It’s definitely a week (and summer!) of pitching contests. I’m involved in two exciting, brand-new contests this year, both of which are beginning this week. If you have a completed manuscript and haven’t heard of Pitch to Publication and #pg70pit, pay attention! This might be your chance to jump in and get connected with an editor and/or agent.
Here’s the scoop on both contests. Comment below or reach out to the hosts on Twitter if you have any questions.
Pitch to Publication
Pitch to Publication, hosted by Samantha Fountain (@FountainWriter) of sfountain.com and Writer Pitch, is a brilliant event that lets 20+ lucky writers work with a freelance editor to revise and grow their manuscript before pitching it to agents in a later phase of the event. I’m one of the freelance editors for this contest, and I’m excited by the entries I’ve been seeing so far today.
That’s right—the contest started today! If you want to win the opportunity to work with me or another editor on getting your manuscript agent-ready this summer, read up on the contest here and then send Samantha your query! I’ve received almost half of my allotted queries for the week just this morning, so jump in quickly before the slots are all filled up.
The author and editor teams will get a chance to pitch their revised manuscript to agents, who will in turn get a chance to pitch it to publishers. By the end of this event in the fall, some authors may even have book deals! For all of the authors that don’t make it, I’m planning on offering editing and critiquing service discounts (TBA) for Pitch to Publication entrants if I was queried by but didn’t ultimately select certain authors.
You’ve done what you love in writing your manuscript; now I want to do what I love and help you get that special book agent-ready.
#Pg70Pit
If your future reader flipped to page 70 in your book, would they like what they saw? This next event is based on that very question.
The #Pg70Pit contest is being coordinated and hosted by the amazing Lara Willard (@LaraEdits), book and query editor extraordinaire. The contest has categories for adult, YA, and MG fiction, and seven lucky winners in each age category will be posted on Lara’s blog to receive requests from participating agents. Check out the details here.
This week’s big news is that each of the three age categories will have a co-host who will save an additional seven entries. That means a total of 42, not 21, authors will win a chance at agent requests! I’m excited to report that I’m the co-host for the adult category. After Lara has chosen her top seven winners, I’ll be choosing and posting an additional seven adult winners right here on my blog. After agents have had a chance to make requests, I’ll also be giving away some mystery editing goodies to entrants (not necessarily winners, either!).
It’s definitely worth entering at least one of these contests; you’ve already done the hardest job in writing your novel, and the chance of hooking your story up with an agent doesn’t come every day! I look forward to reading your pitches in one contest or the other.
If you’re not quite ready with your manuscript yet, don’t be discouraged. There are pitching contests year-round, and I’m hoping to be a part of Pitch to Publication and #Pg70Pit again in the future. Your manuscript’s time will definitely come, and I look forward to hearing your success stories!