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By: Kathy Temean,
on 3/9/2013
Blog:
Writing and Illustrating
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Registration for the 2013 New Jersey Annual Conference is just days away. They are fixing last-minute glitches, crossing Is and dotting Ts (or vice-versa). I will add the link as soon as they are ready to go live. May even be later today, so check back.
June 7-9, 2013
The Crowne Plaza-Holiday Inn Express (Formerly the Wyndham)
Princeton, NJ
Keynote speakers:
We are proud to welcome this year’s keynote speakers. Both speakers will be giving an additional presentation at the conference, too, so this is not to be missed folks!
Caldecott Honor Illusrator/Author Peter Brown
Picture book illustrator/author Peter Brown (Children Make Terrible Pets, You Will Be My Friend, Creepy Carrots)
Times Best-selling Author Lauren Oliver
YA/MG author Lauren Oliver (Delirium, Pandemonium, Requeim, Before I Fall, The Spindlers)
Are you published, but need help with marketing your books? There’s a workshop for that!
Are you brand new to the kidlit world and don’t know where to start? There’s a workshop for that!
Have you had trouble fleshing out a main character, atagonist or plot for your story? There are several worshops for that!
And we’ve got more than 50 faculty members compiled of editors, agents, art directors, librarians and author/illustrator speakers joining us this year, and more than 70 workshops to choose from. Panels, pitching sessions, keynotes, one-on-one critiques, craft workshops, lectures, intensives, a bookfair, portfolio display, juried art show, and oodles of networking opportunities, oh my!
EDITORS/AGENTS/ART DIRECTORS/LIBRARIANS
Jenne Abramowitz, Senior Editor, Scholastic
Heather Alexander, Editor, Dial BFYR/Penguin
Elizabeth (Betsy) Bird, Librarian, NYPL/SLJ
Erin Clarke, Senior Editor, Random House
John Cusick, Agent, Greenhouse Literary
Melissa Faulner, Editorial Assistant, Abrams
Louise Fury, Agent, L. Perkins Agency
Julie Ham, Editor, Charlesbridge
Erin Harris, Agent, Folio
Janine Hauber, Agent, Sheldon Fogelman
Ginger Harris, Agent, Liza Royce Agency
Lexa Hillyer, Editor/Co-Founder, Paper Lantern Literary
Connie Hsu, Senior Editor, Little, Brown
Simone Kaplan, Editor, Picture Book People
Janet Kusmierski, Art Director, Scholastic
Tricia Lawrence, Agent, Erin Murphy Literary
Steve Meltzer, Executive editor, Penguin BFYR
Rotem Moscowich, Senior Editor, Disney/Hyperion
Meredith Mundy, Executive Editor, Sterling
Rachel Orr, Agent, Prospect Agency
Jessica Regel, Agent, Jean V. Naggar Agency
Shauna Rossano, Editor, G.P. Putnams’ Sons/Penguin
Martha Sikkema, Senior Designer, Charlesbridge
Christina Tugeau, Agent/Art Rep, Cat Tugeau Agency
Carolyn Yoder, SeniorEditor, Calkins Creek Books
Marietta Zacker, Agent, Nancy Galt
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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By: Jerry Beck,
on 4/24/2012
Blog:
Cartoon Brew
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Jake Friedman emailed yesterday to tell me about BabbittBlog.com, a site dedicated to all things Art Babbitt. Jake has been researching a biography of the legendary animator for the last few years, and if the blog is any indication, there’s still a lot left to learn about Babbitt.
There’s no shortage of animation tips posted online nowadays, but this mass of how-to advice isn’t particularly well organized. Thankfully, Jonah Sidhom has created the Animation Article Database, an invaluable list of links to animation tips from industry pros, organized alphabetically.
Canada’s only animator with three first names, Brandon James Scott, has an informative series of blog posts about creating Justin Time, a preschool animated series that is now in production on its second season. He takes the reader through the entire process from pitch to development to bible, and finally, production.
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Post tags: Art Babbitt, Brandon James Scott, Justin Time, Pitching
There were only seven deals listed for YA in this week's Publishers Lunch, but two of them are for books that reference Black Swan:
"Jennifer L. Armentrout's DON'T LOOK BACK, pitched as Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars, featuring a teen girl who had it all until the night she and her friend go missing, and she loses all recollection of who she is, but must piece together a life she no longer wants and the events that led to her friend's disappearance, to Emily Meehan at Disney-Hyperion, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
AND
"Anna Collomore's THE UNRAVELING, about a girl who becomes a nanny for a seemingly perfect family and slowly loses her grip on reality; pitched as The Nanny Diaries meets Black Swan, to Caroline Donofrio at Razorbill, for publication in Spring 2013, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary."
I haven't seen Black Swan, but the second book seems a better fit for what I've heard about the movie. However, the first book intrigues me more.
It seems like a lot of the one-line descriptions of books I see in Publishers Lunch are described as some combination of books and movies. More often movies. I don't know if it's sad or not that movies are considered a better touchstone even when you are talking about books. I guess that even if you haven't seen a given movie, you probably have seen the trailer.
All too often I read a query, or hear a pitch at a conference, and think how the author didn't take the book to the next level. I'm sure many of you will say that it's hard to convey the entire book in either a query or a pitch, but I also think it's important to stop blaming the query process and start using it as part of your writing process.
