Have questions about submitting to Pitch Wars or just want to know what it is? Start here!

Blog

PW #324: Young Adult #ownvoices Fantasy: THE IMPOSTOR

Thursday, 2 November 2017  |  Posted by Brenda Drake

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: N.K. Traver

Mentee Name: Bethany Hensel

Title: THE IMPOSTOR

Category: Young Adult

Genre: #ownvoices Fantasy

Word Count: 100,000 words

Pitch:

Carys Vaeta. Queen, ruler, Luminary—and dying of a rare disease.

Leo Vallerin. Refugee, ragamuffin, conman—and desperate to get home.

With Carys’s only cure dependent on finding her biological family, she offers riches beyond imagining for information, setting Leo up for his greatest con yet. Failure isn’t an option for either. But as secrets unravel, they’ll have to choose: loyalty or riches, lies or truth. Freedom or love.

Excerpt:

My mother always told me: The worst truth is better than the best lie.

She said that thoughts have power, and to be careful with what I put out in the universe because it would always come back to me. She said that though life changes—in ways both big and small, quiet and deafening—I should not ever be afraid, because I’m strong enough to weather those changes. And she promised, just moments after I kissed my sweet Covo goodbye and he left my world forever, that the pain would stop, even though it felt impossible, and that my heart really was still beating, just differently now, tender in ways it had never been before.
Lastly, she whispered in my ear that one day, when I had children of my own, I would tell them all this too.

Her words are constantly with me, especially as I hurry down the wide stone path to Diamond House. The midnight chill seeps through my cloak and nestles in my bones, making me tremble. Or perhaps it’s not the chill at fault. Marin’s note is in my pocket, folded neatly, as if the bends in the paper could halve, then quarter, then cut his single sentence into pieces, so it’s like it never existed at all.

I’ve nothing to be afraid of.

I am strong enough for anything he has to tell me.

Filed: PW Entries

9 Comments
  • Wow, I love this sample! Please send your query in the body of an email, along with the full manuscript and a synopsis (both attached). Please also include a link to this entry. You can send your materials to lauren@triadaus.com. I look forward to reading!

    ~Lauren

  • Caitie Flum says:

    This looks great! It I’d love to take a look.

    Please send the query in the body of the email + full manuscript as a Word attachment to querycaitie@lizadawson.com with “Pitch Wars request” in the subject.

  • Melissa Edwards says:

    I’d love to see more! Please email the first 50 pp. as a .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thank you!

  • Hillary Jacobson says:

    I love love love the sound of this! Please do send the full manuscript as a word document to hjacobson@icmpartners.com. Thank you!!

  • Hi Bethany,

    I would love to see more! Please send your query to channigan@hsgagency.com and attach the first 100 pages as a word document. Also please include “Pitch Wars YA” in your subject line.

    Thanks!
    Carrie

  • Hi Bethany,

    Nat has told me such incredible things about your work and I would LOVE to take a further look! I’m already so captivated by the sample you’ve shared above! Please could you send the full manuscript attached in a word document? I would really appreciate it if you would label your query REQUESTED: Pitch Wars and label the document with your last name and the title.

    Thank you so much! I truly can’t wait to dive in!

    Warmly,
    Bri

    Brianne Johnson
    Writers House

  • Roseanne Wells says:

    I’d love to read more! Please use the guidelines on jdlit.com to send 30pp (instead of the normal 20), and include #Pitchwars in the subject line. I can’t wait to dive in!

    Roseanne Wells
    The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency

  • Hi Bethany,
    Your own voice story pitch is compelling. Please send the first three chapters as an attachment to ellamarie@belcastroagency.com. Include Pitch Wars in the subject line. Thanks.
    Best,
    Ella Marie Shupe
    Belcastro Agency

  • Christa Heschke says:

    I’d be interested to see more! Please send a query, first 50 pages and synopsis to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com. Look forward to reading!
    -Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis

IMPORTANT!
We're thrilled at the different ways those in our Pitch Wars community are giving back—and we encourage them to do so. However, please keep in mind that Pitch Wars is not affiliated with any of these various contests, promotions, etc., including those of our mentors and mentees. Promoting any such opportunities via our social media channels doesn't imply endorsement or affiliation. We encourage you to do your research before participating.

Pitch Wars takes a stand. ANTI-BULLYING. Click here to review our policy

Pitch Wars 2021

Blog Archives

Blog Categories

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.