In the days leading up to Pitch Wars, mentees posted various novel aesthetics on Twitter, and I thought it would be fun to compile them all here on my blog. I’ve mentioned this before, but my idea for this manuscript started with the setting in the middle of the novel. We were on our annual…
Contests
It’s Pitch Wars Time!
The adult/new adult and middle grade Pitch Wars entries are already live, and the young adult entries are scheduled to post tomorrow, although the others have gone up the night before, so it’s very possible my entry for YOUR SECRET’S NOT SAFE WITH ME will go live tonight. My mentors asked me if I was…
Tackling a Major Revision, or How I’m Revising for Pitch Wars
In addition to promising to talk about my Pitch Wars mentors’ books (I’ll feature Kristin Smith’s books next week!), I said I’d share my revision process, so here goes. A week after the Pitch Wars announcement, I received a thirteen-page edit letter from my mentors, as well as an invitation to view a Google Doc…
I’m a 2017 Pitch Wars Mentee!!
Based on this title, some of you are probably wondering whether I’ve been drafted into an a cappella group (I was tempted to break into song) or some sort of strange cult. Don’t worry–well, the a cappella group wouldn’t be cause for concern–it’s an amazing, wonderful, exciting opportunity! (I could continue adding on adjectives, but…
What I’ve Learned in Five Years of Querying
I’ve become a huge fan of the memories that pop up on Facebook. It’s a fun way to look through old photos, videos, and the occasional comment. Anyway, on July 3, a writing-related post showed up that made me smile and shake my head at the naive Michelle of five years ago, but it’s appropriate…
5 Signs You Should (or Shouldn’t) Be Tweeting Tomorrow
Last fall I wrote a popular post featuring two contests that were happening on the same day–On the Block and #PitMad–and I’ve revived it the last couple of times #PitMad popped up, but I decided it was worth updating the post to only cover #PitMad, so here goes. In case you’re new to the Twitter…
I’m on Team Ravenclaw for Pitch Slam!
For those of you curious about my current project, AS SEEN ON EVIE, I was selected for Team Ravenclaw in the Harry Potter-themed Pitch Slam contest. Over the next few days, agents (or Professors, as the contest has deemed them 🙂 ) will be awarding points to entries within the different houses, which equate to…
5 Signs You Should (or Shouldn’t) Be Submitting/Tweeting Tomorrow
So there are a couple of amazing opportunities out there tomorrow for writers who have a manuscript ready to query. One is the incomparable Authoress’ new On the Block contest, a progression from her very popular Baker’s Dozen contest. The other is #PitMad, a twelve-hour pitch session that happens four times a year, dreamed up…
Revising from Public Critiques: Baker’s Dozen Edition
Hi everyone! I took Monday off from the blog due to Thanksgiving (which also happened to be my birthday), followed by Black Friday shopping and Christmas decorating. It was a crazy but fun-filled weekend. Oh, and I participated in a little contest called Baker’s Dozen. If you’re not familiar with this annual contest, it’s hosted…
Adventures in Pitch Wars Hashtag Stalking
Normally at this time of year I would be stalking ninjas, but due to the timing of Pitch Wars and WriteOnCon, I didn’t participate as much in the latter this year. I have become an entirely different kind of stalker–a hashtag stalker. Specifically, this one: #PitchWars Now, it’s a little overwhelming to watch the whole…
Practice Makes Perfect–Or At Least Closer to Perfect
It’s been more than a month since my cupcake celebration for finishing my latest first draft. It took great self-control to let the draft sit for that long, but I filled the time with critiques for other writers, a major contest, and a revision to DUET. But finally, this week it was time to start…
Contests, Contests Everywhere
The other day I participated in a Q&A for @MissDahlELama, and one of the questions she asked was: What are your feelings on participating in contests, and what are your favorite kinds? I thought this was a particularly interesting question, especially with the crazy amount of contests going on at the moment. You’ll probably be…
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