Pitch Madness Prep

Pitch Madness is on again! And for you're planning to enter this year, it's prep work time!

Every year the Pitch Madness crew reads through SO MANY ENTRIES! But you have to be in it to win it...so to speak. You need to make sure your entry is at it's best to catch the eye of a Pitch Madness Team, and then an agent.

Here's some simple steps to take to get your entry ready.

Pitch Prep

1. Craft your 35 word pitch: Put together your pitch. Make sure you touch on the main point of the story while also dangling a hook for the agents to intrigue them. 
2. Test your 35 word pitch on people who know your story: People who have read your story can tell you if your pitch gives a good reflection of your story. 
3. Revise your pitch: Take on board the feedback and hone that pitch!
4. Test your 35 word pitch on people who don't know your story: Nobody knows your story better than you do, so it's easy for the pitch to make sense to you. That doesn't mean it will to someone who has no idea what your story is about. And you'll be pitching to people who had no idea what your story is about. 
5. Revise your pitch...again...

Manuscript Prep

1. Polish your manuscript: Don't enter if your work isn't ready. Simple. 
2. Make sure your story has a killer opening: You get to share your first 250 words. Make them killer. 
3. Make sure your story starts in the right spot: Don't use a prologue in Pitch Madness. Don't give backstory/telling. Start it with ACTION or INTRIGUE. Hook us with your opening. 

Entry Prep

1. Research the agents: Brenda has worked hard to vet participating agents, but you need to do your own research as well to make sure they're a match for you. 
2. Follow Brenda Drake's blog, as well as all the hosts on Twitter, to make sure you get all the latest news on the contest. 
3. Follow & use #PitchMadness on social media.
4. Connect with other Pitch Madness entrants: You may find a CP. You may find someone cool. You may make friends of life.
5. Prepare your entry: Get it all ready in advance so you're not rushing. 
6. Proofread your entry: If your entry has a mistake it WILL put agents off. 
7. Get someone else to read your entry: See above!
8. Revise your entry!
9. Send your entry in!

I look forward to reading your entry, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Sharon M. Johnston is an author and public relations specialist who lives in sunny Queensland, Australia. 

She has been a Pitch Madness host for the past few years, and is also a Pitch Wars mentor.

Her New Adult Sci Fi Romance, DIVIDED: An Open Heart Novel Book 1, is out now with City Owl Press. 

You will be able to catch up with Sharon in Las Vegas in April if you are heading to Romantic Times. 

Not The Way Vague Is

According to Joseph Campbell and myth criticism, the same stories are being told over and over again. To a point, that’s true. Tropes are repeated all the time.

Person meets person. (Boy/girl girl/girl boy/boy or any combination you so choose, it’s still the same basic trope of that first meeting.)

Coming of age.

The one.

Second chances

Redemption

War

Sports

Person on a journey

Rags to riches

Tragedy

And the list goes on.

If I say there’s an awesome story about this guy who was prophesized to kill his father, would you know what story I’m talking about, or would several come to mind? Maybe I’m talking Oedipus Rex. Maybe I’m talking Star Wars. Who knows? It’s too vague to be certain. Oedipus Rex and Star Wars are two completely different stories, but without the details, both can be described by that first vague line.

This is the same thing I see in queries all the time. People are vague. That vagueness describes two hundred other stories written with the same basic trope. You think you’re talking about your story, but really you’re talking about many, because I have no idea the details of yours and what makes it different.

Oedipus had no idea it was his father he killed at the time. Had no idea he married his mother. Luke knew Vader was his father, but had no idea that Leah was his sister when she kissed him. Similarities, but differences enough to make it known that it’s not the same read at all.

Without the details, your book is lumped into a trope. Be specific.

How do you know if you’re being too vague? There are some pretty good key words.

Mysterious

Stranger

Unknown

Things like that. Also no asking questions. This is your story. You tell me. Questions are vague and honestly, in my opinion, a little annoying. As far as I can tell most agents don’t like them much either.

Will she have the strength to face her inner demons and let herself love?

I dunno, but this doesn’t tell me anything about what makes your story different.

What must she do to face her inner demons? Tell me. Tell me what will happen if she fails. What’s the consequence of it all?

The details give the little nuances that are different from the basic trope. Sure, it’s a story about a son having to kill his father for some reason, but Luke is definitely not Oedipus.

Agents don’t want to rep the same story they just came across last week or last year. They want something new. The more details you give, the more they can see just how unique your story is, and it ups your chances of getting a request. If the son is destined to kill the father, that’s great, but tell me what makes yours different than the 8,000 other novels with the same trope.

What is going to make me LOVE your novel? 

The query is the agent’s first impression of your novel. Give it enough detail to make a good impression.

 As Query You Write, Force Be With You It Will