Writing queries is hard. I know. I have to write them. I also hear that from authors endlessly. Writing a synopsis stinks. Something else I hear endlessly. But instead of looking at those two things as pieces that are separate from the manuscript, I think they should be looked at as part of the process. If you're working on your query and finding it hard to come up with something that makes your book sound special, maybe it's that your book isn't special. It might be a good book, but is it good enough to grab the attention of a brand-new readership, people who already have thousands of books to choose from?
If you're having trouble nailing down the true conflict in your query, maybe you don't have enough in your story.
Changing our mind-set to think of queries and synopses as part of creating the manuscript might make them more useful to you, as they should be, than just getting an agent or publisher.
Jessica
Yep. I'm going to a writers conference in Dallas this weekend. Why? Well, because I've plenty to learn. (Always learn) You are already published - you say.
Sure. But I want to be published again and again.
This weekend I'm pitching my paranormal romance novel, BURIED MAGIC. I need to find an agent that will hear my voice in this story, and someone who will share the same dreams as I do. That dream is to have a long career with the same agent, and write plenty of books and make plenty of people happy...I want to give those readers a great escape.
So wish me luck. If anything, at least I'll come back with some new friends and more knowledge...I'll be back next week to give an update.
Hugs,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM
If you ever have a pitch appointment with me, the one thing you’ll get is lots of feedback. Based on your pitch, and sometimes material I have read, I’ll do my best to give you my thoughts on why the book isn’t working and suggestions on what you can do to make it stronger, or make it work better.
I was thinking back the other day to a pitch appointment I had in which every suggestion I made, the author argued that it couldn’t be done. Ultimately, any changes I was suggesting didn’t work with her vision of the book. She had her heart and mind set on how the story was going to go, and any deviation from that carefully plotted outline was sending her into a panic.
Unfortunately, I think this is a common mistake many authors make: writing for themselves and not the story. What this means is that the author has plotted out the story and knows how she intends it to read, and now she must write the book to that end. The problem is that no matter how much of a plotter you are (versus a pantser) you can’t always control how a book is going to play out. For example, in your outline it might have made perfect sense for your character not to tell her husband that she dyes her hair until chapter 15. The problem is that by chapter 4 the reader is wondering why the hell the heroine doesn’t just tell her husband that she dyes her hair. It’s just not making sense anymore and the conflict is quickly getting old. We need it to evolve from hair dye and it’s not, because it didn’t in your outline.
So no matter how much of a planner you are, be ready for changes, drastic changes sometimes.
Jessica
Agents are always looking for something different inside
their massive slush piles. Something unique and original—a “hook.” I became especially
aware of this last summer, while querying agents I was invited by one agent
to revise and re-submit my novel. Her main suggestion? A stronger hook.
I'll be honest—the word "hook" has always bothered me. Sure, I understand what it
entails—giving your work that extra punch, that unique story idea in order to get
the reader interested, and to stand out from the thousands of other trying-to-get-published
writers.
Guest column by Traci Borum, who
teaches Creative
Writing at the college level. She's written for Today's
Christian Woman magazine, as well as the New
Texas
Journal. Currently, she's working on a women's fiction
series and has recently signed with a literary agent.
She also runs a writing blog.
But a hook also implies a slight manipulation. The writer's primary goal with a hook
is to create instant interest—to bait the hook in a clever way, to reel the
reader in. And because of that, a hook can feel shallow, manipulative. And worse,
the writer is always in danger of turning the "hook" into a too-obvious gimmick.
In the end, I understood that a solid hook was more benefit than detriment. That it
can inject that special “something” into an otherwise bland story. So, I agreed with
the agent and decided to revise. Before I brainstormed my hook, I wanted to
distinguish for myself the differences between a hook and a gimmick. I discovered
three main criteria:
A hook: is creative/original, it “rings true” (feels genuine), and it’s well-executed
(flawlessly sustained through the rest of the plot).
A gimmick: is clichéd, it doesn’t ring true, and it’s poorly-executed.
To help me put these differences to the test, I looked at already-produced works as
examples (I chose romantic comedies because they often have strong "hooks" to lure
movie-goers). Note: I realize that these opinions and selections are entirely
subjective...
HOOKS THAT WORK (IN MY OPINION)
-
27 Dresses. Hook: A single woman has been in 27 weddings
as a bridesmaid, meets a jaded single guy she dislikes, then they fall in love. At
first, the hook appears to be a total cliché (always a bridesmaid…), but is made original
by the actual 27 dresses that the protagonist keeps stuffed away in her closet.
That’s quirky. That’s different. Plus, the execution of the hook and strong plot is
sustained nicely until the end.
-
While You Were Sleeping. Hook: A woman falls in love
with a stranger, who falls into a coma after she rescues him, who has a brother who
falls in love with the woman "while he's sleeping." Extremely creative and unique
hook. I admit—when I first saw this movie trailer, I thought the concept was silly.
But the film was so charming, so well-written, that it sucked me in, and became one
of my all-time favorites.
-
What Women Want
Bloomsbury Editor Margaret Miller spoke at the 2011 Southern California SCBWI Writer’s Day event. She answered the following questions after her talk:
How Does an Editor Approach Pitching a Project?
