#PitchWars Picks!!

Pitch Wars has been one awesome whirlwind, and today our picks are live!

It was a tough choice, and I want to thank each and every one of the writers who sent me an application because they felt I would make a worthy mentor for their hard work. I truly appreciated the personalized queries and the time you took to research what made me tick. Unfortunately, time constraints didn't allow me to write personalized feedback to each one of you, but it came down to this:

I could only choose one, and it had to blow me away. The end.

And so, without further ado, the manuscript/author I am SO excited to mentor is......

WHERE THE STAIRCASE ENDS by Stacy Stokes!

I was drawn to this one right away. The concept made me sit up and take notice, and to say the sample pages didn't disappoint is an understatement. 

My two alternates are:

CLOUD NINE by Sara Biren

OVER THE DEEP FRIED RAINBOW by Leslie Rose

These were fabulous, humorous YA contemps that I fell in love with, and still hope to read (wink wink, ladies).

Congratulations to all the Pitch Wars mentor/author teams, and a big thank you to Brenda Drake for putting this contest together! Looking forward to the agent round!

Introducing The #PitchWars Agent Lineup!

Pitch Wars ... the agents!

Are you ready for this? We have 16 incredible agents vying for our Pitch Wars team manuscripts. We're so excited to see what pitches they fall in love with, and what teams will win the coveted Pitch Wars Most Requested Manuscript title.

And, in no particular order, here are the agents...

Louise Fury
L. Perkins Agency
Twitter: @louisefury


Louise is seeking teen Sci-Fi and Young Adult horror. She's also on the hunt for deep, dark contemporary YA and select Middle Grade fiction with a literary feel--it must be realistic and thought provoking and the characters must be authentic and original. Louise loves horror and romance, especially Regency and Victorian.

Jessica Sinsheimer
Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency

Twitter: @jsinsheim


Jessica is seeking Literary, Women's, Middle Grade, and Young Adult Fiction.

Natalie Fischer Lakosil

Bradford Literary Agency

Twitter: @Natalie_Lakosil


Natalie is looking for commercial fiction, with an emphasis in children’s literature (from picture book-teen), romance (contemporary, paranormal and historical), and upmarket women’s fiction. Specific likes include historical, multi-cultural, paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy, gritty, thrilling and darker contemporary novels, and middle grade with heart.

Pam van Hyckama Vlieg

Larsen Pomada Literary Agents

Twitter: @BookaliciousPam

Pam represents young adult and middle grade children’s book authors, and adult romance authors.

Jordy Albert

The Booker Albert Agency

Twitter: @bluedragonfly81


Jordy is on the look out for Romance (contemporary, historical/Regency, and paranormal). YA contemporary/historical or dystopian, sci-fi/fantasy with romance elements. She's also open to YA GLBT within those genres. She'd love to see unique, well-developed plots featuring time travel, competitions, or travel.

Andrea Somberg

Harvey Klinger Inc.

Twitter: @andreasomberg


Andrea's looking for the following categories: Fiction; literary, commercial, womens fiction, romance, thrillers, mystery, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, young adult, middle grade.

Jennifer Mishler

Literary Counsel

Twitter: @literarycounsel


Jennifer is seeking Young Adult Fantasy, Young Adult Contemporary, Young Adult Literary, and Young Adult Historical.

Suzie Townsend
New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
Twitter: @sztownsend81


Suzie represents adult and children's fiction. In adult, she's specifically looking for romance (historical and paranormal), and fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy). In Childrens' she loves YA (all subgenres) and is dying to find great Middle Grade projects (especially something akin to the recent movie SUPER 8).


 

Victoria Marini
Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc.

Twitter: @LitAgentMarini

Victoria is looking for literary fiction, commercial fiction, pop-culture non-fiction, and young adult. She is very interested in acquiring engaging Literary fiction and mysteries / suspense, commercial women's fiction (romantic suspense, sci-fi, fantasy), and Young Adult (contemporary, sci-fi/fantasy, thriller and horror ).

Kerry Sparks

Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, Inc.

Twitter: @Kerry_Sparks

Kerry is looking for Young Adult and Middle-Grade fiction, both commercial and literary. She tends to shy away from werewolves, zombies, faeries, and the like, but she’ll read anything with a fresh voice and compelling characters. She is particularly keen on contemporary YA, quirky MG, books with a strong cinematic element.

Drea Cohane

The Rights Factory Literary Agents

Drea is currently seeking: fiction, memoir, crime, non-fiction and YA. Her roster consists of British, American, and Canadian clients. International talent is welcome.

Katie Shea

Donald Maass Literary Agency

Twitter: @AgentShea

Katie specializes in fiction and memoir, especially women’s fiction and commercial-scale literary fiction, and realistic YA. She is most interested in coming-of-age stories and stories of unique relationships.

Elise Capron

Dijkstra Literary Agency

Twitter: @EliseCapron

Elise is interested in serious character-driven literary fiction, well-written narrative nonfiction, and short story collections. (Note: She is not interested in Fantasy, young-adult/middle-grade, picture books, romance, and sci-fi.) She aims to work with writers who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience.

Jodell Sadler

Sadler-Caravette Children's Literary

Twitter: @picturebklunch

Jodell is interested in YA, MG (especially funny) , fiction and nonfiction, book proposals, and picture books. She will also coach writers wanting to self publish. She simply loves a well-paced story that moves her between joy and tears.

Corvisiero Literary Agency

Brittany and Michelle are teaming up to look for Adult, YA, and MG manuscripts.

Michelle Johnson
Twitter: @MJsRetweet

Michelle’s published one novel, The Footloose Killer, and edited several others for publishing houses and private clients. She also is a Script/Story consultant on an independent film in Halifax, NS, Canada, and enjoys working closely with writers to help them develop their voice and craft.

Brittany Howard
Twitter: @brittanydhoward

When reading, Brittany loves to be introduced to new and interesting people and places. She looks for strong voice, good storytelling, and fascinating relationships between characters—romantic or otherwise. More than anything, she loves when a book surprises her.

There's just one more day to get your applications in for Pitch Wars. Make sure to check out this post here to get all the details.