Pitch Madness 2015 SORRY! Edition
The Agents!
The Pitch Madness submission window will be open for 72 hours starting on February 20!
Pitch Madness is a contest to win a request from one or more of the participating agents.
The submission window will be open from 12:01 AM EST on February 20 until 11:59PM EST on February 23. You should have plenty of time to get your submissions in. There is no limit of how many entries will be accepted. All entries sent before or after the allotted times will be deleted. Make sure to perfect your entry. If you make an error, you may not resend.
There will be 60 finalists moving onto the agent round. Pitch Madness will accept Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult (never before published) fiction only, novel length (no novellas) completed and polished manuscripts only. All genres (i.e. fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi, and so on) are welcome to enter. This time around we will not accept non-fiction. Only one entry per writer.
What do you need to enter? A 35-word (max) pitch and the first 250 words of your finished manuscript. If the 250th word falls in the middle of a sentence, go to the end of the sentence. I will post formatting instructions and where to send when the submission window opens.
Pitch Madness will be on four blogs and each blog host will have a co-host helping them choose their top 15 entries. We’ll have a team of first readers who will check for formatting, grammar, and content and put their top picks through to the hosts. To meet the reader and the teams go to this post here.
Here are the host blogs …
All the twitter fun will happen on the hashtag #PitchMadness!
And now, introducing the agents …
Sara Megibow — KT Literary
Website | Twitter
Sara represents middle grade, young adult, new adult, romance, erotica, science fiction and fantasy. She is also LGBTQ and Diversity friendly. Sara is an avid romance reader and a rabid fan girl of super sexy and intelligent stories.
Louise Fury – The Bent Agency
Website | Twitter
Louise represents young adult, middle grade, new adult, commercial fiction including romance, and select nonfiction.
Sean McCarthy – Sean McCarthy Literary Agency
Website | Twitter
He is drawn to flawed, multifaceted characters with devastatingly concise writing in YA, and boy-friendly mysteries or adventures in MG. In picture books, he looks more for unforgettable characters, off-beat humor, and especially clever endings.
Laura Biagi – Jean V. Naggar Literary
Website | Twitter
She is actively building her own client list, seeking adult literary fiction and young readers books.
Peter Knapp – Park Literary
Website| Twitter
Pete is actively looking for middle grade and young adult fiction, as well as suspense and thrillers for all ages. He will consider select adult fiction, including psychological suspense and mysteries, and plot-driven literary fiction.
Jessica Sinsheimer – Sarah Jane Freymann
Website | Twitter
Jessica is most excited about finding literary, women’s, and middle grade, young adult, and new adult fiction, and—on the nonfiction side—psychology, parenting, self-help, cookbooks, memoirs, and works that speak to life in the 21st century.
Alexandra Machinist – ICM Partners
Website | Twitter
She is seeking new clients particularly in the areas of commercial women’s fiction, suspense, high-concept young adult fiction, and anything and everything that keeps her up all night reading.
Uwe Stender – TriadaUS
Website | Twitter
He is always open to any strong fiction (our current focus in fiction is YA, middle grade, Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction and Mysteries) and all non-fiction projects.
Patrica Nelson – Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Website | Twitter
Patricia represents adult and young adult fiction. On the adult side, she is interested in literary fiction and commercial fiction in the New Adult, women’s fiction, and romance genres. For YA, she is looking for contemporary/realistic fiction as well YA mystery/thriller, horror, magical realism, science fiction and fantasy. She is also interested in finding exciting multicultural and LGBTQ fiction, both YA and adult.
Rachel Brooks – L. Perkins Agency
Website | Twitter
She is excited about representing young adult fiction, as well as adult romance. In YA, she’s looking for authentic voices and memorable characters. In romance, whether contemporary or historical, sweet or spicy, she loves swoon-worthy heroes and determined heroines.
The P.S. Literary Agents – Carly Watters, Maria Vicente
Website | Carly’s Twitter | Maria’s Twitter
Carly is actively looking for Literary, Upmarket and Commercial Fiction, World Literature, smart Women’s Fiction and Book Club books, Literary Thrillers, LGBT, select Young Adult, and nonfiction in the Health, Wellness, Cookbook, Narrative, Lifestyle, Memoir, Humour, Pop Science, Pop Psychology and Business categories.
Maria is actively acquiring both fiction and nonfiction projects. In fiction, she is looking for Literary and Commercial Fiction (including fiction with a touch of genre), LGBTQ, Young Adult (any genre), Middle Grade (any genre), and illustrated Picture Books. For nonfiction, she is looking for projects in the Pop Culture, Geek Culture, Pop Psychology, Design, and Lifestyle categories.
The New Leaf Literary Agents – Suzie Townsend, Jess Dallow, Jaida Temperly, and Danielle Barthel
Website | Twitter | Suzie’s Twitter | Jess’s Twitter | Jaida’s Twitter | Danielle’s Twitter
Suzie represents adult and children’s fiction. In adult, she’s specifically looking for new adult, romance (all subgenres), fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy) and crim fiction (mysteries, thrillers). In children’s, she loves YA (all subgenres) and is dying to find great Middle Grade projects (especially something akin to the movie Super 8). Update: Due to an unforeseen event, Suzie won’t be participating in Pitch Madness, but her fabulous colleagues will be.