- Yes, they do the “Hollywood thing” sometimes, but they are a bit sick of it. Everyone groans when you compare a book to Harry Potter.
- Has a book like this one succeeded before, and how is it different. That’s the way to approach pitching the book.
- How can I position this book so it is on the cusp of a growing trend?
- Editors can position about as “if they read it they will love it” but also know that it requires a certain type of marketing (to indy bookstores for example).
- The editor needs to provide evidence that other people (readers) will love the book.
Is YA Realism a Trend That’s on its Way Out?
- YA realism isn’t a trend. It will always be around. Kids always want to read books about “real life.”
- You need to find a hook that is genuinely unique, however. It’s hard to sell a book where stuff just happens in the real world. It’s hard when you have no plot in a mundane world.
What do you do if an Editor Changes Houses?
- You editor will always be the first person to have the most passion for your book. However, there are lots of other people at a house who also care about and have passion for your book.
- This is a hard question because there is a lot to consider.
- Passion for a project can fade at a house.
- You can move houses with your editor, but that can depend on your contract.
How Long Does the Editorial Process Take?
- That’s different with every author.
- Once the book is approved and ready to go (done with edits) then it takes a year. Before that depends on the author.
- It can also depend on how polished the drafts you send in are. We editors like polish!
What are the Trends Coming in?
- Lots of people say that Paranormal Romance is on its way out. But it will probably become something else. Romance is not going to go away. Be on the cusp of a trend and invent a new way for forbidden romance! Find new obstacles for your romantic book!
- There is a void in the market for really well drawn characters that have deep feelings and deal with difficult issues. The key words here being “really well drawn.”
Check Out These Other Great Posts with Margaret Miller:
Margaret Miller is an editor for Bloomsbury Children’s Books USA. A former editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, she joined Bloomsbury in 2008. She has worked closely with authors Dan Gutman, Ivy Devlin, Timothy Power, and Greg van Eekhout. At Bloomsbury, Margaret focuses on middle grade and young adult fiction, with a few select picture books.
The problem with publishing a magazine about animation that nobody wants to read is that one often has to resort to questionable tactics to raise money. One of Animation Magazine’s most insanely screwball stunts is their annual Pitch Party, which they’ve been getting away with for the past ten years.
Here’s how it works. Contestants pay $375 to “pitch” their animated project. Except, they don’t really pitch anything. Instead, they submit one 2″ x 5″ image to the magazine that contains their entire idea. I can’t even fit my daily to-do list in a space that small, much less an idea for an entire animated project. But amateurs and students who don’t know better still try to do it:
Anybody who has worked in the animation industry for more than a week knows that this isn’t an even remotely realistic way to sell a series, and anybody who hasn’t worked in the industry could learn that by spending a few bucks on David Levy’s excellent primer Animation Development: From Pitch to Production
. The sad thing is that Animation Magazine knows this too. They’ve published enough interviews with executives over the years that they could compile their own book of dos and donts for pitching.
What’s so wrong about giving industry access to amateurs and students who otherwise haven’t learned the proper (and free) way to contact executives. Nothing, if Animation Magazine billed this as an educational opportunity to develop a project and receive feedback from execs. They don’t do that though. They frame the contest as an “economical marketing campaign that lets you—the independent artist—and your animation project reach decision-makers the smart way.” In other words, they lead entrants to believe that this is a legitimate way for them to put their ideas in front of an audience of professionals. Ahh, if only it were that easy.
One of the main attractions of the event is that the entries are “judged” by development execs and producers, pictured above. Commenters on the Brew often make fun of those who judge movie posters as an indicator of a film’s quality, but guess what, professional industry execs have the magical ability to judge an entire series concept by looking at a miniature rectangle. This year’s nine judges, all respected professionals, should know better than to participate in this shakedown of budding creators. Not only are they squandering their own hard-earned reputations, they’re making our industry weaker by misleading people about how the animation business really works.
To end on a personal note, a couple weeks ago when I moved, my movers told me about their idea for an animated series. They’d even recorded tracks, but didn’t know the first thing about producing animation. I offered to meet with them for coffee and give them some basic guidance and tips. That’s how you help people. Animation Magazine and the exe
Fiction writers are, by nature, creative. And wildly so at times.
When stretching out to book-length work, I found that my own inclinations to invent,
and to innovate, quickly became a handicap. In short, I was writing all over the place.
It didn’t help that I am a pantser and not an outliner. I cannot stay interested in
writing a story or developing characters if I know what is going to happen down the
road.
Randy is excited to give away a free copy of his book
to a random commenter. Comment within one week; winners must live in Canada/US to
receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you've won before.
Guest column by Randy Russell,
author of Dead
Rules
(HarperTeen June 21, 2011). Kirkus
called the paranormal
book "wickedly clever" in a starred review. Randy is an
Edgar-nominated author of five published novels for
adults, two books of short stories about ghosts, and
two volumes of Southern Appalachia folklore.
See his website here.
I had a good idea for a novel set in high school. Fearing my own school memories would
inspire wanderings, I decided to write my query (and query tagline) first. My goal
was to corral my story into a coherent and easily describable work I could pitch in
the current marketplace. My query tagline was as simple as I could make it. “All in
one day, 16-year-old Jana Webster lost her boyfriend, transferred to a new school,
and died. Not necessarily in that order.”
