10/21 Upcoming Multi-Agent Pitch/Query Contests: #bakersdozen #agenttreat #pitchmas

With the new look of the blog, I’m trying to clean up my upcoming contest list. One thing I’ve noticed, there definitely seems to be some burnout right now. Mother.  Write. (Repeat.) cancelled her monthly “Agent Inbox” (where people have the opportunity to be chosen submit a query to be read by an agent who then blogs instant feedback on the query on the blog).

First off, an apology: Due to unforeseen circumstances, I’m cancelling this month’s round of “An Agent’s Inbox.” And because of the general contest weariness I’ve noticed around the blogosphere/Twitterverse of late, I’m holding off on scheduling another until after New Year’s. I’m so sorry to anyone who was counting on entering a round this year!

Plus, there’s this piece from Natalie M. Lakosil, on an agent’s perspective on the current frenzy of pitch and query opportunities and some agents feeling like they’ve seen a lot of the same things in multiple contests. I actually wasn’t going to enter a contest because there were only two agents and one had already seen my entry multiple times. In the end I decided to enter because I had revised the story and there was that other agent.  But the piece made a point I hadn’t considered: keep track of which agents are participating in the contests so you’ll know who’s seen your work. I hadn’t been doing that, but I will be now.

However, if you’re just jumping in and haven’t done a query contest before, Sticking To The Story has a wonderful post on what to expect and how to get ready. Even if you’ve done them before there’s LOTS of helpful information there.

Short list right now. Here are the multi-agented contests:

The ONLY multi-agent contest which has an entry this week (October 24), is Trick or Treat with Agents, so I’m going to put up the whole beautiful flyer they made up (it’s hosted by the wonderful Brenda Drake, Kimberly Chase and Deanna Romito.) You will need to go the the blogs for information on agents wish lists and more particulars! (plus Brenda has a teaser up for her next big contest, Pitch Wars, which opens 12/10).

The following week, on October 30 and November 1, Miss Snark’s First Vicitim (MSFV for short) will have the first entry windows for the ADULT authors who want to try to get in to Baker’s Dozen. (This week she’s having the secret agent contest, information in the single agent/publishing house section below). Here are the windows for Bakers Dozen entries (be sure to go to the site for all the details!)

 

ADULT ROUND 1: Tuesday, October 30 (100 entries)
ADULT ROUND 2: Thursday, November 1 (100 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 1: Tuesday, November 6 (150 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 2: Thursday, November 8 (150 entries)

AFTER NaNoWriMo, December 4-6, Pitchmas, A Holiday Pitchfest will be happening on Jessa Russo and FeakySnucker’s blogs:

This will be a three-day event (you will not have to participate in all three days if you don’t want to) where your peers will first help you hone your Twitter/Blog pitches and then you will have the chance to pitch your manuscript to your dream editor or literary agent!!!
*All manuscripts must be completed and polished.

I’m keeping an eye on  Cupid’s Literary Connection, I’m guessing they’ll have a contest announcement before the end of the month.

For this next week there’s only one contests which has ONE agent/agency or publisher stopping by (at least that I know about). Miss Snark’s First Victim wil host Secret Agent (who is looking for MG and YA). The entry window for the lottery is on 10/22, so be sure to hop over to her blog to find out the details. There are many blogs which host pitch contests for single agents, I don’t have a complete list by any means. One of the best ways to find contests is on Twitter, by following authors you see on the contests, and the hosts and agents as well, you’ll see information on new contests as the information hits the twitterverse.

Plus, if you look over on my left side bar, you’ll see a link to a paper.li news article feed which pulls contest, agent news and publishing opportunities which I run across into one place. Easy to check and subscribe. There’s general publishing news too, but mostly about pitch contests and submission opportunities. AND I have links to several blogs which host contest, multi-agent at once, or multi-agent over time (NEW LINK ADDED – Muse Tracks) Wishing every who enters the best of luck!

10/14 Upcoming Multi-Agent Pitch/Query Contests: #bakersdozen #agenttreat #pitchmas

Gearing up to Get an Agent is over, thanks to Deana Barnhart for all her hard work. Bummer that not all the small press editors made it over, but cool that those who did went to the ‘source’ blogs and made requests.

As for what’s coming down the pike, I’ve only copied little snips of information from each blog. Be sure to click through for full details!

Before you submit, if you’ve been doing a lot of contests you might want to read this piece from Natalie M. Lakosil, on an agent’s perspective on the current frenzy of pitch and query opportunities. 

PITCH EVENTS HAPPENING MID-OCTOBER AND BEYOND

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I’ve divided these into two categories. The first is events that have multiple agents/editors looking at entries, and at the bottom I’ll list some of the events which have single agents/publishers looking at entries. For this last category I can’t possibly list them all so I will be making judgement calls on which ones to list.

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THIS WEEK Miss Snark’s First Victim will be having the third ‘pre’ contest chance to get your logline polished before her very popular Baker’s Dozen Contest . This is one of the few opportunities which is running through November. Be aware there is a fee for everyone in the submission rounds. Information below:

We will have 3 critique rounds for those of you who would like feedback on your loglines prior to submitting. These rounds will be run as lotteries. Times TBA.

