Pitch Wars: What I'm looking for.

Hi guys!! The time has finally come for us to share what we'll be looking for as mentors during Pitch Wars. If you don't know me already, I'm a YA writer represented by Michelle Witte (that's Witt-y) at Mansion Street Literary. I'm also a blogger over at The Secret Life of Writers. I've been writing all my life, whether it was short stories, poems, blogs, etc. It wasn't until summer of 2011 that I wrote my first YA manuscript and considered querying.

It's been a dream of mine to become a published author since I was kid. I never pursued it because, well, I thought you had to be some fancy college graduate who spent six years of their life taking writing classes. It never occurred to me that becoming a writer was all about practicing the craft and doing it because you love it. The intimidation of it alone was frightening. Am I any good? Will anyone read it? Do I even know how to write? Finally, one day I just started typing. I kept writing and writing, not knowing how many stories I've had buried inside me all this time. It was such a relief, not to mention so much fun, finally getting the words and images out of my head. After a solid year of writing and querying (if you want to hear more about my query process, keep an eye on the Secret Life of Writers blog. I'll be sharing my experience soon.), I found myself an amazing agent who loved my story as much as me. It was so surreal.

So. When I found out about Pitch Wars, I just had to take part. If there's any way that I can help another writer pursue their dream, just like all the published and unpublished writers helped me, I have to do it.

With that being said, let's get to it!

What I'm looking for: 

YA manuscripts in these sub genres.

YA Horror/Supernatural: I'm not a fan of gore, but if you've got something like ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD or THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT, SCREAM, SLEEPAWAY CAMP etc. I want to see something involving ghosts that has a great twist or a slasher that I could find in a classic horror movie. These are the things I'd love to read about. I want to be scared.

YA Psychological Thriller: If you've got something like SLICE OF CHERRY–– serial killers and crazy storylines with an unreliable narrator, I want it! I love twisted narrators that make me want to know what they're all about. It doesn't necessarily have to be first person. I like action, but I'm not looking for guns and car chases. I want the premise to be so bizarre that I can't figure it out until I read the end.

YA Magical Realism: Personally, I don't think there's enough of this out there. If you've got a story like BIG FISH, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS, NIGHT CIRCUS or IMAGINARY GIRLS, please please please send it to me! I want to read this story and feel as if I've stepped into another world without even realizing it. I'm not asking for straight fantasy. This is all about real world colliding with the impossible. I want your story to make me feel like magic truly exists.

If you pick me as your mentor, not only will we have a blast, but we'll be Vandancing our way through this contest.

Now for all the details.

Submissions start today (11/26)! The cut off time to get your applications (query & first five pages of manuscript) in is 8AM EST on December 5.

Send your applications to brendadrakecontests@gmail.com. Writers can apply for up to 3 coaches. The coaches' categories are set. Coaches can only consider the categories they've signed up for. Writers cannot apply for a coach that is not in their category.

For additional information about this contest go HERE!

· This is open to finished manuscripts only.
· You may only enter one manuscript.
· Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

Formatting...

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)

Name: Your Name Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript

Query letter here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.

Check back soon for a complete list of the amazing agents participating in the contest. There's over a dozen! 

Today all the coaches are posting bios/wish lists on their blogs. So before choosing your top 3 picks, check all the coaches' posts in your category before deciding which coach to submit. To jump from blog to blog, just click on our pictures below.

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Good luck! I can't wait to read your entries. xo

The Secret Life of Writers

It's official! The blog I've been working on with fellow agented writers is finally up. Find out who they are and what we're about here!

Pitch Wars!

We're extremely excited to announce an upcoming event where  agented authors, industry interns, and editors team up with aspiring writers to shine up their manuscripts and pitches to present to some awesome agents.

Here's the deets...

• The teams will consist of 1 agented author or industry intern or editor (coaches) and 1 aspiring author.

• November 26: The coaches (listed on the linky below) will post on their blogs what genre/category they want to coach. They'll be very specific genres. Aspiring writers will hop around and decide which coaches best fit their manuscripts.