I designed my tagline to quickly inform an agent (by showing, instead of my telling)
that the novel was young adult fiction, romance, and paranormal. More importantly,
I had also created a Rule of Three guideline for the months of work ahead.
CHARACTER, CONFLICT AND SETTING
I had clearly defined character, conflict (story) and setting (situation). I had my
protagonist. The conflict headed the story arc of Jana getting her boyfriend back.
The situation was her being dead and in a “setting” of being in Dead School (with
a bunch of other dead kids).
As I wrote, I referred constantly to my tagline of three. Scene by scene, chapter
by chapter, I was able to slap my own wrist whenever I was tempted (and, oh, I was
tempted) to have my character spend more time interacting with the living. I limited
backstory by keeping the main focus of every chapter with the dead kids in their dead
world (which I had to create and fully understand, of course, but not explain
right away).
It wasn’t quite as easy as it may sound. However, when I was finished with my first
draft, I had a book that fulfilled the promise made in the query tagline. I had a
story that was easily described and, more importantly, the description fit entirely
what was there. This is a big plus when a manuscript enters the marketplace.
I sent out queries one day after I had finished the manuscript, a Friday. The full
was requested by two agents over the weekend. I had representation for
When I first queried editors about Bella Riley’s books I asked Bella to supply the pitch. This is something I frequently do because it helps give me a starting point for my own pitch. The one thing I say to authors when sending my request is, “Feel free to keep it rough. I’ll probably edit and change it anyway.”
Not the case for Bella Riley, and not the case with many other clients. Bella’s pitch was perfect. So perfect, in fact, that when I first queried her editor at Grand Central to ask if she’d be interested in seeing the proposal, the editor responded immediately with, “Wow. I’m not sure if I’ve been desperate for a vacation to the mountains or if you need a book deal yourself—could be both—but your pitch sounds awesome. I’d love to take a look.”
Don’t I wish it was my writing? I told her the pitch was straight from Bella herself, and it wasn’t long before we had a three-book deal.
Bella Riley is the contemporary romance pseudonym for erotic romance author Bella Andre. We like to think of these books as Bella Andre meets Susan Wiggs. Home Sweet Home is her first contemporary romance with Grand Central, and here’s the pitch that got her that deal:
After thinking she had left Emerald Lake – and the girl she had once been – behind forever, Andi Powell must return for one more summer at the lake to save her family's knitting store. She isn't prepared for Nate Turner, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks that she'd always loved from afar, to have turned into a man who takes her breath away. She isn't ready for his determined sensual plays for her body . . . and her heart. And she definitely isn't prepared to discover that the darkness he hides so well from everyone else tugs at her heart – and makes her wonder if leaving again is really the right thing to do after all.
But with the help of the Thursday Night Knitting Group, Nate's sister, Andi's mother and grandmother, and a pair of missing carousel horses, Andi just might find the love she's always deserved in the arms of the one man who has waited his entire life for her to come back and heal the hole in his heart with her love.
Jessica
On Wednesday, I did two different pitches to illustrate the difference between good and bad. Now, keeping in mind that I wrote this pitch, this is still what the editor in me (in red -- of course) thought while reading that pitch:
In my early chapter book for young kids, Liv gets really upset after her brother goes missing after a boring field party. Wait. What? A field party in a chapter book for kids aged 7-9? How old are these characters? He's been kidnapped, but Liv doesn't know by who, kind of redundant because, really, that's not going to be very suspenseful if she does know and she spends the rest of the book looking for him and feeling guilty for hating him for most of their lives. Why does she hate him? Also, Morte Who is Morte? The brother? is a creepy looking kid that Liv thinks is somehow linked to death Wait. What? even though she doesn't have any proof for this. What on earth does that mean? The book is a mystery no this pitch is a mystery and kind of paranormal and a great thriller for kids to read. I can't wait for you to see the full manuscript. not likely
No way would I be requesting this book.
It’s not at all uncommon for authors to compare their work to that of others. In fact, it’s not uncommon for agents to do the same thing. In a quick search of Publishers Marketplace I found the following comparisons:
pitched as in the tradition of Raymond Carver and Lorrie Moore
pitched as in the spirit of Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life or Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonders
pitched as a James Bond-meets-The Da Vinci Code political crime thriller
pitched as in the tradition of Kate DiCamillo
pitched as in the tradition of Robert Ludlum and Dan Brown
pitched as a Pete McCarthy-meets-Nick Hornby travelogue
pitched as Infinite Jest with Silence of the Lambs
pitched as Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong meets Diana Gabaldon's Outlander
pitched as Dexter meets The Silence of the Lambs for teens
Now, my guess is that while some of these samples will appeal to you, others will turn you off. Maybe you’ve never been a fan of Robert Ludlum or you despised Infinite Jest. Whatever the reason, that’s the trick with using comparisons and why I caution you to be careful when doing so. Just as a comparison can give an agent or editor a very quick and easy idea of what your book is, it can turn them off or, worse, make it more confusing.
For example, I have no idea what Twilight meets Blue’s Clues would even be. Who would be the audience and how would a book like that work? And yes, this example is based on an actual pitch I received.
