entered #PitchMe once the agent round has wrapped on Thursday, October 24, but because I've got a few lines in the water right now, I can't commit to it just yet. Please check back in late October if you're interested; I'll definitely post something here and/or on Twitter if I'm able to provide that opportunity again.

What #PitchMe Agents and Editors Are Looking for This Year

First off, thank you, thank you, thank you for submitting to #PitchMe. I've now read ALL the entries, and you guys blew me away. But instead of sharing my thoughts on what worked well and what didn't, I thought you might benefit from hearing what agents and editors are looking for this year.

Next off, a few caveats:

• Though I go out of my way to bring in editors and agents who are representative of the industry at large, they're obviously not everyone, which means these lists are *not* exhaustive.
• Some of our agents and editors only told me which categories they were most interested in while others mentioned genres, so just because your genre doesn't appear doesn't mean I ignored your entry. I value variety in addition to good concepts and pitch-perfect voice and writing.
• I've noticed over the years that #PitchMe agents and editors almost always end up liking things that weren't expressly on their lists, so don't read too much into these. Also, we had agents and editors who *weren't* #PitchMe agents and editors jump in and like pitches last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens this one.

We have 14 agents and 4 editors officially involved this year. Of these, 3 informed me that they're looking for PB, 8 said they're looking for MG, 14 are looking for YA, and 16 plan to browse adult.

Most agents and editors don't specify genres within PB (though one of our agents did say they were most interested in STEAM and SEL PBs this year). Here's what they said they're looking for in MG, YA, and adult:

MG

2 General/Contemporary

Historical

Magical realism

Fantasy

Nonfiction

Everything!

YA

3 Romance (keywords: contemporary, romantic comedy)

2 Contemporary

2 Historical

2 Fantasy (keywords: non-Western/non-Eurocentric, dark)

*Not* fantasy

*Not* horror

Horror

Magical realism

Gothic

Paranormal

Speculative

Humorous

Nonfiction

Adult

7 Mystery

6 Thriller/Suspense (including romantic)

5 Fantasy (keywords: non-Western/non-Eurocentric, dark, grounded)

5 Horror

4 Historical

3 Sci-fi

3 Romance

3 Commercial/Book club

2 Speculative

2 Paranormal (including romance)

Gothic

Women's fiction

Adventure

Nonfiction

It's worth noting that these lists look very different than they did last year. I don't remember all the details, but I'm fairly confident that thrillers topped *YA* last year (and are now nowhere to be found) and that historical and women's fiction were the most sought-after genres in adult.

Finalists announced next week!

Second Submission Window for #PitchMe 2024 Now Open

UPDATE: And that's a wrap! We ended up with 71 PBs, 39 MGs, 71 YAs, and 186 adults, for a total of 367 entries, a new #PitchMe record. Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, September 18. Thanks for entering!

Welcome to #PitchMe 2024! 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)

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 4, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. (Note that most of the United States will still be on Daylight Time when #PitchMe takes place, which is why I've said 10:30 a.m. EDT. If you live somewhere that remains on Standard Time, please adjust accordingly.) The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 4, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. 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.

7. Publishing professionals (i.e., anyone who is currently employed by an agency or publisher, including but not limited to agents, editors, and sales reps) MAY NOT ENTER #PITCHME. (Previously published authors MAY enter #PitchMe as long as that's their only previous or current connection to the publishing industry.) I know this sounds harsh, but publishing professionals have inside tracks to securing representation should they decide to try their hands at writing (because they can contact agent and editor friends directly, bypassing regular query channels to some degree), and I don't want someone who has no inside track to miss out.

For more information, including a timeline of events and a list of participating agents and editors, please check out this post. We can't wait to read your work!

First Submission Window for #PitchMe 2024 Now Open

UPDATE: The first submission window is now closed, but the second will open tonight at 10:30 p.m. EDT (which is 10:30 p.m. in New York). For your information, we've received 39 PBs, 22 MGs, 45 YAs, and 105 adults so far!

Welcome to #PitchMe 2024! 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)

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 4, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. (Note that most of the United States will still be on Daylight Time when #PitchMe takes place, which is why I've said 10:30 a.m. EDT. If you live somewhere that remains on Standard Time, please adjust accordingly.) The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 4, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. 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.

7. Publishing professionals (i.e., anyone who is currently employed by an agency or publisher, including but not limited to agents, editors, and sales reps) MAY NOT ENTER #PITCHME. (Previously published authors MAY enter #PitchMe as long as that's their only previous or current connection to the publishing industry.) I know this sounds harsh, but publishing professionals have inside tracks to securing representation should they decide to try their hands at writing (because they can contact agent and editor friends directly, bypassing regular query channels to some degree), and I don't want someone who has no inside track to miss out.

For more information, including a timeline of events and a list of participating agents and editors, please check out this post. We can't wait to read your work!

#PitchMe 2024

#PitchMe is back, and Tara Shiroff and I, along with Melissa Trempe, are ready to get to work. If you take what I love most about multi-agent query contests--mentoring great writers at wherever they happen to be on their publishing journey--and mash it up with a pitch fest, then you've basically got #PitchMe. Are you interested? Read on!

