Sunday, December 12, 2010

I'm a "SPECIAL REQUEST"!!

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I've got some pretty cool news. 

If you haven't before entered Operation Awesome's "Mystery Agent Contest", you might want to check it out.  This is one to watch for, because when they send out the call for one-line pitches - it's limited to 50 entries.  And they go QUICK!!  Like, that day.  *And special note...if you do check out the next one and see 50 comments, don't lose heart - there's a good chance non-pitchy comments were made and they're really not to 50 yet.

Anyhow!  I entered the one for December.  I didn't win the Grand Prize (you get to sent the agent your FULL MS!)  I didn't win one of the 4 honorable mentions that the agent picked, either.  (partials, people!)  HOWEVER - I did get a mention in the "Special Requests"!!  And I quote:

SPECIAL REQUEST


"I’d be more than happy to see a query and the first ten pages from anyone who participated in the contest, but based on the pitches, I especially would like to hear from the authors of OUT OF MY BODY, THE IRON WOOD, ANGEL OUT OF THE WATERS, THREE PARTS DEAD, SIEGE OF THE HEART, PHANTOM FIRES, THE WHISPERING CITY, and THE CABIN AT LOST CREEK."

OK - you see that one on the end there?  That's ME!!!! 
 
 
Can you give me a WOOT WOOT!?  *pauses to listen*  Awww - thanks!  :)
 
I'm pretty excited!  (ya know, in case you couldn't tell or anything...)  I may not have been THE winner, but I certainly feel like A winner.  Why?  Because this is all about validation.  I'm in that top 26% of pitches that appealed to the agent, Weronika Janczuk.  I pitched something that actually APPEALED to a bona fide, real-life, in-the-biz agent!!  Whether she likes what I send her or not (of course, hoping she does!) the point is that I now know that I've got a story concept/pitch that is appealing.  And I can SOOOO work with that!
 
I've been researching away - just a tad worried that I don't have the time to research Weronika the way I'd like to, or read some of the books she's agented or recommends - but, I'm assuming when you get a request like this the ideal thing is to get your query and pages to her lightening quick!  So, that's what I'll be working on today.  Wish me luck?
 
And I pose this question to all of you:  HAVE YOU ENTERED ANY MYSTERY AGENT and/or PITCH CONTESTS LATELY? 
 
Happy Writing!!

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Oooh congrats! I entered a pitch contest on Market My Words last week and I should find out this week if I won anything--but I'm awful at pitches.

Jess said...

Major congratulations to you! Keep us posted on the submission :)

Colene Murphy said...

Wow! Congratulations! Agree, keep us posted!

Caitlyn (Cait) said...

WOOT! WOOT! ;) I am so excited for you, Sis.

Abby Minard said...

Woohoo! Congrats Donea!!! I'm so excited for you! What was your pitch? COuld you post it for us to see, so we can see how it was written and what attracted her to it? That is so awesome. I do know Weronika likes adult literary type stuff, (and YA too I think- I can't remember what you said yours was). She's also pretty new- she was an intern for a long time and just became a full fledged agent. Good luck, can't wait to hear all about it!!

The Happy Whisk said...

Cool beans.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss donea! wow big HOORAY for you!!! i didnt ever do a pitch yet except in baseball. i still got my cp reading my last book so its not ready for one of those pitchy things. i hope she love your story.
...smiles from lenny

Tara said...

Good luck!

Shannon said...

Congratulations! Best of luck!!

Joanna St. James said...

woot woot I tried out once at another agency but pple jammed the website and by the time it was free it was filled up.
Lucky you!

Unknown said...

That's amazing! What an awesome opportunity!!! Sweet! Go you!!

I'm always afraid to do the pitch because the Full MS isn't ready to go, it hasn't been edited enough!

How do you handle that?

Jen/Jules
Unedited & Jules and the Stars

alexia said...

Congrats!!!!!! So awesome! You rock! Weronika was one of the agents in that recent bidding contest at Miss Snark's First Victim. Good luck!!

Beth Fred said...

Wow! That is awesome! WOW WOW WOW
beth-project52.blogspot.com

Donea Lee said...

Thanks, SO MUCH, everyone! You guys seriously ROCK! I wish bucket loads of luck to each and every one of you as you go about entering contests, querying, or for where ever you might be in your writing journey! :)

To answer Jen's question - my best answer is that I take my chances here and there, hope I get lucky, and if I do - work my tail off! You just never know about pitching until you try a few out.

Abby asked if I would post my pitch, and if it can help any of you out, I'm happy to do so. Here it is:

A woman, falsely suspected of kidnapping a boy when she was only seven years old, must face all her past demons when she visits the scene of the crime twenty-five-years later and finds the boy there - and he's still only seven.

I have to say that this one was fairly easy for me to write. Guess I just got lucky. This isn't always the case. I have another one for a different project that is kind of the bain of my writery existence. I'm not sure what to do with it. BUT - I do think it's essential to really know your story and attempt to condense it all down to one sentence as much as you can. Best of luck to anyone who's trying! :)

alexia said...

Great pitch! And really unique story premise!