If you choose to do comparisons, take a look at Publishers Marketplace to get an idea for what works. Comparisons are used to show who an audience might be and work best if you’re using bestselling names, current or recent bestselling names, and not old or obscure references. They also work best if you have some idea that they are books or authors that will appeal to the agent you’re trying to pitch.
Jessica
If you dread writing a query letter or composing a pitch for
your book, perhaps all you need is a little feedback and instruction. That's why I'm
running a webinar called "Novel
Queries & Pitches: Critique Series." Here's the deal: The
key to catching an agent's eye is a compelling query and pitch, so all registrants
are invited to submit a hook (200 words or fewer) in advance of the event. All submitted
hooks are guaranteed a critique! You can retool your query before sending it out to
more agents.
DETAILS
It all goes down at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday, May 6, 2010.
The session lasts 90 minutes. If you sign
up but cannot make the entire webcast, no worries—because it will all be online
and archived for you to watch over and over again for one year.
WHY SIGN UP?
Successfully pitching an agent or editor on your book concept takes brevity and power.
Whether you're pitching at a live event, or in the context of a query letter, two
essentials must guide you: protagonist & problem. What you'll learn:
-
5 essential elements of every query, and how to order them
-
3 components of a compelling novel hook
-
Common mistakes and red flags that appear in typical queries
-
Why a shorter letter is more likely to succeed
-
What to put in your bio even if you have no credits
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
-
Writers who are actively querying agents and publishers
-
Writers whose query letters always get rejected (or never get
a response)
-
Writers who will be pitching their concept at a conference
I hope to "see" you on May 6! Sign
up here.
I've also read in a few places that comparing your novel to other published works is iffy at best, and comparing it to best sellers/classic novels is suicide. Are there two schools of thought on this?
I think I’ve blogged on this before, but after three years of blogging it’s sometimes starting to feel like I’ve blogged on everything and, I suppose, it never hurts to repeat things. Believe it or not, sometimes my thinking changes on things.
This question came in response on my previous post on Making Comparisons. And yes, the reader is correct, I think comparing your novel to other works is “iffy at best,” and I don’t recommend doing it unless you are absolutely certain your comparison will grab an agent’s attention. The reason agents can make the comparison is because we have a personal relationship with editors and know what types of books editors are looking for or, even better, what authors editors and houses wish they had on their lists.
Jessica
First, the good news. In fact it’s great news. Readership has risen at an astonishing rate since The ScribeChat Review’s birth in January 2010, and in the last month alone it’s gone up 180%! That is downright gobsmacking, and I’m so delighted that you’re all enjoying the blog so much!
Tonight we had some pretty chronic [...]
Related posts:
- TOPIC: Mastering The Art of The One Sentence Pitch
- TRANSCRIPT: Fantasy Literature In The Classroom—Angel or Demon?
- TRANSCRIPT: Identifying and Developing Dramatically Rich Story Ideas
- TRANSCRIPT: The Secret To Writing Humor
- MINI-CHAT Transcript: Is It Madness To Plan Your Dream Launch Party Before You’ve Finished Your Manuscript?
First, the good news. In fact it’s great news. Readership has risen at an astonishing rate since The ScribeChat Review’s birth in January 2010, and in the last month alone it’s gone up 180%! That is downright gobsmacking, and I’m so delighted that you’re all enjoying the blog so much!
Tonight we had some pretty chronic [...]
Related posts:
- TOPIC: Mastering The Art of The One Sentence Pitch
- TRANSCRIPT: Fantasy Literature In The Classroom—Angel or Demon?
- TRANSCRIPT: Identifying and Developing Dramatically Rich Story Ideas
- TRANSCRIPT: The Secret To Writing Humor
- MINI-CHAT Transcript: Is It Madness To Plan Your Dream Launch Party Before You’ve Finished Your Manuscript?
Wow! We had nearly 500 entries in last Wednesday's contest. I'm thrilled, because this means 500 of you worked on creating a concise summary for your book, something most writers find difficult. But it can be done, right? I hope this served as a helpful exercise for you.
Of course it was very difficult narrowing down the entries. Don't feel bad if I didn't choose yours. There were quite a few really effective ones in the mix, but I was only able to choose 1 out of every 100 entries, so the odds were high.
Of course, choosing the winners was an exercise in subjectivity. But notice that the summaries I chose each present an interesting scenario and a clear conflict. Occasionally they break the "formula" but are still successful because of they way they use humor or intrigue to build interest in their story.
NOTE: Tomorrow I'll do one last post on one-sentence summaries, offering critiques of some of your entries and a few more tips. (Please email me if you DON'T want your pitch critiqued on the blog.)
Thanks everyone for participating, and again, I really hope this gave you the motivation to create a rockin' summary of your book in 25 or fewer words!
Here, with my brief comments (and in no particular order), are...
***THE WINNERS***
Peter Robertson serves on the jury for the trial of a murder that he committed.
~Portermaker
RG says: This is very simple and doesn't say anything about what happens, but the premise is interesting enough in itself that I'd want to hear more.
When a dangerous romance puts two teenage girls on opposing sides of a supernatural war, they must choose between their lifelong friendship and the survival of the human race.
