A.G. Carpenter's Blog, page 13
September 10, 2013
#PitMad - September 12, 2013
So. The Twitter party for PitchMadness (#PitMad) is coming on September 12th. Which is two days away! If you haven't considered participating, there's still plenty of time to get a pitch or two ready and jump into the fray.
There are a few things to remember if you want to participate.
1. You must be pitching a COMPLETED and POLISHED manuscript. Not that any of us will be able to tell, but if you get requests and send in something rough and awkward or have to say "Just wait another month and I'll be through with the rough draft/revisions/etc" you're only making yourself look like an amateur.
2. Pitches must be 140 characters or less and need to contain the hashtag #PitMad. It's even better if you can fit a genre/category hashtag in there (#YA #SpecFic #UF #whatever) as it saves the agents/editors time when they're browsing the feed. (Some pitches will obviously be Adult or Young Adult, but some are more ambiguous. If you don't want agents frustrated trying to guess whether your fairytale retelling is meant for adults or kids, use a category hashtag.)
3. It never hurts to have multiple pitches ready to go. This gives you more chances to pitch (Twitter will not allow you to tweet the exact same thing more than once so be prepared to move hashtags and small words around) and gives agents different looks at your work. A good approach is to have a pitch that covers the general plot, and then one or two that bring up the secondary plot or focus more tightly on one of the characters.
4. Do your best to write a pitch that reflects your book accurately. I once got a request from an agent who then rejected the expanded query because she didn't like steampunk. Which is fair enough and I should have been more specific in my pitching to make that clear.
5. During #PitMad try and show some restraint. It's easy to keep tweeting every couple of minutes but that only clogs the feed and, well, makes you look a little desperate. My approach is to try and tweet every half hour or so. (I'm pitching two different projects so I can put up a different pitch every quarter hour to 30 minutes depending on whether there are agents actively looking.)
6. Have fun. Pitching can be stressful, there's no better way to start second-guessing yourself than to see other pitches and try and compare them to yours. But the best thing you can do is be prepared and have fun. (Those other authors are probably looking at your pitches with envy too. That's insecurity for you.)
There are a few things to remember if you want to participate.
1. You must be pitching a COMPLETED and POLISHED manuscript. Not that any of us will be able to tell, but if you get requests and send in something rough and awkward or have to say "Just wait another month and I'll be through with the rough draft/revisions/etc" you're only making yourself look like an amateur.
2. Pitches must be 140 characters or less and need to contain the hashtag #PitMad. It's even better if you can fit a genre/category hashtag in there (#YA #SpecFic #UF #whatever) as it saves the agents/editors time when they're browsing the feed. (Some pitches will obviously be Adult or Young Adult, but some are more ambiguous. If you don't want agents frustrated trying to guess whether your fairytale retelling is meant for adults or kids, use a category hashtag.)
3. It never hurts to have multiple pitches ready to go. This gives you more chances to pitch (Twitter will not allow you to tweet the exact same thing more than once so be prepared to move hashtags and small words around) and gives agents different looks at your work. A good approach is to have a pitch that covers the general plot, and then one or two that bring up the secondary plot or focus more tightly on one of the characters.
4. Do your best to write a pitch that reflects your book accurately. I once got a request from an agent who then rejected the expanded query because she didn't like steampunk. Which is fair enough and I should have been more specific in my pitching to make that clear.
5. During #PitMad try and show some restraint. It's easy to keep tweeting every couple of minutes but that only clogs the feed and, well, makes you look a little desperate. My approach is to try and tweet every half hour or so. (I'm pitching two different projects so I can put up a different pitch every quarter hour to 30 minutes depending on whether there are agents actively looking.)
6. Have fun. Pitching can be stressful, there's no better way to start second-guessing yourself than to see other pitches and try and compare them to yours. But the best thing you can do is be prepared and have fun. (Those other authors are probably looking at your pitches with envy too. That's insecurity for you.)
September 3, 2013
Forthcoming - Southern Gothic, "The Collections Agent" and "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer"
Southern Gothic - an anthology edited by Brian Centrone is scheduled for release on October 15th. It contains my flash story "Love Like Dysphoria" among other works of contemporary southern gothic short stories. I will post links to the various vendors when the book goes live. There are plans to publish via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GooglePlay, iBooks and possibly Kobo.
After consulting with Bruce Bethke at Stupefying Stories it appears that "The Collections Agent" will be published soon. (Like, in the next month soon.) More details on that as soon as I have them.
Additionally, I received word last week from Crowded Magazine that "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" has been accepted for Issue 3. Publication is tentatively scheduled for early Spring 2014.
"The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" was a story I'd been working on selling for over a year. It had been short-listed at six different markets in a row, before being passed over. I'm so happy that it's found a home with Crowded.
After consulting with Bruce Bethke at Stupefying Stories it appears that "The Collections Agent" will be published soon. (Like, in the next month soon.) More details on that as soon as I have them.
Additionally, I received word last week from Crowded Magazine that "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" has been accepted for Issue 3. Publication is tentatively scheduled for early Spring 2014.
"The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" was a story I'd been working on selling for over a year. It had been short-listed at six different markets in a row, before being passed over. I'm so happy that it's found a home with Crowded.
August 20, 2013
Bakers Dozen Agent Auction 2013
Just a little heads up about the upcoming Bakers Dozen Agent Auction.
The pertinent details are here: Bakers Dozen @ Miss Snark's First Victim
I entered last year and, although I wasn't selected as a finalist, it was a great motivation to get The Steampunk Novel query-ready. (In fact, I started sending out queries the same week as the auction.)
There is a $10 fee required for entry but it's well worth the money for the opportunity being offered. AND there are log-line prep sessions in the months leading up to the auction. AND it's loads of fun.
So mark your calenders.
October 29 and 31: Submissions for the Adult Fiction Category (everything except Erotica and Erotic Romance)
November 5 and 7: Submissions for Young Adult and Middle Grade (all genres)
THE AUCTION DATE: December 3
The pertinent details are here: Bakers Dozen @ Miss Snark's First Victim
I entered last year and, although I wasn't selected as a finalist, it was a great motivation to get The Steampunk Novel query-ready. (In fact, I started sending out queries the same week as the auction.)
There is a $10 fee required for entry but it's well worth the money for the opportunity being offered. AND there are log-line prep sessions in the months leading up to the auction. AND it's loads of fun.
So mark your calenders.
October 29 and 31: Submissions for the Adult Fiction Category (everything except Erotica and Erotic Romance)
November 5 and 7: Submissions for Young Adult and Middle Grade (all genres)
THE AUCTION DATE: December 3
