"Some will win, some will lose/ Some were born to sing the blues." - "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey
Sigh... I was not one of the lucky winners of the pitch contest I blogged about a week or so ago. I never really expect to win anything, but for some reason the outcome of this contest was more depressing than most rejections. Just the thought that winning would mean an agent would read and comment on my entire manuscript was so amazing that I let myself get excited about it, but maybe the next contest that comes along will have better results for me.
Or the next query letter. Rejection seems to be the topic of the day, with the contest and another "thanks but no thanks" from an agent. Things have to improve, right? I certainly hope so! What's a writer to do? Keep writing of course! And submitting, and revising, and praying! With next week off of work, I am making plans to revise my query letter (again), come up with a new list of agents to write to (again), and most importantly, work on my writing. I still have some editing to do for book four in the Willow Ryan series and am looking forward to starting a brand new mainstream novel next month. The important thing is that I'm not giving up, but instead I'm going to work even harder to make my dreams of becoming a published novelist a reality. I won't stop believing!
Showing posts with label pitch contest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pitch contest. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Pitch Contest 2
"So let the games start, you better run your little wild heart." - "The Price You Pay" by Bruce Springsteen
A while back I mentioned a pitch contest from the Beyond Words blog that was really fun and a great opportunity for your work to be seen by an agent. Well, here we go again! Chanelle has another pitch contest going and the prizes are fantastic! The contest is judged by her literary agent, Victoria Marini, of the Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency, who sounds wonderful. First prize is a read and critique of your FULL manuscript by Victoria, and the runner up will have half of his/her manuscript read. I can't stress what an amazing opportunity this could be for an aspiring writer.
Do you have a completed manuscript just waiting to be picked up by an agent? You do? Then what are you waiting for? Go to chanellegray.blogspot.com and enter today. Hurry, the contest ends tomorrow! Good luck to us all!
A while back I mentioned a pitch contest from the Beyond Words blog that was really fun and a great opportunity for your work to be seen by an agent. Well, here we go again! Chanelle has another pitch contest going and the prizes are fantastic! The contest is judged by her literary agent, Victoria Marini, of the Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency, who sounds wonderful. First prize is a read and critique of your FULL manuscript by Victoria, and the runner up will have half of his/her manuscript read. I can't stress what an amazing opportunity this could be for an aspiring writer.
Do you have a completed manuscript just waiting to be picked up by an agent? You do? Then what are you waiting for? Go to chanellegray.blogspot.com and enter today. Hurry, the contest ends tomorrow! Good luck to us all!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Great Feedback!
"My friend said take her with you/ To leave her here would be a crime/ But let's get outta Santa Cruz/ All I got is a Canadian dime." - "The Trip To Pirate's Cove" by Tom Petty
I heard back from the last agent I queried for Secrets (the one who judged the pitch contest I came in third on), and for the first time, I really am okay with getting a rejection letter. Honestly, I expected it since women's fiction isn't exactly his area of interest, but the feedback he gave me was terrific!
Not only did he think that the changes I made to chapter one were great, but he said that he understood Willow's reasons for wanting to move back to California because he felt that way as a teenager too, having left a small town in CA when he was a young child just like her. It's so wonderful to hear that I have conveyed the emotional reasons for her choice to return to her first home so effectively. I must be doing something right!
The fictional town of Santa Elena that I created for the Willow Ryan series is based in part on Santa Cruz, CA, a cool little hippie beach town in Central California that time forgot. I lived there from the ages of 9-13 and grew to appreciate it's unique charm and appeal as I got older. I wanted to give Willow a safe place that wouldn't judge her and would fully accept her and all of her baggage, and I think of Santa Cruz as a place like that. I also incorporated memories and stories of Santa Monica and Covina, CA into Santa Elena for other reasons, but Santa Cruz was my main inspiration. I'm so glad that my descriptions are accurately painting a picture for people who are reading my work.
Now, on to the next agents. I will be going over my list once again and selecting a handful of literary agents who I fell would be a perfect fit for my book, and I'll keep my fingers crossed as I hit the send button and stick the stamps on the envelopes.
Remember when you had to lick stamps? Are there any children of the 80's out there who recall being warned not to accept stamps from strangers because they could be laced with LSD? That was pretty freaky! I have a very clear memory of that conversation from first grade in Covina, CA. The first grader I teach doesn't even know that drugs exist! Ah, to be so uninformed and innocent...
Anyway, I have a good feeling about this next round of submissions, but I'll stop there before I jinx myself!
I heard back from the last agent I queried for Secrets (the one who judged the pitch contest I came in third on), and for the first time, I really am okay with getting a rejection letter. Honestly, I expected it since women's fiction isn't exactly his area of interest, but the feedback he gave me was terrific!
