Agent-judged Pitch+Page Contest Starts 2/15/14 — Get Your MG/YA/NA Manuscripts Ready!

by Martina Boone

Hi, everyone! I’m interrupting this regularly scheduled Wish I’d Written Post to announce a . . .

CONTEST!

Yep. An honest-to-gosh pitch contest. We haven’t done one in a few months, because I’ve been frazzled and Jan Lewis, our contest coordinator extraordinaire, started a new business which has taken her away from the blog a bit. Which is awesome. (See AuthorSidekick.com, for deets, if you’re curious!) Eh. Hem.

But back to our announcement.

Since Jan and I couldn’t do contests without additional help, we’re thrilled to announce that Lisa Gail Green is going to be taking over as contest coordinator and agent wrangler on the blog. (See here for Lisa’s bio!) And to kick things off, we’re going to jump right into a Pitch+Page Contest, which will begin at noon on 2/15/14. We’ve created a whole new blog (Adventures in YA Contests) just for contest entries, so things will run much more smoothly. But don’t let the name fool you. The contest will be open to MG, YA, and NA as well–in the sense of NA as a great book with college age or slightly older protagonists in any genre.

Here are the rules.

We will take the first 100 Middle Grade/Young Adult/New Adult entries submitted after noon on 2/15. Please remember that we have many teen readers on this blog who are under 18, so keep the first pages rated PG. (I’m the last person to suggest any kind of censorship for ANY reason, but there is a level of expectation based on what readers are used to seeing here at AYAP.)
Entries will consist of a pitch of no more than 150 words and the first sentence of a COMPLETED manuscript.
The entries will all be posted on AdventuresInYAContests.blogspot.com.
We will invite reading, comments, love, and voting for a favorite — from anyone who wants to participate — until 6:00 AM ET on 2/22. At noon on 2/22 we announce the top 50 entries.
The top 50 entries will be judged by a group of respected bloggers, who will score the entries according to a standard scale with two bloggers reading each entry and a third blogger serving as a discrepancy judge if there is a wide disparity in scores.
The top 25 entries will be invited to send in their first page in addition to their pitch. These full entries will be scored by a group of authors according to a standard scale — two authors per manuscript with a discrepancy judge available.
The top 10 will move on to the agent round
Winners will be announced on 3/15/14.
All feedback, from the public, bloggers, authors, and agents will be posted as comments on the entry, but the identity of the judge making the comment will not be revealed. You’ll just see Judge 1, or Judge 2, etc. You will, however, have a bio for all of the judges involved in that round.

This will give all participants the opportunity to receive feedback that they can apply immediately to their work, and give anyone who is inclined to watch the process the ability to learn vicariously.

Want to participate?

Here (again) is what you need:

A completed MG, YA, or NA manuscript.
A 150-word pitch for the above.
A kickbutt first sentence. (Or at least one that doesn’t suck.) Trust me, I KNOW how hard that is!)
A fabulous first page. (Or at least one that introduces voice, a story question, and a character doing something.)
An iron suit to wear over your prickly skin. Suck it up, Buttercup. Publishing is tough, but if you get good, hard, thoughtful feedback, you can apply it to make your manuscript stand out.)
The desire to improve.

That’s it.

Now, a word of caution, and I am speaking here from having queried two manuscripts before I sold COMPULSION. Are you listening?

You don’t need to do a contest to get an agent.
You don’t need to jump through hoops to court agents online.
You don’t need prayer beads and voodoo dolls.

Agents want good manuscripts. Publishers want good manuscripts.

If your writing is solid, your query letter makes sense, your approach is professional, and your concept is marketable–and your timing isn’t horribly bad–you can query any agent who is open to new clients, and he or she will read at least the pitch and probably a few pages, too.

Although we have agents judging this contest, this contest isn’t about just getting your manuscript in front of an agent. It’s about getting your manuscript READY for an agent. It’s about developing the kind of analytical ability that will let you survive the hard work of the publishing process and hopefully be ready for reviews. It’s about giving your manuscript the best possible chance to succeed.

And yes, there will be prizes. An agent critique of your first chapter or first three chapters. And books. GREAT books. Like Stephen King on Writing and some fun things.

So get ready. Are you ready?

See you on 2/15 at noon!

Oh, and P.S. — Don’t forget our Free February First Five Pages Workshop starts at noon on Saturday, February 1. The guest mentor this month is Edgar Award nominated author Todd Strasser, who has 140 books, two feature films, and several TV shows to his credit–among many other things. And we have an incredible new cast of permanent mentors to help us out since Lisa and I were overwhelmed at the end of last year.

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Jan 30, 2014

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: #contests | Submission and Publishing

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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