Melissa Jeglinski – The Knight Agency
Website | Twitter
Melissa is currently seeking projects in the following areas: Romance (contemporary, category, historical, inspirational), Young Adult, Middle Grade, Women’s Fiction and Mystery.
Carrie Howland – Donadio & Olson
Website | Twitter
Carrie represents literary fiction and non-fiction as well as young adult fiction and middle grade fiction.
Brianne Johnson – The Writers House
Website | Twitter
She represents picture books (something where we could see fabulous, memorable characters encounter a variety of new circumstances), middle grade (the whimsical, the imaginative, the dark/crass/wacky/hilarious), young adult (creepy/horror/suspense, historical, historical fantasy, and creative fantasy in general, as well as beautiful, literary works that explore the coming-of-age theme from a truly original angle and beg for multiple re-readings), and adult.
Fuse Literary Agents – Sara Sciuto, Emily Keyes
Website | Sara’s Twitter | Emily’s Twitter
Sara is actively building her list with a focus on middle grade and young adult fiction; in particular, contemporary, historical, gothic/thriller/horror, sci-fi, mystery/suspense, fantasy and other speculative fiction. She’s also considering select adult nonfiction in the areas of craft, design, how-to, lifestyle, and pop culture. For children’s nonfiction, she’s open to a wider range of both narrative and prescriptive projects.
Emily is a particular lover of all types of young adult and middle grade books. Emily is also looking for a select list of commercial fiction, which includes fantasy & science fiction, women’s fiction, new adult fiction, along with pop culture and humor titles.
Chalberg & Sussman Agents – Lana Popovic, Natasha Alexis
Website | Lana’s Twitter | Natasha’s Twitter
Lana is looking for a broad spectrum of Young Adult and Middle Grade projects, from contemporary realism to speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, and sci-fi. For the adult market, Lana is interested in literary thrillers, horror, fantasy, sophisticated erotica and romance, and select nonfiction.
Natasha is seeking manuscripts from all categories, including literary and commercial fiction, fun Middle Grade fiction, edgy chick lit, dark thrillers and New Adult fiction. Natasha is especially attracted to projects featuring people of color, and counts pop culture, lifestyle, and wellness-oriented nonfiction among her interests.
Taylor Haggerty – Waxman Leavell
Website | Twitter
Taylor is currently seeking young adult fiction, historical fiction, and historical romance. She is also looking for middle grade and young adult of all genres, women’s fiction, and romance—contemporary, historical, and new adult.
Jessica Watterson – Dijkstra Agency
Website | Twitter
Jessica is most interested in all genres of romance. She greatly enjoys romance novels with strong characters that jump right off the page and a plot that stays with the reader long after the book has finished. She is also interested in select women’s fiction and young adult fiction.
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Elena Giovinazzo – Pippin Properties
Website | Twitter
She is seeking young adult, middle-grade, and children’s fiction. Elena loves funny picture books, is typically averse to rhyming texts, likes goofy middle grade, and is on the hunt for beautifully written YA.
Claire Anderson-Wheeler – Regal Literary
Website | Twitter
In non-fiction, she is chiefly looking for topical memoir, popular science and pop psychology with a solid research background; in fiction, her primary interests are literary fiction, Young Adult fiction and upper-end middle grade, and commercial women’s fiction with strong contemporary themes.
Jordy Albert – The Booker Albert Literary Agency
She is interested in Middle Grade contemporary or action/adventure (think Indiana Jones, Goonies, Labyrinth and other awesome 80s movies). In YA and New Adult, she is looking for sci-fi/fantasy (romance), contemporary romance. As for adult works, Jordy is looking for smart, sexy contemporary romances that leave her breathless, and where the chemistry between the characters sizzles right off the pages. She is also looking for Historical Romances (she definitely has a soft spot for Regency).
Here’s the schedule …
- Agent Introduction on February 4
- Rules of the Game on February 13
- Submission window opens February 20 and will be open for 72 hours
- The top 60 picks for the agent round will go up on the blogs on March 2 at 12:01AM EST (NY time)
- March 4 at 12PM EDT (Noon) the agents requests are revealed, and right afterward is the tying agents challenge round
- There will be a #PitMad Twitter Pitch Party on March 11 from 8AM to 8PM EST. Check here for rules of the Twitter Pitch Contest.
Don’t forget to come back for the instructions!
Wowza! What a lineup!
So excited for this!! I agree with P.D. Impressive line up!
I’ve been publishing my book a chapter at a time on my personal blog. Does this still count as “not yet published?”
In case no one has answered you privately, publishing your book on your website/blog is still publishing. How can a publisher gain profits when the book is already out there? However, there are a few rare folks that self published and got picked up by an agent afterwards, only because their books were successful in sales. But, I also hear a few of them were burned on re-releasing the already published books and now agents are more careful with their signings. If I were you, I’d pound out another fantastic idea to query and submit to contests, making sure you never post on your website, of course:-) I hope this helped you.
This agent line up is awesome! Can we enter more then one manuscript?
It seems to me there is a plwthora of agents on the lookout for YA, New Sdult, teen stuff, women’s interests but so far i have seen one agent who handles adult commercial fiction. With a group like this, and my book is commercial fiction, who is even going to take a look? I will submit however.
Sorry about the typos, I have something burning in the oven.
You are, or are not, accepting children’s books / picture books? Thank you.
Can we submit the same work we entered in Pitch Wars if we were not chosen?
Thanks in advance!