Aspiring Historical Authors, Wanna Pitch To Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agentcy?

ATTENTION ASPIRING HISTORICAL ROMANCE AUTHORS!

As part of Ashley Marchs' month-long March Maddness Celebration, beginning today (Thursday, March 17, 2001) agent Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency is taking 3 sentence blog pitches for historical romance on Ashley's blog.

Your 3 line pitch can be a combination of any 3 sentences: 1 sentence blurb of book + 1st 2 lines of ms; a 2 sentence blurb + 1st line of ms; or you can use all 3 lines for the synopsis blurb. The winner gets a partial read. 

RULES:
Beginning today (Thursday, March 17, 2001), you will have until midnight MST on Thursday, March 24th (one week) to comment on this post with no more than three sentences.

The three sentences MUST be either: 1 sentence blurb + first 2 lines; 2 sentence blurb + 1st line; or 3 sentence blurb.

Barbara will choose the pitch/excerpt she likes the best (not random) and the winner will be announced on Thursday, March 31st, the last day of March Madness. Further details on how/when to submit partial will be sent to winner. Completed manuscripts are encouraged, but not required.

Open for aspiring historical romance authors only.

Ashley March Blog
Irene Goodman Literary Agency

Pitch To Christine Witthohn Of The BookCents Literary Agency At Pitch University

I just ran across this website, Pitch University, that host's agent pitches, and there's a pitch session going on right now (Feb. 6 - 12, 2011)! As far as I can tell, you can submit your choice of a written, audio and/or video pitch. The bad news is, last Sunday was the only day they accepted written pitches, but there is still time for the video/audio submission(s).

There is no fee to enter, so if you're interested read the info posted below, and hurry and get your pitch in! 

Good Luck!

Pitch University...an Education in pitching your book or novel

Practice your pitch. Get feedback. (Maybe get a request!)

Welcome to our first "Pitch U Pitchfest Week," February 6 -12, 2011 here at Pitch University.  If you're new to Pitch University, read here for an overview of how we work and here for our rules.

Read below for this week's agent, what you need to do (it's easy!), and special rules to celebrate our Pitch U launch!

Meet Christine Witthohn, BookCents Literary Agency

Christine Witthohn is the founder of Bookcents Literary Agency. She's been mentoring Pitch U writers throughout January by providing lessons and on-going help in developing pitches.

Pitch Lesson 1 - What Goes Into a Great Pitch (Basics of Pitching Your Book)

Pitch Lesson 3: Pitch Your Book's Hook

When you create your pitches for Christine, she wants to know your name, the genre/type, the word count, and your hook.

NOTE: She will assume you're aiming at a New York publisher unless you indicate otherwise.

Her Clients Include Brenda Novak, and BookCents Literary Agency represents authors who write both fiction and very specific non-fiction.

They are currently seeking:

FICTION: Romance - Contemporary, Paranormal, Romantic Comedy, Mystery/Suspense,

Children's - Young Adult, Middle Grade, Women's Lit (must have a strong hook), Mainstream Mystery/Suspense, Medical or Legal Fiction (something that hasn't been done before), Literary Fiction.

NON-FICTION: We are looking for very specific NF Women's Issues/Experiences

Fun/Quirky Topics (particularly those of interest to women), Cookbooks (fun, ethnic, etc.), Health Gardening (herbs, plants, flowers, etc.), Books with a

"Save The Planet" theme, Entertaining Reference, How-To Books.

Professional Affiliations:

• AAR - Association of Authors' Representatives
• RWA - Romance Writers of America
• MWA - Mystery Writers of America
• SinC - Sisters In Crime
• KOD - Kiss Of Death Chapter

 Pitching at Pitch U is easy! It all boils down to...

• Creating a pitch (video, audio, or written).
• Emailing it to us.
• Getting great feedback throughout the week from a guest agent and editor.

There's a lot of information in our Rules area, but just remember it really boils down to 3 simple elements.

