Contest of Epic Awesome With Agent Sara Megibow!

As promised, we bring you the official contest thread for our first ever agent-judged contest!


UPDATE: Sara just told us she is so impressed with these that she'll read the first 30 pages of THREE winners!!
This contest is now closed to entries. Stay tuned for Sara's top picks!

Meet the awesome agent who's agreed to be our first judge!
Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency!

Sara is the Associate Literary Agent at Nelson Literary Agency. She's actively and enthusiastically acquiring new clients!

Nelson Literary Agency specializes in representing young adult and middle grade, science fiction and fantasy, romance (all genres except category or inspirational), commercial fiction, women's fiction (including chick lit) and high concept literary fiction.

Sara is particularly interested in "contemporary YA and MG novels - stories set in the real world, preferably with a multicultural or historical aspect." And would also "love to work on more science fiction and fantasy books." She loves "fantastical stories - especially when they are unique and beautifully written," and says "My favorite young adult reads in 2010 were ASH by Malinda Lo and THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger."

For those of you that don't write YA, Sara also likes romance books that are "super sexy and intelligent" and commercial fiction that has "a unique story and superior writing."

Some of Sara's clients and their upcoming books include:
Miranda Kenneally - SCORE (Sourcebooks, December 2011)

Allison Rushby - SHOOTING STARS

Jennifer Shaw Wolf - BREAKING BEAUTIFUL


And now for the best part, THE PRIZE. Sara has offered to review the first 30 pages of the THREE manuscripts whose pitches she liked the most!


How it works:
This contest is for COMPLETED POLISHED MANUSCRIPTS ONLY. If you wouldn't want an agent to read it yet, don't enter.

You have 140 characters to pitch your novel. NO ABBREVIATIONS--if the word is "When" please do not give us "whn". You may use numbers (16 instead of sixteen) but no abbreviated words. We have a great post with examples of elevator pitches in the archives, but remember, 140 characters ONLY. This includes punctuation and spaces. If you can not fit it in a tweet (hence the term "twitter pitch"), your entry will be disqualified. It's tough, but you can do it.

We will only accept entries in the genres that Sara Megibow represents. (See her bio above.)

While following our blog and spreading the word about the contest is not required, and won't get you any extra points, we would greatly appreciate it. The more the merrier!

Please put your entries in the comments of this post as follows:

Name:
Title:
Genre:


140 character pitch.


Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm ET Saturday, May 7th 2011. Any entries submitted after that time will be disqualified.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS about the contest, please ask them in the announcement thread from Monday. We would like to keep this post for entries only.

Only one entry per person.

**UPDATE**

It has been brought to our attention that some of you are receiving emails from a third party. We are not affiliated with any third parties, and we apologize if these emails have inconvenienced you in any way. We will not be contacting winners via email, we will simply post here on the blog. If you would like to remove your entry, to delete your email, and submit again, you are welcome to do so before the entry window closes at 11:59pm May 7th.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience.

Sara is thus far very pleased with your entries! Thank you all!

Blast from the Past: The Two Minute Elevator Pitch

I'll admit it. As you read this, I'll likely be strolling along the beach or making lop-sided sandcastles with the kiddos. But I'm not leaving you empty-handed. Here's a post of mine from earlier this year that may be helpful for those of you who will soon be attending a conference or doing a pitch session to an agent/editor.

I was fortunate enough to attend an SCBWI talk hosted by talented author Hilari Bell and author/illustrator Anna-Maria Crum. The topic: how to give a brief pitch to agents/editors. Even if you're not doing a scheduled appointment, a pitch is something you should have ready at a conference in case an editor or agent happens to ask, "What's your book about?" That's assuming you'd rather have a more coherent response than "Um, well, there's this guy and he goes to this museum, and there's this um, secret society..."

Wouldn't you rather say (well, if you were Dan Brown):
"A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ." (I found this summary of The DaVinci Code online -- doesn't it have more 'flow' than the first one.)


What is an elevator pitch?
It's one or two sentences (three max) giving an overall summary of your book -- sentences that are compelling enough to make the editor/agent ask more questions. I know, right? Anyway, Hilari and Anna Maria were masters at it. They listened to attendees read part of their query letter or give a description of their book, and within minutes, they'd distilled it into a few succinct sentences. It was amazing to watch. I listened and learned, and here are a few tidbits I picked up along the way. NOTE: All examples below are fabricated by moi, so blame me if they suck.

Be Specific/Don't Be Cliche
Bad Example:  When the space monkey arrived, her whole world turned upside down.
Better Example: When the six-foot space monkey landed in her bedroom, ten-year-old Sarah Connor knew she finally found the topic for her science fair project. 

Use Strong Verbs/Active Voice
Bad Example: When six-year-old Ben was given a black eye by the school bully, he looked for a way to get back at him.
Better Example: When the school bully pops six-year-old Ben in the eye, Ben exacts revenge the only way he knows how -- with peanut butter and a Nerf gun.

Other tip: the main character (MC) should be identified in the pitch as well as the obstacle they face. There are exceptions to this but wait until you're famous to break the rules.

So there you have it. Any questions? Now get out there and pitch.