WINTER IS COMING - and so is SEPTEMBER 10th - YOU'D BETTER BE READY

Okay this isn't nearly as frightening as GOT winter...but, then again, maybe it is--at least for writers and wannabe writers who aren't used to that little blue bird sitting up above because September 10th marks the date of PitMad also known as #PitMad or Pitch Madness, hostessed by the ever wonderful and wickedly wise Brenda Drake, on Twitter.

So, if you've stumbled upon this post and you're wondering what the heck is Pitch Madness...?

Well, then, let me explain. It's a party... No. Not with wine and toasts but, then again, maybe it is ;D because this is the day that writers everywhere will be pitching their best blurb on twitter in the hopes of grabbing an agent's attention. Of course only 140 characters can be used to describe even the longest works of writing. It doesn't matter if it's War and Peace or Goodnight Moon, every story has to be pared down to a mere 140 characters (including spaces). So, just like with winter, writers everywhere had better be ready to send their pitches out into the wonderful world of Pitch Madness.

So, if I haven't given you enough to worry about and you're still wondering what Pitch Madness is all about, here's a direct quote from Brenda Drake's blog:

"#PitMad is a pitch party on Twitter where writers tweet a 140 character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. Have several variations of your Twitter pitch available. Twitter may not let you tweet the same pitch over within the same hour. The pitch must include the hashtag #PitMad and the category (#YA, #MG, #A, #NA, #PB and #NF) in the tweet. The “#” is important to include. It will sort the categories to make it easier for the agents/publishers.
For more information about Twitter Pitching visit this post by agent @carlywatters here and this post by #PitMad alum @DianaUrban here. And here find a post from Diana on how to filter out spam from the #PitMad feed."

And, just like for Christmas, you'd better watch out, you'd better not shout, you better not cry because I'm telling you why... PITCH MADNESS is coming to TWITTER. 

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN. 

HELPFUL WRITER TIPS

HELPFUL LINKS FOR WRITERS

QUERY TRACKER: A great site where you can look up agents, the genres they represent, the time it takes for them to respond, and even track your queries.

AGENT QUERY: Another great site like Query Tracker.

AGENTS’ MANUSCRIPT WISH LISTS: This is a place to go to see what agents and editors are looking for.

TWITTER: #MSWL - The Twitter link to "real time" hints, tips and wishlists of agents and editors - BUT PLEASE do not pitch your story on this twitter site.

PREDITORS AND EDITORS: A place to check and see if an agent or editor is reputable.

MANUSCRIPT WORD COUNTS: The perfect place to see if your word count is in the right ballpark. 

WRITER’S DIGEST GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS: A treasure trove of information about agents and more...

PUBTIPS ON TWITTER:Tips about publishing.

TWITTER COMMUNITY WRITER LINK: An on-line community where you can share the trials and tribulations of being a writer, and get support, encouragement and inspiration.

COMMUNITY CHATBOARD (TOADHALL ON YAHOO): A chatboard about all things for Kid lit writers

SCBWI: The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators website

BRENDA DRAKE: A fount of information with contests that help you get published, find an agent or simply help you perfect your craft.

PitchWars

It's that time of year again. Yes, the holidays are here and so is PitchWars.

PitchWars, if you haven't heard, is a wonderful writer's contest where unagented authors get linked up with professional mentors to help them polish their manuscripts and get them ready for submission.

This is a wonderful way to work with other writers and create a community of like-minded people, who can share, celebrate and enjoy one anothers' progress.

And a huge THANK YOU needs to go out to Brenda Drake and all the mentors who are putting their time, energy and efforts into helping other writers work their way toward publication.

PITCHWARS

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So this is me now - Van Dancing all over the place.

I've got a mentor! And, I'm thrilled!!! If you'd like to meet the incredibly wonderful and super talented Heather Marie!  Pop over to her blog or twitter and check her out over at The Secret Life of Writers.

I am so grateful that she picked me!!! as her mentee.

I don't usually enter contests. Don't know why. I just haven't done them - maybe because of time and the fear of putting myself out there. Who knows? But, whatever the reason, I just haven't done it in the past. And, I can tell you that on 12-12-12 I knew it was going to be a special day...maybe because I was having an End of the World party with my gfriends where we celebrated the End of Days with Margaritas, Munchies and Manicures. But, I had no idea I'd be picked as a mentee!!!

I knew that the teams were going to be posted at 8:00 a.m. EST - that's 5:00 a.m. West Coast time (or what I call "my time").

So, I went to sleep--no problem--but I popped up suddenly at 3:00 a.m.

"Hum," I looked at the clock and thought "the birds don't even get up this early" so I went back to bed.

I woke back up at 6:30 and ran to check my email. Nothing. So, I was sure I wasn't selected. But then I popped over to Brenda Drake's blog to see who the lucky winners were.

And WHOO-HOO! I found my name on the list. I couldn't believe it and had to look twice to be sure it wasn't a dream.

Now, Heather Marie is going to help me get ready for the January pitches. And, after "playing" in the PitchWars, which is what I felt like I was doing because I met so many wonderful writers that I think we all won in this contest (which was put on by the wise and wonderful Brenda Drake), now we move on to the hard work (perfecting our pitches and getting our queries shined up for the next step) the agent round! The agent round begins on January 20th! I know that day is just around the corner and I want to be ready and I'm willing to work hard to get my story prepared.

If you don't know about PitchWars, here's a little blurb about the next 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).

I'm hoping you readers will be there to support me in this journey through the path toward publication! I can use all the cyber-hand holding I can get.