Special Rules to Celebrate Our Launch

• No cap!
• All fiction genres; all non-fiction types. (Must be book-length.)You may submit multiple pitches! (1 per book project, including "practice" pitches for incomplete projects.) **This is a 1-time offer.**
• No Change: Deadline to be considered for (video-only) Pitch Evaluation Lab day = Tuesday. 8:00 a.m. CST.
• Bonus Deadline: Extra 24 hours added for all other audio/video pitches! (Yes, a Pitch U Inaugural Celebration Deadline.) Pitch Feedback Day deadline = Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. CST.

Video and Audio Pitches: Accepted all day Sunday, all day Monday, and until SEE EXTENDED DEADLINE ABOVE.

Written Pitches: Accepted Sunday only.

Note: Written pitches are not part of PitchFest Week. They won't be posted. They won't receive any feedback other than the message, "This writer IS/IS NOT ready to create a video or audio pitch" directly from the agent or editor.

Why bother? Well, if you're truly nervous about creating an audio or video, this will give you confidence that the words you're using to pitch your book actually make sense.

An agent or editor is telling you that you're ready to take the next step.

We'll notify you Monday (approx. 6:00 p.m. CST) of the results. You have Monday night (SEE EXTENDED DEADLINE) to go ahead and create a video or audio. You must meet the submission deadline.

Questions?

Pitch University
Book Cents Literary Agency

Pitch Your MS To Literary Agent Lois Winston

Want to get your work in front of Literary Agent Lois Winston of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency? Then visit the Musetracks Blog and find out how.

So it's coming up on another round of Agent Shop. This month's attending agent is:

LOIS WINSTON with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

Want to pitch your 200 word max pitch to agent Lois Winston?

Well then read the Agent Shop rules, refine your pitch, and be at Musetracks on Jan 23rd at 10:00 EST when I'll post the word GO.

As soon as I post, you can send your pitch to me at Candi_Agent_Shop @yahoo.com, and I'll take the first 30 VIABLE pitches. Meaning pitches that follow the specific rules.

But wait - if you want to take a chance to win the first pitch slot, or a copy of Lois Winston's new release, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, then leave a comment on pitch day using the words AGENT and GLUE GUN! I'll randomly pick one winner from all the comments that include those words to win the top pitch slot, and you'll automatically be entered in a drawing for one of five copies of Lois's book during her blog tour.

Good luck and I hope to 'see' you there.

Musetracks Cafe
Ashley Grayson Literary Agency Blog
Publishers Marketplace

The Knight Agency/Deidre Knight Super Big Mega Contest Announcement!

Shopping around for an agent? If so, here's a GREAT opportunity to get your work in front of Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency! Deidre is running a contest to find a fresh new voice to add to her client list.

Snipped from the website:

Knight Agency president and founder Deidre Knight is on the hunt for a fresh, unique voice to add to her personal client roster. Are you the one she's looking for? Find out by joining us here on The Knight Agency blog for "Speed Dating with Deidre." Beginning Tuesday, November 30th, Deidre will whittle down the first 125 entries to one lucky winner.* The contest opens at 8:00am ET right here on the blog, so set your alarms!

Oh, and there’s a special bonus, one randomly drawn winner will receive a first chapter critique from Deidre – drawn from all entries.**

Contest is for completed manuscripts only. For more info, rules and guidelines go to: http://knightagency.blogspot.com/
Good Luck!

Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks Taking Pitches Tomorrow

Sourcebooks editor Deb Werksman will be taking pitches at the Casablanca Authors blog tomorrow (Friday August 26, 2010). This is a one day opportunity, so get your pitch ready!

According to the blog post, Deb is looking for the "pitch of your hook". Also, find out what she's looking for in submissions.

For more info, rules and guidelines, visit Deb's post at the Casablanca Authors blog.

Good Luck!

Sourcebooks, Inc
Casablanca Authors Blog
Sourcebooks Romance Submission Guidelines

Another One Day Pitch Contest With Agent Irene Goodman At Classic Romance Revival Blog

Wow, this must be pitch day! Such GREAT opportunities! We have another one day pitch contest going on today at Classic Romance Revival.

Submit your pitch for a chance to win a 3-chapter critique from a New York literary agent Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

To enter, leave a comment on the CRR blog with the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Title of Book
3. Genre of book (for example historical romance)
4. Your one paragraph pitch (yes, please keep it to one paragraph!)
5. Your e-mail

Good luck!