Not only did he think that the changes I made to chapter one were great, but he said that he understood Willow's reasons for wanting to move back to California because he felt that way as a teenager too, having left a small town in CA when he was a young child just like her. It's so wonderful to hear that I have conveyed the emotional reasons for her choice to return to her first home so effectively. I must be doing something right!
The fictional town of Santa Elena that I created for the Willow Ryan series is based in part on Santa Cruz, CA, a cool little hippie beach town in Central California that time forgot. I lived there from the ages of 9-13 and grew to appreciate it's unique charm and appeal as I got older. I wanted to give Willow a safe place that wouldn't judge her and would fully accept her and all of her baggage, and I think of Santa Cruz as a place like that. I also incorporated memories and stories of Santa Monica and Covina, CA into Santa Elena for other reasons, but Santa Cruz was my main inspiration. I'm so glad that my descriptions are accurately painting a picture for people who are reading my work.
Now, on to the next agents. I will be going over my list once again and selecting a handful of literary agents who I fell would be a perfect fit for my book, and I'll keep my fingers crossed as I hit the send button and stick the stamps on the envelopes.
Remember when you had to lick stamps? Are there any children of the 80's out there who recall being warned not to accept stamps from strangers because they could be laced with LSD? That was pretty freaky! I have a very clear memory of that conversation from first grade in Covina, CA. The first grader I teach doesn't even know that drugs exist! Ah, to be so uninformed and innocent...
Anyway, I have a good feeling about this next round of submissions, but I'll stop there before I jinx myself!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Contest Results Continued...
"It's a beautiful day/ Don't let it get away/ It's a beautiful day." -
"Beautiful Day" by U2
Yes, it's still a beautiful day! It occured to me after I had posted the last message about the Twitter Pitch Contest results (still smiling about third place!) that I should tell you what my entry was. I had to give a pitch in under 140 characters (like a Twitter message, hence the title of the contest), as well as the first three lines of my novel, Secrets. Here's what I submitted:
Pitch: Seventeen, pregnant, and on her own. An unwanted crisis or an unexpected blessing?
Three Sentences: Willow had known for two months. Two long months of going to school, hanging out in the quad at lunch, and working afternoons at the Dairy Queen, pretending everything was fine. She danced at the prom and marched across the football field at graduation with the rest of the class of 1986.
Just thought you might like to see what my entry was. Sorry I forgot to include it earlier!
"Beautiful Day" by U2
Yes, it's still a beautiful day! It occured to me after I had posted the last message about the Twitter Pitch Contest results (still smiling about third place!) that I should tell you what my entry was. I had to give a pitch in under 140 characters (like a Twitter message, hence the title of the contest), as well as the first three lines of my novel, Secrets. Here's what I submitted:
Pitch: Seventeen, pregnant, and on her own. An unwanted crisis or an unexpected blessing?
Three Sentences: Willow had known for two months. Two long months of going to school, hanging out in the quad at lunch, and working afternoons at the Dairy Queen, pretending everything was fine. She danced at the prom and marched across the football field at graduation with the rest of the class of 1986.
Just thought you might like to see what my entry was. Sorry I forgot to include it earlier!
Contest Results
"It's a beautiful morning, ahh/ I think I'll go outside for a while/ And just smile!" - "It's a Beautiful Morning" by The Rascals
Remember last week I talked about a Twitter Pitch Contest on Chanelle Gray's blog, "Beyond Words", hosted by agent Michael Carr with Veritas Literary? Well, the results were posted yesterday and I am one of the lucky winners! That's why my song of the day is so upbeat and perky (so not me!). Now my first three chapters of Secrets are off to Michael and I will be receiving a professional critique of the first page. This is such an amazing opportunity, I can hardly believe that I was one of the chosen ones. Go me!
Chanelle's Blog: http://chanellegray.blogspot.com
Remember last week I talked about a Twitter Pitch Contest on Chanelle Gray's blog, "Beyond Words", hosted by agent Michael Carr with Veritas Literary? Well, the results were posted yesterday and I am one of the lucky winners! That's why my song of the day is so upbeat and perky (so not me!). Now my first three chapters of Secrets are off to Michael and I will be receiving a professional critique of the first page. This is such an amazing opportunity, I can hardly believe that I was one of the chosen ones. Go me!
Chanelle's Blog: http://chanellegray.blogspot.com
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Pitch Contest
My song of the day remains the same (see previous post).
This is a special message telling all of my fellow writers out there about a great contest I came across while browsing the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Check out http://chanellegray.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html for all of the rules and stipulations. Basically, if you have a great pitch for your novel, here is a chance to get a legitimate literary agent to take a look! I'm going to give it a try. Wish me luck!
This is a special message telling all of my fellow writers out there about a great contest I came across while browsing the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Check out http://chanellegray.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html for all of the rules and stipulations. Basically, if you have a great pitch for your novel, here is a chance to get a legitimate literary agent to take a look! I'm going to give it a try. Wish me luck!
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