Here's the timeline:

September 4: The submission windows open
September 18: Selected submissions announced
September 18-October 22: Mentoring takes place
October 23: 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)

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 4, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. (Note that most of the United States will still be on Daylight Time when #PitchMe takes place, which is why I've said 10:30 a.m. EDT. If you live somewhere that remains on Standard Time, please adjust accordingly.) The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 4, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes half an hour later. 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.

7. Publishing professionals (i.e., anyone who is currently employed by an agency or publisher, including but not limited to agents, editors, and sales reps) MAY NOT ENTER #PITCHME. (Previously published authors MAY enter #PitchMe as long as that's their only previous or current connection to the publishing industry.) I know this sounds harsh, but publishing professionals have inside tracks to securing representation should they decide to try their hands at writing (because they can contact agent and editor friends directly, bypassing regular query channels to some degree), and I don't want someone who has no inside track to miss out.

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.

Once I've finalized my picks, I'll e-mail the winning writers and announce the winning titles here and/or on my Twitter feed two weeks after the submission windows close. 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 our 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 23, 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 reviewing your pitches:

Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency

Amy Nielsen of The Purcell Agency

Ann Leslie Tuttle of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret

Anjanette Barr of Dunham Literary

Elisa Houot of The Seymour Agency

Jen Nadol of The Unter Agency

Kimberly Fernando of Olswanger Literary

Kristin Ostby of Greenhouse Literary Agency

Lindsay Auld of Writers House

Michelle Hauck of Storm Literary Agency

Shannon Hassan of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Shari Maurer of Stringer Literary Agency

Stefanie Molina of Latterbird Literary Agency

Vicky Weber of Creative Media Agency

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.

Callie Hansen of Shadow Mountain Publishing

Christina Lopez of St. Martin's Press

Jenna Jankowski of Sourcebooks

Liesa Abrams of Labyrinth Road

So get those pitches polished up and plan to e-mail them to me--with your queries and first pages--on Wednesday, September 4, at 10:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. EDT. We can’t wait to read your work!

Have a question? Ask below!

Dedicated #PitchMe Page Unlocked

Well, folks, I've finally put together a dedicated #PitchMe page. If you're actually looking at my blog, you should be able to find the tab at the top of the website. If you're getting this by e-mail or in some other feed, you can find the tab by clicking on this link.

I haven't started reaching out to agents or editors yet (though I will within a week or two!), but you can rest assured that #PitchMe will return this fall. And though I still happen to be without an agent at the moment, you can also rest assured that I will never, ever enter one of my own manuscripts.

Until September!

What Do You Think of This Query for My YA Fantasy?

As many of you know, my agent medically retired toward the beginning of last year. I'd already been struggling to come up with my next project, and this setback didn't help. Gladly, #PitchMe came along, which gave me time to plot and plan. I wrote and revised a PB as soon as #PitchMe was done, then started working on a YA I'd been pondering for months. I've nearly finished the first draft, so now I'm just starting to think about how to pitch this project. It's still several months away from being ready to query, but I would love to get your thoughts on my query in the meantime. This is only the first draft, so I'm open to all feedback:

Dear [Agent]:

As the adopted son of the highest high chief of the Lands, Almundemba’s never felt like he actually belongs. He’s too pale, too paranoid, and more interested in plants than in governing the Lands. But Almund has one use for his political cachet, and that’s to alter the Exchange. For too long, this exercise of trading children like kukuis has benefitted his birth country more than his adopted one; he wants to rebalance the scales.

Relentless as the Tide used to be the only child of the highest high chief of the Lands—until he traded her for the Homish sovereign’s newborn when Relentless was a toddler. Twelve and seven years later, Relentless finally figures out why her adopted mother willingly Exchanged her son: because she needed a daughter to pledge marriage to the heir of her country’s vengeful neighbor. Relentless wants no part of this and hijacks the steamer bound for the Lands and the Exchange to abolish it for good.

This won’t be easy, though. The highest high chief of the Lands doesn’t wish to void the treaty that has kept his nation safe, and Almund has his own agenda. Luckily, Relentless has one more bargaining chip: a biological half sister who resembles her a lot. Setting her principles aside, Relentless kidnaps her half sister to pledge marriage in her place.

When Almund learns they’ve disappeared, he vows to bring his sister back. She’s the heir their country needs. But sisters have minds of their own, and this one has other plans. Now Almund must convince her she requires rescuing before she marries a monster—and he’ll need Relentless’s help.

[TITLE] is a 100,000-word fantasy for young adults inspired by h­ānai, the traditional Hawaiian practice of informally adopting children to bolster alliances. After my previous agent medically retired last year, I spent the next several months formulating the right project with which to secure a new one. This manuscript is that right project and has never been submitted.

Like my main characters, I was adopted as an infant. I’m also part Hawaiian and the author of four middle grade novels, including THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING (Putnam 2015) and THE MULTIPLYING MYSTERIES OF MOUNT TEN (Bloomsbury 2019).

Thank you for your time and especially your consideration.