Classic Romance Revival Blog
Irene Goodman Literary Agency

3 Line Pitch Contest With Joanna Stampfel-Volpe Of The Coffery Lit Agency At Savvy Authors

3 line pitch contest with Joanna Stampfel-Volpe of the Nancy Coffey Literary Agency.

Get those pitches ready! Joanna Stampfel-Volpe will be dropping by our blog on Friday June 25th. The contest will run from 9 a.m. EST to midnight EST. Joanna will pick AT LEAST ONE pitch and the winners will be posted on the Savvy blog.

This contest is open to ALL members of Savvy. (Basic membership is free!)

Joanna's specific interests are: non-fiction for kids and teens, chapter books to YA novels, adult romance (historical, paranormal), fantasy (urban fantasy, steampunk), up-market fiction (dark, literary, horror, women's fic, commercial thrillers, historical, magical realism, speculative fic), and commercial non-fiction (pop culture, environmental, foodie). *She is also interested in graphic novels for kids/teens, or novels with a high graphic element.

Joanna Stampfel-Volpe has been with the Nancy Coffey Literary Agency for two years. She represents children's and adult books, fiction and non-fiction.

Register here!

Nancy Coffey Literary Agency
Savvy Authors

CJ Lyons Query Contest

In honor of her upcoming release URGENT CARE,  Author CJ Lyons is hosting a contest where one lucky person will WIN a critique of your query package by Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency!

PRIZE: one lucky commenter will win a critique of your query letter, two page synopsis, and first three chapters from Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency.

HOW TO ENTER: leave a comment on this post, including your name, email address, and a short blurb of your project. If you want to say something nice about CJ's books, that’s fine as well, but the winner will be determined by a random drawing.

RULES: Odds of winning depend on the number of entries. Entries must be posted prior to midnight EST on November 8. The winner will be announced on November 9 and contacted via email by CJ and Barbara Poelle.

Good Luck!

CJ Lyrons
Irene Goodman Agency

Agent Articles and Resources

There seems to be a lot of really good info floating around the agent blogs this past week. Check out these tidbits, if you're interested. The Guide to Literary Agents share's an excerpt from an article in the yet-to-be released 2010 Guide to Literary Agents by Agent Mollie Glick of the Foundry Literary + Media Agency, entitled Write a Killer Query Letter: How to Hook an Agent. Also on THE GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS is a post by Dorchester editor Leah Hultenschmidt entitled 12 Points of Contracts. Dystel & Goderich talk about the etiquette of submitting to an Agent. Agent in the middle says E.K., a junior agent at the L. Perkins Agency, is aggressively seeking Middle Grade and YA submissions. Check out what E.K.'s looking for here. On Bookends, Jessica Faust discusses Submissions 101. The post is basically a step by step process about submitting to an agent, and starts with making sure your book is written, edited, rewritten and polished before even thinking of sending off a query letter. Great info. And last but not least, agent Nathan Bransford wants to know how you deal with the "am-I-crazies?" Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Agent Contest - TKA's Book In a Nutshell Competition

*Snipped from The Knight Agency Blog Get noticed, get feedback, get an agent. Here’s a chance to have your project reviewed by one of the agents at The Knight Agency. Submit three compelling sentences (150 words max) about your completed, unpublished manuscript to mailto:submissions@knightagency.net (delete spaces). Write BOOK IN A NUTSHELL in the subject line or it will not be deemed elligible. One submission per project, please. Twenty of the best submissions will be chosen and requested by various agents who will then give feedback on your work...and it may even lead to possible representation. Hurry, the deadline is April 20, 2009. Winners will be notified by May 1, 2009. The Knight Agency