~Audry T
RG says: I like when circumstances put people in the position of having to make impossible choices. This one has friendship, romance and a supernatural war—lots of potential for a good story.
A boy who remembers his past lives finds the girl who’s always shared them, but this time she doesn’t remember him and he must earn her love before she forgets him forever.
~Wen Prior
RG says: A nice description of a promising romance story. This summary is very clear on the protagonist, his goal, and the stakes.
In 1823, one freed slave surmounted the seemingly impassable barriers of gender, marital status, and race to become the first single woman missionary of the American Missionary Movement.
~Noel
RG says: Sounds like a terrific true story about a fascinating woman in history.
A girl discovers her geneticist father is covering up multiple secrets, all of which are named Jason.
~Jill Williamson
RG says: Couldn't help it, this made me laugh. There is a lot of information hiding behind the words "geneticist" and "Jason."
Winners: Please email me!
***HONORABLE MENTIONS***
(I did not include the authors' names on these, sorry.)
FICTION
→ After a series of devastating losses, a southern girl moves back to her home state of Georgia to take a job in the wine business, discovering that a bottle of wine, paired with her best girlfriends, can solve almost any problem.
→ Just moved to Luling, "the armpit of Texas," because of her Dad's job, a preacher's kid with a reputation for accidental miracle-working decides to break all 10 Commandments to get him fired and her family sent back to their old hometown, where her best friend is waiting.
→ When her precious, stolen song flies up the country music charts, a music teacher battles the thief--a famous Nashville songwriter who threatens to steal her heart as well.
→ When a staircase portal opens in Madison's backyard cavern, she is drawn int
Today I'm offering some thoughts on a few of the one-sentence summaries that were entered in the contest. Sometimes it's helpful to see what's not quite working, in order to learn how to do it better. Maybe these examples will help you spot something you can improve with your own pitch. We'll group them according to common problems.
Issue: Not using specific language. Many pitches suffer from being a bit too vague to effectively build interest.
When things are not what they seem, Kimberly must overcome many obstacles in her life, to find herself again...at any costs.
>>Notice the general, not specific words. “things are not what they seem.” “overcome many obstacles.” “find herself.” They lack real meaning and don't give us anything to visualize. After this pitch, we still don't know what the story is about.
When a lonely scientist’s nightmares become reality, she must embrace her magical abilities to save her planet from an invading alien force.
>>I don't know what the nightmares are about, there is no clue as to the nature of her magical abilities, and the alien force could be darn near anything. Just a few carefully chosen words could make this more visual and draw my interest.
After the world she grew up in is irrevocably altered, a girl named Evernow determines to live by her own rules in the fractured world she’s been left with, even if that means treading a fine line between species and the battles taking place between them.
>>Again, use of non-specific words makes it impossible to understand what this story is really about. “irevocably altered.” “live by her own rules.” “treading a fine line.” These are amorphous terms, they're not visual or compelling, so there's nothing I can actually picture happening in this story.
Note: Although I didn't include any examples here, quite a few of the contest entries had a character needing to "deal with" something. Be careful of that language. To "deal with" something is again, vague and non-visual.
Issue: Confusing or just doesn't make sense.
A Bible belt of California teen, hell-bent to choreograph a Moby Dick modern dance masterpiece, is blown off course by the true love of a purity-ring wearing eco-warrior.
>>Unfortunately this doesn't convey a coherent story. The danger, besides not making anyone want to read the book, is that someone might assume the problem isn't just a muddled pitch, it's a muddled book.
When the ship carrying Marcus Reider sailed into Lemaigne, the city's Observer had no idea this would overturn his loyalty to the Security Corps, and his sense of reality.
>>I couldn't make heads or tails of this. There's nothing to grab on to.
Reviewing the origins and impact of today’s dichotomy, a new paradigm is offered for the relationship between social action and evangelism in 21st century Christianity.
>>What is "today's dichotomy"? Starts off confusing, and feels like jargon. It also uses the passive voice. This pitch is unclear and doesn't make the book sound interesting.
A kick-ass heart surgeon, hung-up on a terminal patient, is thwarted by a hot researcher who is not sharing his discovery until it is stolen and they are fighting for their own lives.
>>This is confusing and the language is unspecific. What does “kick ass” actually say about the heart surgeon? And by “hung up” do you mean
Anyone who is a member of RWA knows that today kicks off the RWA National conference in Orlando, and, as always, I will be in attendance. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I will be doing things a little differently this year. This year, I have not signed up to hold author pitch appointments. I’m already participating in two workshops and at least one agent panel. Adding in appointments would severely cut into the time I have with clients, and since that’s why I’m really there, it just didn’t make sense for me this year.
So what do you do if you were hoping to pitch to me and are disappointed I’m not taking pitches, or what if you planned to pitch to another agent but didn’t get a slot with her? Why, the elevator pitch, of course. Or the bar pitch, the breakfast pitch, the lobby pitch. Just whatever you do, don’t try the bathroom pitch or the gym pitch.
