YA/MG Pitch-to-Query Contest & Mentored Workshop Starts Today

by Martina Boone

6:50 PM: We have now processed all entries and regretfully made a number of disqualifications. One for word count in the synopsis, several because the genre was neither young adult nor middle grade, and one because no email address was provided or findable. As a result, we have accepted four of the alternates. Everyone (with the exception of the person who provided no email) has been notified of status. If you did NOT receive an email from us, please contact us and we will be happy to confirm. Thank you all for your submissions. Check back next Thursday to participate in critiques and to see what our mentors had to say.

3:53 PM: We now have 51 entries, I have emailed 12 people regarding various things. We still have two entries posted in the wrong spot and at least one that looks like it may be disqualified. So.

We STILL need a couple of alternates for backup. If you do not see your entry in the comments below, you are not entered. And if you do see your entry below, it is NOT confirmed unless we can verify that we have your title, your name, your genre (YA or MG), and an email address to reach you. Check your entries, folks.

The contest is now open for the first 50 entries! Post your 175-word pitch in the comments of this post.

We are excited to kick off our new contest with Sarah LaPolla from Curtis Brown, Ltd and a panel of guest authors who will help you perfect your pitch, lick your logline into shape, and rock your query letter. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be paired with a mentor from among our authors, and she, along with our other contestants and our amazing followers, will help you work through the short synopsis and logline elements of your query. Then you will put it all together, and Sarah LaPolla will choose the top three finalists!

The three top finalists will receive a submission request from Sarah LaPolla. In addition, they’ll receive:

1st Place: Three-chapter manuscript critique from Sarah LaPolla
2nd Place: Two-chapter manuscript critique from P.J. Hoover
3rd Place: One-chapter manuscript critique from Michele Corriel

Detailed timetables are located here, but see below for how today’s segment is going to work.

Contest opens today at noon eastern time to the first 50 entries.

To enter, post a comment to this post including:

Your name or screenname
The title of your project
The genre of your project
Your pitch, no more than 175 words and two paragraphs that briefly synopsize your story.
If your online profile doesn’t include an email address, either provide it or email us privately at kidlit (at) writeedge.com so we’ll have a way to contact you. We will not accept anonymous entries or entries without contact info this time. (We spent WAY too much time herding contestants last month!)

8/19 to 8/26:

Our panel of mentoring authors will be evaluating and formulating their ideas on your short synopsis (pitch) paragraphs.

8/26 to 9/1:

Our mentoring authors will post their comments and suggestions.
Contestants, please plan to offer courteous, helpful comments on at least five other entries.
Followers and readers, please help us out and offer your suggestions, too!

9/02: You’ll accept your one-sentence logline (elevator pitch) entries. Plan ahead!

JUDGE’s BIO

Sarah LaPolla began at Curtis Brown in 2008, working with Dave Barbor and Peter Ginsberg. Sarah is interested in literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, science fiction, literary horror, and young adult fiction. She loves complex characters, coming-of-age stories, and strong narrators. Sarah graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Writing and English, and went on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. She is always on the lookout for debut authors and welcomes email submissions at sl [at] cbltd.com.

CRITIQUING AUTHORS

P. J. Hoover grew up visiting museums and dreaming of finding Atlantis. She eventually married and had two children, shifted her dreams to reality, and began a writing career. PJ enjoys writing fantasy for middle grade and teen readers, boys and girls alike. Her middle grade fantasy novels, The Emerald Tablet and The Navel of the World, chronicle the adventures of a boy who discovers he’s part of two feuding worlds hidden beneath the sea. Prior to writing full time, PJ worked as an electrical engineer designing chips in Austin, Texas. She is represented by Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Award-winning journalist, freelance writer and book reviewer, Michele Corriel’s debut middle grade novel, Fairview Felines: A Newspaper Mystery, is now available for pre-order on Amazon and her debut picture book, Weird Rocks, will be out this fall. Michele is also the Regional Advisor for SCBWI’s Montana Chapter and conducts writing workshops throughout the year. She is represented by The McVeigh Agency.

MENTORING AUTHORS

E. M. Kokie’s debut novel, Personal Effects, will be published by Candlewick in 2012. After spending most of her life on the East Coast, she now lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her partner and their imaginary pets. Eventually, she’ll have a fully functioning website, but for now she can be found on twitter at @emkokie or hanging around the Absolute Write Forums. She is represented by Chris Richman of Upstart Crow Literary.
Tahereh a.k.a. T.H. Mafi works as a graphic designer. Her blog Grab a Pen consistently entertains the masses. She writes YA novels and is represented by the ever-fabulous Amy Tipton of Signature Literary Agency.
Lisa Green is not a demon, ghost, vampire, fairy or shape-shifter*. She has, however, enjoyed reading and writing about them since the age of seven. Her short stories and poems have been featured in several online magazines and her manuscripts are represented by the amazing Rubin Pfeffer of East-West Literary. *Please note that the exclusion of werewolves above is strictly coincidental.
J.A. Souders was born with an overactive imagination and an abundance of curiosity that led her to befriend the monsters under the bed. When she grew up, she decided to put her imaginary friends to work and started writing. She lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and their two children, and is an active member of the RWA, CFRW, and the SCBWI. She is represented by Natalie Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
After a successful career in journalism, Debra Gersh Hernandez works with press and media advocacy groups as an independent communications consultant. Her first picture books “The Sneaky Snackers,” illustrated by Eric MacDicken, features furry, funny monsters and an easygoing lesson about tolerance. She is represented by Marisa Corvisiero at the L. Perkins Agency.
Nikki Katz is a freelance writer, author, wife, rocket scientist (aerospace engineer), mother of three, friend, daughter, sister, and often-times more. She lives in San Diego, CA where she works from home as the Managing Editor for the BlogWorld blog. She has published four nonfiction books, and her first novel, a young adult urban fantasy, is represented by Bree Ogden at Martin Literary Management.
A.E. Rought’s love of fantasy started with listening at her mother’s knee and turned to writing after she got married and had two beautiful kids of her own. Her work includes children’s fiction as well as adult fantasy and paranormal. Her first novel, Nuermar’s Last Witch, which has been called a ‘spellbinding fantasy,’ was published in 2007, with a number of other books published since and more in the works. She is represented by Gina Panettieri of Talcott Notch Literary Services.
Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) in Summer 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or her website. She also co-authors the Query Tracker blog, the League of Extraordinary Writers, and What Writers Read. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.
Hilary Wagner lives in Chicago with her husband, Eric, two crazy kids and her dog Louie, who sometimes thinks he’s human. Her debut novel, Nightshade City (Holiday House) releases October of 2010, with Book II of the Nightshade Chronicles releasing next year. She loves classically written stories with a creepy slant and knows she’s read a good book when she’s sad she has no more left to read! Her guilty pleasures are bad reality TV, candy corn and Cheetos!
Gretchen McNeil is a classically trained soprano turned television producer turned writer. She is repped by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown and her YA urban fantasy BANISH debuts with Balzer + Bray in Winter 2012. Gretchen is a founding member of the vlog group the YARebels and blogs with the Enchanted Inkpot. She is the voice of Mary on G4’s “Code Monkeys” and she currently sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk.

Good luck, everyone!

Martina & Marissa

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: Aug 19, 2010

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: #contests | Craft of Writing | Literary Agents | WOW Wednesday

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← Previous: WOW Wednesday: L.J. Boldyrev on Short Stories Next: Best Articles This Week for Writers 8/20/2010 →

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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