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NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza Archives - Page 8 of 8 - The Book Doctors

The Book Doctors

Tag: NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza

  • Crystal Chilcott

    Meteor Showers by Crystal Chilcott 

    Moving every year or two is hard on teenagers under normal circumstances, but doubly so when each move means adjusting to a new culture and country. For a figure skating Olympic hopeful, getting the proper training is nearly impossible.  When Santiago moves to train full-time at an Olympic Training Center site, he knows his life will change drastically.  No longer will he live as a global nomad with his mom and an ever-growing number of half-siblings. For the first time, he will seek companionship beyond his family.  What he isn’t prepared for is a tragedy that challenges everything he thinks he knows about his family, faith, sport, and his place in the world.

    His grief sends him on a quest to find the father he never met, a search for existential meaning in his life, and a relentless pursuit of a spot on the Olympic team. As he uncovers his mother’s secrets, he is aided by Athena, the world champion who lives next door and Shae-Lynn, his young secondary coach with a toddler and a big secret of her own.

    A comparable title is I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. The novel would appeal to teenagers with goals of their own, an interest in travel, or who are struggling to find their place in the world.

    Thank you for your consideration.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Jennifer Mannering

    The Sky Shatters by Jennifer Mannering

    I am seeking representation for THE SKY SHATTERS, an LGBT Young Adult romance novel, complete at 77,000 words. Award-winning author, Tim O’Brien called my novel “suspenseful and vividly written” and internationally bestselling author, Amy Stuart “loved the diversity of characters and the quick witted words and dialogue”. My novel will appeal to fans of Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not and Tommy Wallach’s We All Looked Up.

    When the rain starts, it’s simply an annoyance. But then it doesn’t stop.

    Seventeen-year-old sci-fi geek Simon Myers doesn’t know if the rumours of a global flood are true, but he does know that he’s not gay. He just happens to spend a lot of time studying the muscles of his childhood friend, star quarterback Jay Griffon. Unfortunately, things have been weird with his friend ever since Simon stumbled upon Jay’s heartbreaking secret. Now Simon is forced to grapple with his new feelings for Jay and watch from the sidelines as Jay starts dating the sharp-tongued beauty, Trish O’Brian.

    The daughter of a heroin addict, Trish has never had an easy life. With her mother practically comatose and her father never home, Trish is the sole caregiver for her baby sister and often must resort to stealing to keep them fed. But Trish has a plan. She’s shimmied her way into Jay’s life in her tightest jeans and skimpiest top, and come hell or high water she’s going to use him and his rich-kid privilege to escape her chaotic home life and circling social worker.

    As tensions between Trish, Simon and Jay escalate, so does the persistent ferocity of the rain. The complaints and jokes about the weather begin to morph into whispers of fear and acts of violence. Schools are closed. Shops are broken into. The electricity goes out. The water gets higher.

    And a kiss changes everything.

    I am an Event Coordinator at the Lavin Agency in Toronto, where I spend my days surrounded by books and interesting people. On rainy days you can find me reading under a blanket, drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey tea. My blanket fort is also located in Toronto.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Michael Lunsford

    Ledger Demain and the Awesome Umbrella by Michael Lunsford

    Ledger is worried. If his tinkering dad doesn’t stop wasting money on eccentric brainstorms and flakey inventions, they could lose the family bookstore, life savings and house. To make matters worse, Dad’s workshop just exploded—and this was no accident. Somebody blew it up on purpose.

    Granddad arrives to take Ledger and his kid sister, Savvy, to Camp Eureka—The Quintessential Inventor’s Camp for Nerdy kids—until Dad can figure out who dynamited his workshop. But on the way, Granddad goes missing and now Ledger and Savvy are on their own to reach Camp Eureka and figure out who’s messing with their family before they strike again.

    When they arrive (dripping wet but alive), the perplexing camp director won’t let them join the search for Granddad—that is, unless they prove themselves by winning the Weird Wacky Water War and Pretty Nerdy Baby Buggy Derby. Ledger can’t understand what’s up with the camp director, but one thing he knows for sure: An inventive mind could really come in handy right now.

    LEDGER DEMAIN AND THE AWESOME UMBRELLA is a 57,000-word, upper MG adventure with Sci-Fi elements and series potential.

    By the way, I know a little something about inventions, living and inventing in Silicon Valley with 27 patents to my name. I’m also a member of SCBWI and South Bay Writers Club, graduate of U. of MD with a BA in English Lit and author of 14 tech books published by Bantam, Simon & Schuster and other top publishers.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Wadza Mhute

    by Wadza Mhute

    From 1976 to 2008 in an ever-changing country, from civil war to civil unrest – a story of three generations of women in the same family. They experience displacement within and without against the backdrop of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from civil war to independence and economic inflation.

    MaiRati is a widow, who loses her farm to her husband’s brothers after his death. The inheritance laws in 1970s Rhodesia do not include women. Still she survives. 