• November 26 through December 5 at 8PM EST: Aspiring writers will submit 3 "applications" to their top choices for coaches to the contest email (brendadrakecontests@gmail.com). That means, participants will send three separate emails to the contest email addressing each with one of their three top choices for coach.

• December 5 through December 10: Coaches will read the applications and pick teammates.The coaches don't have to pick from their applications. If a coach passes on an application, it is then up for grabs and another coach, if they haven't connected to their applicants, can snatch it after notifying the applicant and if the applicant chooses the coach.

• December 12: Teams will be announced. On the announcement post there will be instructions on how the winners must send their work.

• December 12 through January 16: Each coach will read their teammate's manuscript and give general notes on any issues they find. The coach will help their teammate get his or her pitches ready for the agent round.

• Note: The material for the agent round will be a 3 sentence pitch and the first 250 words of your manuscript. Coaches will read manuscripts and query letters only once and give notes. It is up to the writer to use the notes from their coaches to get the manuscript and query letter in as best shape as they can to send to requesting agents. The coaches will critique the three sentence pitch and first 250 words. The coaches will read them as many times as they deem necessary. In no way will writers expect the coaches to read the manuscript and query letter more than once or the pitches more than twice.

• January 20: Coaches will submit shined pitches to the contest email.

• January 23 and 24: Agents will read and make requests on the pitches they like (it is likely that not all participants will get requests).

• January 25: We'll announce the team with the most requests and who will take home the winning prizes (an amazon gift card for each).

• This is open to finished manuscripts only.

• You may only enter one manuscript.

• Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

 Formatting...

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)


Name: Your Name

Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript


Query letter here  (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.


First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.


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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.

Our mentors ...

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Halloween with a YA Misfit

Happy Halloween, lovelies!! We get to celebrate today with a guest. Who, you say? I've got the beautiful Jenny Kaczorowski from the YA Misfits to do an interview with me, right here on this very blog. Are you ready? 

Say hello to Jenny!! 

What do you love about the YA genre?

The intensity. When I was teenager, EVERYTHING was life or death. Everything. There’s a level of passion that adult fiction just doesn’t match for me. All the angst and the drama and the discovery makes for wonderful stories. YA lets me see the world through newly opened eyes again. It lets me fall in love for the first time, experience heartbreak for the first time, discover myself for the first time.

What book made you feel ALL THE THINGS and inspired you to write?
You might laugh, but probably a Beatrix Potter story. My mom read to me and my siblings every night when we were little. I remember trying to write my own story about the rabbits in our backyard because I wanted my little sister to have her own Peter Rabbit story. I began taking my writing seriously after a friend loaned me Twilight. I know those books get a lot of hate these days, but my inner 15-year-old ate it up. It made me realize that all those bits of stories stashed on my computer might have a place after all. Of course I started querying about a year too late and the market is pretty saturated, but I love a good paranormal story and I write what I love.

What genre do you write?
I like to call my writing “beautiful-dark fantasy.” I love to have some kind of otherworldly element, but usually in a contemporary setting. The manuscript I’m querying is an urban fantasy with a strong mystery element. My work in progress is somewhere on the border of contemporary fantasy and magical realism. I’d love to write Science Fiction, but my brain overloads when I try to make the fantastical elements make sense.

Name your top five favorite YA books.
I have to go with something published, right? Because I’ve beta read some AWESOME books that just haven’t found their homes – yet. My list of favorites is ever-changing, but here’s the first five that popped into my head:

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

What YA book would you love to see as a movie?
My husband works in the movie industry and I love film to an unreasonable level. But honestly, I prefer most books to stay as books. Big screen adaptations are almost never as good as the books are in my head. I watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at one of the big theatres in Hollywood, with fake snow falling on the audience and an organist performing before the show. Then all I could do was pick out the flaws in the movie. I like my books as books.

Who is your favorite villain?
The best villains are the ones who you understand on some level. The ones you almost find yourself rooting for. Their means might be flawed, but their motives make sense. I also love super-intelligent villains – like Hannibal Lector or the Scarecrow from Batman. I’d much rather be taken down by someone smarter than me.