New Agency Accepting Romance

New literary agency, BresslerScoggins Literary Management, is shifting their attention from a large array of subject to a narrower focus. Specifically, romance. "After receiving hundreds upon hundreds of submissions, we have decided to specialize in romance categories, including romantic suspense, paranormal romance, contemporary romance and young adult romance. We also are looking for women's fiction and a very select amount of women's nonfiction (parenting, motivational, business written for women). This also fits in with our new partnership with Mamapalooza." In case you're wondering, Mamapalooza, Inc. is: A company by Women, Promoting (M)others for cultural, social and economic benefit. Dedicated to serving, promoting, celebrating, encouraging, inspiring and awakening ALL mothers through the media and performing fine arts. Musicians, authors, comics, dancers, filmmakers, designers, craftswomen, educators, and community leaders coming together in a collaborative effort to highlight the challenges of motherhood in an ever-evolving personal, social, cultural, sexual and political landscape. Our mission is to empower, encourage and enlighten all women to claim their voice. Establish a new art form that speaks to the unique and collective perspective of women who are mothers, while sharing this with the world. Act as a resource and lifestyle guide for mothers seeking support in mainstream and alternative settings. To support the choices mothers have made, and educate them financially, in order to support these choices. I've heard of Mamapalooza, as my cousin's band, The Mydols, who I blogged about recently, played at a Mamapalooza Festival, but I really didn't know what it was all about. To learn more, visit the Official Mamapalooza website . For guidelines and submission information, visit Bessler/Scroggins Literary Management.

Want A FREE Query Critique?

Agent Janet Reid is critiquing query letters over at Query Shark. I snipped the following from the QS blog: How Query Shark Works You can send a query letter to the Shark. It might get posted and critiqued. It might not. You'll know either way. You can send a revised query letter after the critique. It will be posted and critiqued as well. To send work to the shark: email your query letter to janet at fineprintlit dot com You MUST put Query Shark in the subject line to have it be considered for the blog. Not all queries will be critiqued. Visit Janet Reid's official blog to learn more about agent's, query letters and other interesting stuff. Happy Writing! Janet Reid's blog http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/ Janet Reid's Query Shark http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

Bookends Contest #4 - Contemporary Romance

Bookends has announced the winner of the Erotic category, and now they're moving on to Contemporary. Deadline is tomorrow, so hurry if you want to enter. Here are the rules: 1. We’ll only accept entries that are posted in the comments section of this blog article. No e-mailed entries will be considered. 2. Include your title and the first 100 words of your book. Now, we’re not saying to leave us hanging mid-sentence here. Stop wherever the previous sentence ends, but do not exceed 100 words. 3. The same work cannot be entered in more than one genre. If you think your book straddles more than one genre, you’ll have to pick one. We will, however, accept multiple works from the same author in the same or different categories. 4. Once the material is entered, it’s your final entry. We won’t allow revised versions of the same work. 5. We’re accepting excerpts of both finished and unfinished works. 6. The deadline is tomorrow, March 4th, at 9:00 a.m. EST. Winner gets a critique of the query letter, synopsis, and first chapter of the winning entry! Good Luck! Bookends Blog

Bookends Contest #3 - Erotic Romance

Bookends has moved on to the next contest! Phew, they're moving fast! Here are the rules (I snipped them from the blog): TODAY IS THE EROTIC ROMANCE CONTEST! We're accepting all types of erotic romance, including contemporary, historical, and paranormal. ***PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME OF THESE ENTRIES MAY DESCRIBE GRAPHIC SEX SCENES. WE KNOW THIS KIND OF MATERIAL ISN’T FOR EVERYBODY. IF YOU FIND THIS TYPE OF WRITING PERSONALLY OFFENSIVE, THEN PLEASE REFRAIN FROM READING THE COMMENTS SECTION.*** Here are the rules: 1. We’ll only accept entries that are posted in the comments section of this blog article. No e-mailed entries will be considered. 2. Include your title and the first 100 words of your book. Now, we’re not saying to leave us hanging mid-sentence here. Stop wherever the previous sentence ends, but do not exceed 100 words. 3. The same work cannot be entered in more than one genre. If you think your book straddles more than one genre, you’ll have to pick one. We will, however, accept multiple works from the same author in the same or different categories. 4. Once the material is entered, it’s your final entry. We won’t allow revised versions of the same work. 5. We’re accepting excerpts of both finished and unfinished works. 6. The deadline is tomorrow, February 26th, at 9:00 a.m. EST. And in case you’ve forgotten, the prize is a critique of the query letter, synopsis, and first chapter of the winning entry! The winner will e-mail us the additional material and we’ll provide our notes privately, not on the blog. We will, however, discuss what we liked about each winning 100-word entry on the blog, and will pull out a few honorable mentions to highlight other excerpts that came close and why. We’ll post the winners in a few days and then move on to the next genre. But this time we’ll make it a surprise, just to keep you on your toes! Good Luck!