    Rati briefly fights in the civil war where she endures physical and psychological trauma. To escape forced conscription in the rural areas she travels to the city and marries Lovemore, a businessman who becomes wealthy after Zimbabwe’s independence. Along with his wealth come mistresses or “small houses.” Rati shares her husband with other women.

    Her estranged daughter Muni immigrates to United States to escape the dysfunctional home. She attends university on a scholarship and struggles as an international student.  A crisis at home forces Muni to return and confront her past.

    The three women run from their circumstances but struggle in their new homes.

    This is a story of family, immigration and its struggles, as well as a story of discovering oneself in the midst of hardship. It is a story of undiagnosed trauma and returning to ones roots to begin again.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Josette Abruzzini

    In Vermeer’s Shadow by Josette Abruzzini

    WHAT IF…. Johannes Vermeer, the beloved Dutch painter, and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the uneducated cloth merchant who discovered microbes, were friends? Such is the premise of this 55,000-word MG historical novel, In Vermeer’s Shadow: The Tale of a Scientist & an Artist.

    Young Antoni is sent away to school following his mother’s remarriage. He thinks his friend, Johann, with a loving family, is the luckiest boy in Delft. As a sixteen-year-old, Antoni must surrender his dream of a formal education and submit to an apprenticeship. He vows to live an honest life as a cloth merchant. Johann’s paintings bring him adulation, but his uncompromising artistry results in a host of challenges he is ill-prepared to deal with. Amid political chaos, Antoni must choose between honoring his friendship with Johann, and maintaining his reputation as an honest man.

    In Vermeer’s Shadow is a carefully-researched novel about friends whose lives are shaped by love, war, disease, and new ideas of Holland’s Golden Age.  Does Antoni find the love that he missed as a child? How does he reconcile his need for truth and his friendship with Johann? Does he become the scholar he had always hoped to be?

    A former teacher, I’ve designed this cross-curricular vehicle to introduce the history of 17th century science and art, all within a compelling story. This past July, I was published in STEAM-Ed Magazine, and in Downhome Magazine.

    If you are curious to read more, I’d be thrilled to send my manuscript your way.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Aimee Brown

    by Aimee Brown 

    Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiancé Jack Cabot for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan’s wedding is about to end that streak. Evan is marrying Jack’s little sister forcing them all together for an entire week. No one had the nerve to tell Emi that Jack is newly engaged to Emi’s arch enemy.

    From bad bridesmaid’s dresses, hyperactive sister-in-law’s, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she’s wearing her little gray dress.

    When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxson’s bar to escape, things get more complicated. He’s gorgeous, southern and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn’t need or want Jack.

    Will Emi’s heart lead her towards the man she’s never quite gotten over or will she move on after finally seeing him for what he really is? Will that little gray dress make another appearance when Emi least expects it?

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • K.J. Milton

    Faces by K.J. Milton

    In the aftermath of a car crash that claims the lives of his wife and child, world-renowned actor and musician Jonah Wilder spirals into the hell of heroin addiction. To avoid publicity during rehab, Jonah slips into his most ambitious role to date, becoming John Walker — a bearded, long-haired, reclusive auto mechanic. Under the guise of Walker, Jonah enters an inpatient Methadone program in a rural Minnesota sobriety house.

    Andi Sawyer has left her abusive husband behind, and her first priority now is to provide a stable home environment for Charli, her musically gifted, special-needs daughter. But stability seems elusive in Pine Valley, Minnesota, as Shumway Steel, the town’s largest industry, faces closure. Then an unexpected friendship blossoms with John, the new arrival at the men’s sobriety house next door. As his walls crumble and love opens the door to dreams of a new life, John Walker envisions a future for the three of them as a family … as long as his tragic past as Jonah Wilder stays hidden.

    When the feeling that she’s met John before drives Andi to put her artistic skills to work, she realizes that John may not be the man she thought she knew. Worse, Andi’s dangerously obsessed ex-husband has returned, and Peter Sawyer will stop at nothing to unmask the imposter in Andi’s life. Jonah must reconcile his past and accept the better man he’s become, or he will lose everything he’s come to cherish—Andi, Charli—and his second chance at life.

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    Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).

  • Seventh Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza

    Seventh Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza

    NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza 2017 on YouTube live

    NaNoWriMo + The Book Doctors + Youtube = Pitchapalooza 2017

    You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You felt the high. Now what are you going to do with your precious manuscript? That’s where we come in.

     

    For those of you not familiar with Pitchapalooza, here’s the skinny: You get 250 words to pitch your book. Approximately 20 pitches will be randomly selected from all submissions. We will then critique the pitches during a live webinar on February 28, 2017 at 4PM PST, so you get to see what makes a great pitch. At the end of the webinar, we will choose one winner from the group. The winner will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her manuscript.

     

    Beginning January 11, 2017, you can email your pitch to nanowrimo@thebookdoctors.com. PLEASE DO NOT ATTACH YOUR PITCH, JUST EMBED IT IN THE EMAIL. All pitches must be received by 11:59PM PST on February 14, 2017.