Every agent will have a different suggestion for how to pitch agents outside of a traditional pitch appointment. What’s mine? Toss the pitch altogether. I hate the feeling that the only reason an author is talking to me is for the opportunity to pitch a story. That being said, I love to talk about this business. If you happen to catch me at the bar by myself or enjoying a cup of coffee in the corner, don’t hesitate to approach me. It’s almost guaranteed that I’ll be reading something, but if I’m in public I’m expecting to talk to people. If I want a break I’ll sneak out of the hotel for a walk or up to my room for a nap.
How do you approach? Walk right up, say excuse me and ask if I would mind if you joined me for a minute or if you could talk to me. I like to think I’m a pretty friendly person and I don’t think I’ve ever turned anyone down. I might tell you I only have a few minutes, but since it’s National I always only have a few minutes.
What to say? Come with some questions, some comments, or compliment me on my brilliant shoe choice that day. In other words, have a conversation with me. It’s almost guaranteed that I’ll ask you about your writing at some point, but if not, what you’re doing is making an impression. Listen, I accept queries from everyone. Getting a query to me isn’t the point. Making yourself memorable is. If you have questions about the business, want a professional’s advice on your book idea, or just want to sit down and take a load off for a minute, this is the time for that. If our time is cut short and you haven’t pitched, I think that’s fine. In fact, it’s great. I’m usually tired of the pitches and networking is about far more than pitches. And this way, when you query (which is often a more comfortable way to pitch anyway) you can say that we enjoyed a nice talk in the corner of Starbucks right before my meeting with Sally MacKenzie. I’m sure to remember you and that’s what networking is all about. As to whether or not it means I’ll request your work: A verbal pitch won’t do that either, but it might give your work that extra little push if I’m on the fence.
Can’t wait to meet you.
Jessica
This weekend I taught at a writers' conference and my topic was "Selling Your Stuff," creating those all important sales materials for your book:
The one-sentence summary.
The query.
The pitch paragraph.
The elevator pitch.
The proposal.
I was talking to a room full of novelists, so I focused on fiction. I told them that the main elements of a pitch for a novel are:
Character
Their choice, conflict, or goal
What’s at stake (may be implied)
Action
Setting
But I know it's still hard figuring out exactly the right way to pitch. You have to simplify your story and pitch a single plot thread and as few characters as possible. You have to be precise, and use specific (not vague) language. And you have to make it interesting, which means you need to find the most unique and special aspect of your story and make sure it's covered in the pitch.
So I've come up with a set of 11 questions that I recommend novelists work through before even starting to craft a pitch or summary. If you think about the answers to these questions, and write them down, you'll be more equipped to find the right elements of your story to include in the pitch.
The 11 Questions
1. What’s the genre of your book?
2. What’s the hook, or what’s most unique or special about your book?
3. Who is the protagonist and what’s the most interesting thing about him or her?
4. Who is the antagonist and how is he/she standing in the way of the protagonist’s goal?
5. What conflict, dilemma or choice does the protagonist face? (Central story question.)
6. What is at stake? What are the consequences of the choice or conflict?
7. What is the catalyst, or the main event that gets the story started?
8. What are the main points of action that drive the plot?
9. What is the setting of the story?
10. What is the interesting backstory that affects your characters in the current story?
11. What is the book’s theme?
The point of these questions is for you to identify the crucial elements that would make for a good pitch, and it's best to figure it out before you get started rather than in the middle of trying to write your pitch paragraph or 1-sentence summary. Let me know if you find these helpful.
(c) 2010 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
"I try to leave out the parts that people skip."
~Elmore Leonard
Footnotes is a recurring series on the GLA blog where I pick a subject and
provide several interesting articles on said topic. We’ve
all been there. First, your throat begins to tighten and then your mouth goes dry.
Your heart beats so fast it feels like it could leap from your chest at any moment.
You take a deep breath and begin your pitch, hoping what you say will make some sense.
Today, I’m serving up four articles on surviving the conference pitch.
1. First impressions count. An
article on Suite 101 shows you how to prepare for the pitch like you would a job
interview.
2. Different situations call for different pitches. Nathan
Bransford explains one sentence, the one paragraph and two paragraph pitches.
3. Pitchcraft. Agent
Katharine Sands explains the elements that should be included in the pitch and
ones you should leave out.
4. Some agents hate pitches, too. Agent
Janet Reid explains what not to do.
Want more on this topic?
If I am represented by a good agency and am pitching to a top magazine or newspaper, should I mention the fact that I have an agent who deals with NY Times best-selling authors in my bio?
Will it seem strange that I am mentioning that I have an agent but that I, not them, am doing the pitching?
I never worked in the acquisitions department of a magazine, so I can’t say with complete certainty how a magazine editor thinks or works. Maybe one of my readers would know. That being said, I don’t think it could hurt to say your agent is currently shopping your book.
If you are shopping a nonfiction book and you are an expert, I would definitely mention it. It’s something that will give you more credibility as the author of the article and the book.
As for whether it’s strange that your agent is pitching for you: Not strange at all. Few literary agents pitch to magazines.
Jessica
Editor's note: I am declaring November 2010 to be
"Agent Guest Column Month," and therefore, every weekday, I will be posting a guest
column by a literary agent. Day 2: Today's guest agent is Dan Lazar of Writers House.