Bookends Contest #2

Bookends has moved on to the PARANORMAL ROMANCE/ROMANCE WITH FANTASY ELEMENTS/FANTASY WITH ROMANTIC ELEMENTS CONTEST! Here are the rules:

• 1. We’ll only accept entries that are posted in the comments section of this blog article. No e-mailed entries will be considered.
• 2. Include your title and the first 100 words of your book. Now, we’re not saying to leave us hanging mid-sentence here. Stop wherever the previous sentence ends, but do not exceed 100 words.
• 3. The same work cannot be entered in more than one genre. If you think your book straddles more than one genre, you’ll have to pick one. We will, however, accept multiple works from the same author in the same or different categories.
• 4. Once the material is entered, it’s your final entry. We won’t allow revised versions of the same work.
• 5. We’re accepting excerpts of both finished and unfinished works.6. The deadline is tomorrow, February 20th, at 9:00 a.m. EST.
• And in case you’ve forgotten, the prize is a critique of the query letter, synopsis, and first chapter of the winning entry!
• The winner will e-mail us the additional material and we’ll provide our notes privately, not on the blog. We will, however, discuss what we liked about each winning 100-word entry on the blog, and will pull out a few honorable mentions to highlight other excerpts that came close and why.We’ll post the winners in a few days and then move on to the next genre: Erotic Romance!

They're moving fast. Last week they took entries for the Mystery contest, and they've already posted the Honorable Mentions. Hurry and get your entry in! Bookends Blog

Agent Lori Perkins Looking for Erotica Authors

Here's some good news for those of you who write Erotica. Agent Lori Perkins, of Lori Perkins Agency in New York, is expanding. In addition to horror, sci-fi and fantasy, Lori will now be working with Erotica authors. She's added an new intern to her staff, who specializes in and will handle only Erotica. I snipped this from her blog, Agent in the Middle.

So, if you have a memoir and/or a novel, or you have a short story track record and wonder if you can be developed into the long form, send me an email titled "erotica intern" and I'll pass it on to her. Or if you know someone who should be writing their memoir and/or erotic novel.

So, if you write Erotica, you're in luck! Below is the link to her blog where you can read all about it. Agent in the Middle Happy Writing!

Lots of Upcoming Contests at Bookends

Starting TODAY, Bookends will be judging a whole series of contests on their blog. Here's a bit of information about the contest I snipped from their blog post: We’re launching a new contest today, and this one is going to be something a little different. We’ll actually be judging a whole series of contests. We decided to try several genre-specific competitions of the first 100 words of the work. We’ll be limiting the types of books to the areas that we represent. In the next few months we’ll be holding contests in the following genres:

• Mystery (traditional and cozy)
• Paranormal Romance/Romance With Fantasy Elements
• Erotic Romance
• Women’s Fiction
• Romantic Suspense
• Contemporary Romance
• Thriller/Suspense
• Historical Romance

The rules are as follows:

• 1. We’ll only accept entries that are posted in the comments section of this blog article. No e-mailed entries will be considered.
• 2. Include your title and the first 100 words of your book. Now, we’re not saying to leave us hanging mid-sentence here. Stop wherever the previous sentence ends, but do not exceed 100 words.
• 3. The same work cannot be entered in more than one genre. If you think your book straddles more than one genre, you’ll have to pick one. We will, however, accept multiple works from the same author in different categories.
• 4. Once the material is entered, it’s your final entry. We won’t allow revised versions of the same work.
• 5. The deadline is tomorrow, February 15th, at 9:00 a.m. EST.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting my query letter, synopsis and first 100 words in order!