     

    We will also crown a fan favorite who will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250). On March 1, 2017, 25 random pitches will be posted at our website. Anyone can vote for fan favorite, so get your social media engine running as soon as the pitches go up! Voting closes at 11:59PM PST on March 15, 2017. The fan favorite will be announced on March 16, 2017.

     

    If you purchase a copy of our book, The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published, by March 15, 2017, we’re offering an exclusive one-hour webinar where you’ll get the chance to pitch your book (worth $75). Just attach a copy of your sales receipt to your email and we’ll send the link to the webinar dates.

     

    It’s been a great year for past NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza winners. Gloria Chao, sold her novel American Panda (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets Amy Tan) to Jennifer Ung at Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster. Publication is planned for Spring 2018. Stacy McAnulty,  got a three-book deal from Random House for The Dino Files series. Her third book, The Dino Files: It’s Not a Dinosaur, was released this year.
    Are you feeling a little unsure about exactly how to craft your pitch? Keep reading.
    [themify_button style=”large red rect” link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aFbRoEzkJM&feature=youtu.be” ]Watch NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza[/themify_button]

    10 Tips for Pitching

    1. A great pitch is like a poem.  Every word counts.
    2. Make us fall in love with your hero.  Whether you’re writing a novel or memoir, you have to make us root for your flawed but lovable hero.
    3. Make us hate your villain.  Show us someone unique and dastardly whom we can’t wait to hiss at.
    4. Just because your kids love to hear your story at bedtime doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified to get a publishing deal. So make sure not to include this information in your pitch.
    5. If you have any particular expertise that relates to your novel, tell us. Establishing your credentials will help us trust you.
    6. Your pitch is your audition to show us what a brilliant writer you are, it has to be the very best of your writing.
    7. Don’t make your pitch a book report.  Make it sing and soar and amaze.
    8. A pitch is like a movie trailer.  You start with an incredibly exciting/funny/sexy/romantic/etc. close-up with intense specificity, then you pull back to show the big picture and tell us the themes and broad strokes that build to a climax.
    9. Leave us with a cliffhanger.  The ideal reaction to a pitch is, “Oh my God, what happens next?”
    10. Show us what’s unique, exciting, valuable, awesome, unexpected, about your project, and why it’s comfortable, familiar and proven.

    JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER TO RECEIVE MORE INTERVIEWS AND TIPS ON HOW TO GET PUBLISHED.  


  • The Art of the Book Pitch

    The Art of the Book Pitch

    What’s the key to unlocking publishing doors? A great pitch! Earlier this year, we taught a live webinar on how to craft a pitch that’ll grab the attention of agents, publishers, booksellers, and readers. The recording is now available for everyone to view.

    The Art of the Book Pitch

    Learn the art and science of the seemingly impossible task of boiling your book down into 250 words or less.

    • What is a pitch?
    • Why is a pitch important?
    • How do authors use pitches?
    • Is a plot-heavy pitch good or bad?
    • What is an elevator pitch?
    • How is a pitch like a poem?
    • How do authors use the pitch as a sales tool?
    • And more!

    During the webinar, we shared May K. Cobb’s winning pitch from the 2016 NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza. You can read May’s pitch here, along with all the other entries, and see our feedback.

    DO YOU WANT NOTIFICATION OF UPCOMING WEBINARS? LET US  KNOW. 

  • NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza 2016 Winners!

    NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza 2016 Winners!

    National Novel Writing Month logo

    Nano Nation: You are all WINNERS!  We had such a blast with this year’s National Novel Writing Month Pitchapalooza. So many AWESOME pitches, so much AMAZING imagination, such an ASTOUNDING display of dizzying talent. Thanks so much to all the writers who participated in this year’s NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza! As always, we got so many fabulous pitches it was stupidly hard to choose a winner. But choose we did. And the winner is …

    MAY K. COBB is the winner for her book Big Woods. She wrote a glorious pitch with a vivid voice, scintillating story, gripping characters, and luscious location. Amazing job, May! She will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for her manuscript.

    The Fan Favorite this year is KELLY BRAKENHOFF for her book Death by Dissertation! She gets a free one-hour consultation with us (worth $250). Congratulations!

    Sign up for our newsletter to receive advice on writing and getting published. We’ll also include info on our live Pitchapaloozas and workshops around the country. Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.  And if any of you wonderful wacky Wrimos buys a copy of our book The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, you will receive a free 20-minute consultation, worth 100 American dollars. Just send proof of receipt to david@bookdoctors2.pairsite.com.

    We’re hosting a free webinar on Thursday, April 7th at 8PM EDT. During the webinar, we’ll be teaching the art of the pitch. A great pitch can open so many doors for you. A terrible pitch pretty much assures that those doors will remain closed. We will also answer any questions about pitching, publishing, writing, books, or the nature of the universe. We hope to see you on April 7th.

    Sign up for our webinar