ROUND 1: Tuesday, September 25 (submissions on Monday, September 24)
ROUND 2: Tuesday, October 9 (submissions on Monday, October 8)
ROUND 3: Tuesday, October 16 (submissions on Monday, October 15)

SUBMISSION DATES FOR THE AUCTION

ADULT ROUND 1: Tuesday, October 30 (100 entries)
ADULT ROUND 2: Thursday, November 1 (100 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 1: Tuesday, November 6 (150 entries)
YA/MG ROUND 2: Thursday, November 8 (150 entries)

WINNER NOTIFICATION 

25 adult category winners notified via email: Monday, November 12
35 YA/MG category winners notified via email: Monday, November 19

60 WINNING ENTRIES POSTED: Friday, November 30

AUCTION GOES LIVE FOR AGENTS: Tuesday, December 4 (for 24 hours)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• There will be a $10 entry fee for this contest. Yes, that is $2 more than last year.  Blame it on Paypal fees.  (And no, I won’t be raising the fee every year just for the fun of it.  I feel like $10 is a fair entrance fee.)  To avoid confusion:  Yes, every entry must pay the fee.  This is the ONLY EVENT I charge for, simply because of the amount of work it takes to pull it off.
• A maximum of 500 entries (200 adult, 300 YA/MG) will be accepted. Of these, 60 winners will be chosen (25 adult, 35 YA/MG). ++ (more information on site)

Brenda Drake is hosting TWO Pitch events in October. The first of which you can sign up for NOW. Be ready to put yourself out there! #PITCHLIVE is all about ‘live’, or in this case video, pitches. YOU MUST SIGN UP AND HAVE  YOUR PITCH ‘LIVE’ ON YOUR WEBSITE BY 8am MONDAY 10/15 TO ENTER THIS!

I’m so excited to announce PITCH LIVE! What is it, you ask? It’s a video of your best elevator pitch to an agent. I wanted to give you guys enough time to produce a video of an elevator pitch for your finished novels, so I’m posting this now. We already have a couple agents signed up to view the top 30 videos (if we get that many), but there will be more agents. I’ll announce the agents in a post soon. The contest is for Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. The elevator pitch should be creative, as if you ran into an agent at a conference.

And, coming up soon she’ll have a special pre-halloween treat:

Announcing…Trick or Treat with Agents Contest

  

I’m thrilled to announce a very exciting and delicious contest that I was invited to co-host

with the extremely talented Kimberly Chase and Deanna Romito.

Submissions will open October 24th at 11 AM EDT with the

first 150 entries making it in (all rules must be followed correctly to advance).

AFTER NaNoWriMo, December 4-6, Pitchmas, A Holiday Pitchfest will be happening on Jessa Russo and FeakySnucker’s blogs:

This will be a three-day event (you will not have to participate in all three days if you don’t want to) where your peers will first help you hone your Twitter/Blog pitches and then you will have the chance to pitch your manuscript to your dream editor or literary agent!!!
*All manuscripts must be completed and polished..

 

I’m keeping an eye on  Cupid’s Literary Connection, I’m guessing they’ll have a contest announcement before the end of the month. For any of the blogs above I’d strongly suggest following them and/or subscribe to their feeds and you can be ‘in the know’ for when the next one comes up. 

Now for a couple of contests which have ONE agent/agency or publisher stopping by:

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GOING ON RIGHT NOW! (no idea how long it’ll be open) Pitch DIRECTLY to Deb Werksman at the Casablanca Authors Blog. You have to go to the site for formatting information, etc. (Not familiar with Sourcebooks Casablanca? Look here for information) A tease to tempt you:

It’s one of those months when I don’t want to read my own writing—I want to read YOURS! Voila—time for a pitch session!

These are the IRON-CLAD rules!

1)      ONLY single-title romance 85,000 to 100,000 words or commercial women’s fiction

2)      Erotic romance, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense, contemporary romance

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You have until Tuesday, October 16 to enter This Writers World‘s Spooktacular Pitch Event where the contestants in the final round will be bid on by two agents from the Corsiviero Literary Agency:

The Spooktacular Pitch Extravaganza will open for submissions on October 13 at 8am EDT and stay open until October 16 at 12am EDT. On October 17 I will pull 50 names and have you email me your pitches to a special contest email then. So make sure you check back on October 17! …. This contest is open to Adult, Young Adult, New Adult and Middle Grade fiction so bring it on!

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YAtopia and Down Under Wonderings are hosts for Pitchon. The OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER IS MONDAY, OCTOBER 15:

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

Window submission times for October 15

Submission Window 1 
Down Under Wonderings:
New York: 12 am
London: 5am 
Brisbane: 2pm
Sydney: 3pm

Submission Window 2
YAtopia
October 15:
New York: 8 am
London: 1pm 
Brisbane: 10pm
Sydney: 11pm
Remember – there will only be 100 entries per blog.

If you want to enter your own pitch to the workshops then this post will tell you all about how to submit your pitch. It’s a good idea to do this if you’re planning to enter the competition.

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Plus, if you look over on my left side bar, you’ll see a link to a paper.li news article feed which pulls contest, agent news and publishing opportunities which I run across into one place. Easy to check and subscribe. There’s general publishing news too, but mostly about pitch contests and submission opportunities.

Entering any of these can help you get one step closer to becoming published. Wishing everyone luck! (me too!)

If you’ve never done a query contest Sticking To The Story has a wonderful post on what to expect and how to get ready. Even if you’ve done them before there’s LOTS of helpful information there.

p.s. There are many blogs which host pitch contests for single agents. For instance We Do Write has a monthly one (from their site: Our next Three-Two-One Pitch contest will be held November 15 + 16. Be sure to follow the blog and stay tuned for details!).

***Note: This post is duplicated on my other blog as well. I will be transferring this content there slowly.