On another note, the Bookends Pitch Critique has ended. On Tuesdays Bookends post, Jessica finally said she'd had enough. And who can blame her? I know she had to have critiqued at least 200 or more pitches. However, I'm sorry to say, she didn't get to mine. When she decided to stop, my entry was 15 away from her last critique. Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck with the 100 word contest. I'm waiting for the Historical Romance category. I'm just glad they didn't start the contest off with my category, because this contest came as a huge surprise. Not even a hint that they would be doing this. :)

So, I'm off to get my submission ready. You never know, they just might decide to take submissions for the Historical Romance Category tomorrow. If so, I want to be ready. :)

Wish me luck!

Bookends, LLC Blog

Wanna Hear What Agents (And A Few Editors) Have To Say?

February is Agent Month over at Magical Musings. Megan McKeever, Assistant Editor from Pocket Books, and Keyren Gerlach from Harlequin Books blogged a few weeks back. Click on their names to read their post. Here's the Magical Musings Agent schedule for February: 9 February: Kevan Lyon of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency 14 Febraury: Tamar Rydzinski of the Laura Dail Literary Agency 16 Febraury: Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency 18 February: Pam Strickler of Pam Strickler Author Management 21 February: Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Literary Agency 23 February: Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency 27 Febraury: Holly Root of Waxman Literary Agency Very Impressive, MM! Over at Plot Monkeys, Waxman Literary Agent Holly Root tells you how to make your query stand out in the slush pile. Nathan Bransford, of Curtis Brown, LTD, announces the finalists for his First Page Contest. Jessica Faust of Bookends does Pitch Critique 23 on the Bookends blog (she still hasn't got to mine). :) Alicia and Theresa are talking about dialogue tags over at edittorrent. Reading Agent and Editor (and Author) blogs are a good way to learn and keep up on what's going on in the industry. Here are some of my favorites. The Knight Agency Bookends Lit Agent X Guide to Literary Agents The Rejecter Agent in the Middle Writer Beware! Dystel & Goderich Literary Management Et in arcaedia, ego Janet Reid, Literary Agent Lit Soup Lyons Literary Miss Snark (although Miss Snark no longer blogs, you can still look through the archives) Anyone have any others to add?

First Page Contest At Literary Agent Nathan Bransford's Blog

Literary Agent Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown, LTD is holding a First Page Challenge on his blog. Author Holly Burns will co-judge. Nathan says everyone is welcome to participate, so I plan to enter. :) Below are the contest guidelines. Good luck!

• All may participate. First pages may be from your work in progress or one you invented solely for the SEFPC. I've learned my lesson from contests past, and am limiting entries to one (1) per person.
• b) Leave your first page in the comments section of this post. People who subscribe to the blog via e-mail: please click through to the site and leave your pages on the actual blog. Entries that are e-mailed to me will not be counted.
• 4.6) First pages are limited to 500 words. Use them wisely. Paragraphs should be single-spaced with double-spaces between paragraphs (like how this blog post is formatted). Please do not get crazy with your formatting.
• +) The preliminary deadline for entries is Wednesday at 5:00 PM Pacific time although for some reason I always end up changing my mind about these deadlines, so please keep checking back. Nominees will be announced whenever Holly and I have had a chance to decide upon them, and you will have a chance to vote on the ultimate winner.
• £) Spreading word about the contest on the Internet is encouraged. I am ready to judge this contest. No matter what. Even a million entries will not faze me. My voice only quivered a little when I said that.
• X) And the prizes! The ultimate grand prize deluxe winner will receive the satisfaction of knowing they have a seriously awesome first page, and will have a choice of a query critique, partial critique, 10 minute phone conversation, or one of my clients' books. Runners-up will receive a query critique or other agreed-upon prize.

And that is it! Keep checking back for updates because these guidelines may be changed on a whim. Thank you again to Holly (here's her blog one more time) and good luck! Who has the most surprisingly essential first page? Let's find out.

Query Letter Example

The Nelson Literary Agency Website offers some good tips on query letters and has a nice query letter example on their site. You should take a look-see. They also have a MySpace page, so, if you have one, too, maybe you should "friend" them. I did. :) Just thought I'd share. Happy Writing!