Are you working on something now? What is it about?
My work in progress is currently called Signal Hill. It’s about a boy who controls lightning and the girl who protects him from people who want to exploit his gift. I’m about halfway through and there is a whole lot of kissing.

If you could give one piece of advice on writing, what would it be?
Write what you love and keep writing it. The publishing industry is brutal. If you’re writing for anyone other than you, you won’t make it. You have to love every story – they need to burn inside of you – or it’s far to easy to give up. If you believe in your stories, agents and publishers will recognize that and, if my critique partners are any indication, you’ll find someone who loves your story as much as you do and it will be magic.

Thank you so much to Jenny and the YA Misfits for letting me feature them on my blog today. You can follow Jenny on Twitter and be sure to check out their blog. 

NaNoWriMo

For the first time ever, I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I wasn't sure if I could handle the pressure, but I'm willing to take the challenge. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a way to encourage writers to complete a novel within one month. Signing up gives you a place to meet other writers and to hold you accountable when it comes to getting those words in. It's especially helpful for those who need that extra push to stare at the computer for hours and hours, and to write a novel without constantly editing. I used to be really bad at that when I first started. I'd write a chapter or two, then go back and edit the thing to death before I even got the guts of the story in place. Now that I'm more familiar with my craft, I feel that NaNoWriMo will be a fun way to interact with other people and to cheer on my fellow writers.

If you're participating during the month of November, feel free to add me here! It kicks off November first, so be sure to sign up soon. Hope to see you there!

Spooky Books for a Spooky Month

I've been M.I.A. on the blog lately. If you don't follow me on Twitter, which I believe most of you do, you might have missed some big news. Two weeks ago I announced that I am officially represented by Michelle Witte from Mansion Street Literary. This is HUGE news and I'm thrilled to be a part of the Mansion Street Team. I haven't decided whether I'm going to post an agent story or not, but believe me when I say that I knew it would be Michelle all along.

I also celebrated my birthday on the tenth, so I guess you can say that October has been pretty awesome. And to celebrate this month, because it's my ultimate favorite, I've been sticking with some pretty spooky and creeptastic books.

If you haven't checked out The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, then you are seriously missing out. Maggie's writing is hauntingly beautiful, telling the story of four boys and one girl on the search for spiritual energy that will lead them to the source of an ancient legend. Each character has intriguing backstory, and as their worlds collide, more and more secrets are revealed. I couldn't put this book down.

I have yet to finish my next book, but I have to share it because it fits right along with the theme.

The Diviners by Libba Bray is the first book I've ever read by her, and it's a wonderful story with a curious mystery I'm anxious to find the answer to. The concept is intriguing and the killer is one who will definitely give you chills.

Are you celebrating October with a creeptastic YA? Do share!

What Book Got You Reading?

This post is inspired by my 3rd/4th grade teacher, whom I've just found once again after all these years. It reminded me of the time she read this book in class that had me completely intrigued. The characters and story were both relatable, as a girl with an older brother who acted more like a younger brother, and funny, because the things the MC got himself into were hysterical. I remember being fascinated by this story and I couldn't wait for her to read more every day, if even just for a few minutes. I got so sucked in that I just had to have this book. I remember asking my mom over and over again, "Can I have this book? Can I have this book? CAN I HAVE THIS BOOK?" Until finally! *a light shines down from the heavens* There it was in my hands.

I read this book so many times, there was a point when I could have told it to you by heart. This story had me grabbing for every book in the entire series. I couldn't stop myself. I was a reading machine! It was the book that started it all. Reading had become the one thing I loved most because of that book, and since then I never looked back.

What book was it, you ask?

I still look at this cover and see the little boy who opened his eyes to all these strange faces staring down at him. The little boy who discovered these strange things called hands, and the excitement of this little boy named Sam walking for the first time. Just thinking about it makes me want to run out the door, head straight to B&N, and buy this book. I can't even believe I no longer have it.

So tell me, friends. What book got you reading?