Agent Pitch Contest Details!

(*If you haven’t already read our event listings for the next week of, you might want to do so. There’s some seriously awesome stuff going on.)

 

It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally time to announce the details of our TCWT’s first birthday agent pitch contest! *muppetflail* I’m incredibly excited, as you can probably tell. First off, let’s meet our awesome agents, shall we?

 

*drumroll*

 

Introducing…

Pam van Hylckama of Larsen Pomada!

…

Natalie Lakosil of Bradford Literary!

…

Julia A. Weber of J.A. Weber Literary!

…

Emily Keyes of L. Perkins Agency!

***

 

WOOHOO! Such awesome agents. *muppetflail again* I’m so grateful that they all agreed to do this! And I’m excited to see what they think of the entries. But first, the rules.

 

Rules:

 

- To participate, you MUST be of the ages 13-20. No exceptions.

- You must have a completed manuscript. This means it’s fully polished and ready-to-go. If you wouldn’t want an agent to read it as is, don’t send it.

- To enter, email a three sentence pitch and your first 250 words IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL to TeenRiter(at)gmail(dot)com. No attachments, please.

- Each entry should get a confirmation email a few hours after you send it in. If, come Tuesday, you still haven’t received confirmation, please resend the entry.

- 10-15 entries will be chosen from the slush and posted on the blog. I’ll only post my top 10 favorites. Unfortunately, this means not all submitted entries will make it to the agent round. Keep in mind that this whole thing is subjective and if I don’t love your entry, it doesn’t mean that no one else will either.

- The top 10 entries will all be in their own posts, and our four awesome agents will be reading through and requesting to read more of their favorites in the comments section of each entry, so if you make it to round 2, be sure to see check whether you get any agent activity. Note: Making it to round 2 does not guarantee you’ll get an agent request. It just means you’re a lot closer, and that I personally think your entry will grab an agent’s attention.

- You’re also welcome to critique the top 10 entries in the comments of each post, but please make sure to keep it friendly and helpful.

- If you don’t make it to the agent round and really want to know why, email me and I’ll tell you. Be warned, though, my response will be brutal honesty, so only ask if you’re genuinely interested in improving your pitch and first 250 words.

 

Dates & Times:

- Entry submissions open at 6 PM EST today (9/15) and close at 11 PM EST on Tuesday (9/18).

- Winning entries will be announced and posted sometime on Thursday (9/20). Be sure to check and see if your entry made it to the agent round!

- The agent round closes on Sunday night (9/23). All agents will make requests before then. If you got a request, I’ll email you directions for sending the agent your manuscript and you’re on your way!

 

Format for Entries:

All entries should look like the below, just with your info added in. (Note: You don’t have to put your full name/real name in the “name” section if you don’t want to. The name should be whatever you’re comfortable being known as if your entry gets posted on the blog.)

 

Name: John

Title: INEVITABLE

Wordcount: 56k

Pitch:

[insert three sentence pitch here]

First 250:

[insert the first 250 words of your MS here. Please make sure to finish the sentence you end on. If this means going over or under the 250 word limit, that's okay.]

 

**If you need help with your three sentence pitch, we have some good examples from our editor pitch contest here. Or if you’d like a critique, post your three sentence pitch in the comments below and someone will hopefully come along to help you out. Be sure to critique another pitch in the comments, though, if you post yours, so the karma will be returned.

 

***I’ll live-tweet some pros and cons of the entries using hashtag #TeenWriters on Twitter. If you participate in the pitch contest and are on Twitter, you might want to check in on the hashtag every day or so. Also use #TeenWriters for any tweets you make related to the pitch contest.

 

****Don’t forget about our live Twitter Q&A with agent Pam van Hylckama Tuesday (9/18) at 8PM EST. Details are here.

 

Good luck, everyone! And anything you can do to spread the word is greatly appreciated!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know either below, by email, by social media–whatever.

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