The surefire way of tempting a literary agent into reading your work is by sending
them a fabulous query letter. A great query letter trumps all, every time. But how,
you’re wondering, can you possibly encapsulate your amazing manuscript, your sweat
and tears, your next Great American (if you’re Canadian, then your next Great North
American novel) … into one letter? Because remember, at the end of the day, it all
comes down to the writing. If you’re a great writer, who’s written a great novel,
you can write a great query letter. Period. Here are some tips of mistakes to avoid.
Guest column by Dan Lazar, an
agent
with Writers
House in New York.
1. Be specific, but don’t vomit information. Saying “my novel is about a mom
going through some life challenges” is vague, and remember: Vague = boring. However,
be careful not to stuff your letter with so many details of your plot that it’s confusing
to decipher what’s going on. Reading your pitch letter out loud can often help you
identify these flaws.
2. Avoid the “duh” trap. Don’t bog down your writing by overstating the obvious.
For example, “I'm writing this letter to tell you about my fictional novel, which
I'd like to send you, and it is called TITLE.” That’s an awkward sentence. A simple
“I'd love to send you my novel, TITLE” is short and sweet. If this is confusing, read
both out loud. Seriously. Try it. Reading your own words out loud can sometimes reveal
the awkward or run-on sentences.
Another “duh” trap would be: “My novel will make you laugh”
or “My writing is lush and literary”—you’re
begging the agent to disagree. Many writers say “my novel will be a bestseller," or
"my book could easily be made into film," in an effort to excite an agent. But truthfully,
this is borderline offensive to most agents—it’s
presumptuous and naïve to assume your work can easily bypass all the guardians and
hard work it takes to make book into a bestseller or a movie.
3. Don’t call your manuscript a “fiction novel.” There’s no other kind. If
you can’t tell the difference, that’s a problem.
4. Don't say other readers loved the book, unless those other readers are published
authors of note. If you’re writing a children’s book, saying your class loved
the book is equally unhelpful.
5. Make sure the agent accepts e-queries before you send one. Just because
his/her e-mail is listed somewhere, doesn't mean they do. Most agents now have websites;
check their submission guidelines. If you're not sure, send your query by snail mail.
6. E-queries must also look neat. Colorful border, graphics or emoticons are
not only unprofessional, but they’re often caught by spam blockers. And if the agent
requests your work by e-mail, e-mail it in one or two attachments. Not twenty.
A thousand other questions may be running through your head now – but these are the
basics. For all else, use your common sense. Courier New versus Times New Roman? 1
inch margin versus 1.25? Doesn’t matter, trust me. Just write
Editor's note: I am declaring
November 2010 to be "Agent Guest Column Month," and therefore, every weekday, I will
be posting a guest column by a literary agent. Day 3: Today's guest agent is Miriam
Kriss of Irene Goodman Literary.
Miriam Kriss is an
agent with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency representing commercial fiction and she
represents everything from hardcover historical mysteries to all subgenres of romance,
from young adult fiction to kick ass urban fantasies, and everything in between.
Miriam’s co-agent, Irene Goodman, offers
manuscript critiques on eBay every month, starting on the first day of each month,
with all proceeds going to charity. Click on the link for more details on these
critiques and charity auctions.
I go to a lot of writers’ conferences and the highlight of many of them for both myself
and the aspiring authors who attend them is the agent pitch sessions. The format of
these appointments varies from conference to conference. Sometimes they’re five- to
ten-minute meetings between an agent and an aspiring writer, other times they’re speed
dating style mini encounters. Still other conferences go with a group pitch model
where a group of writers sit down all at once with an agent.
Whatever the format these are opportunities for writers to not only convey their excitement
about their project to an industry professional but to also get some sense of who
the agent is and if they would like to work with them. Often attendees put a great
deal of pressure on themselves for these meetings and feel the whole of their future
careers depend on this short encounter. I wanted to give some tips about what agents
look for in a pitch to let you feel more prepared the next time you sit down across
from your dream agent.
1. Know Thy Genre (or Sub-Genre)
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve sat down to with someone and asked them
what they write, only to be faced with confusion. Knowing where your book would live
in the bookstore is crucial to making sure the agent can evaluate it properly. Even
if you’re writing something that has elements from several genres, it’s important
to understand it can only be shelved in one place when in the bookstore, so you need
to determine who your audience is and make that clear from the beginning of your pitch.
2. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
This isn’t the moment to go into every intricate plot point. Rather, think of
your pitch in terms of cover copy. What’s your log line? A logline, or one sentence
pitch, is a phrase borrowed from Hollywood, where as Mamet’s character Charlie Fox
said in Speed the Plow, “You can't tell it to me in one sentence, they can't put it
in TV Guide." This is the intrinsic hook that will make people want to pick
up your book. A common mistake I see is for people to try to use that one sentence
to sum up every aspect of their story and then get frustrated when it doesn’t. This
isn’t meant to be a synopsis of your plot, rather it’s bait to make people want to
read it. Likewise, the body of your pitch should be more like back cover copy
than a synopsis, meant to give the high points of the story, not a blow
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wow, lots of familiar names and lots of new ones, too! I’m sure it’ll be a blast!
Oh if only I could hop on my magic carpet and come over for the weekend.
Tara Lazar teased us yesterday–we’re waiting for the announcement.
Gosh! What a fabulous line up! Wish I lived closer
what a grouping!!! I can’t wait to be a part of it!