Pitch Contest Success Story

I love when paying it forward pays big. So when I got a message from Caitlin Whitaker telling me she got her agent through one of my contests, I had to let out a major squee.

Here's her story:

Ladies and gentlemen, I am now represented by the fantabulous Ms. Bree Ogden of D4EO Literary Agency.

First, some numbers. I sent out a grand total of 37 queries, never heard back on 14 of them, was rejected 12 times, and had 15 submission requests. I know the numbers don't add up. Some of my submission requests were from contests so there wasn't an official query involved.

Bree was one of my non-query submissions.

I started querying at the end of July and the very first one I sent was answered with a request for my full manuscript. Over the next few weeks, I sent out two and three queries at a time and entered contests to distract myself from obsessing over my submissions.

The first contest I entered was Dorothy Dreyer's 3-2-1 Pitch Contest; three sentences, two days to enter, one agent judging the entries. The agent judging the August 3-2-1 Pitch Contest was Bree Ogden, who is ridiculously awesome on so many levels. I was pretty darn sure I wouldn't win but I loved the idea of whittling my pitch down to three little sentences so I went for it. I labeled it New Adult because the option was there. It's a tricky issue for me because my MC is a little older but the MS feels very YA. I've had mixed messages from agents on this one so I thought it was safer calling it NA than risking the old "Maggie's too old for YA" response. I spent maybe fifteen minutes condensing my query down to this;

"Maggie inherited a lot from her grandma-- her brown eyes, her sense of humor, and her cause of death. Unaware she's starting the countdown to a reenactment of her grandma's death by fire, Maggie spends the summer with her hot-as-hell boyfriend and accidentally sets off an unstable stalker.

It's only a matter of time before Maggie Parrish is going to burn."

And then I waited. Six days later, I wasn't the winner. I assumed Bree wasn't interested. (WRONG)

A bizarre email showed up in my inbox early the week after. Someone claiming to be Bree's executive assistant requested my first fifty pages and synopsis, saying Bree had instructed her to do so following the 3-2-1 Pitch Contest. Instead of her email address ending in @D4EO.com, it was (redacted).D4EO@gmail.com. Her first name was EXACTLY THE SAME as mine. Think hard-- how many Caitlins do you know? Not Katelyns or Caitlynns, but Caitlins. No one knew how to pronounce my name when I was little. Every substitute teacher called me Cat Lynn. I hated it. But I digress.

Because I'm such a confident, secure person, I assumed the almighty Bree-Freaking-Ogden was way out of my league and the email was a scam. This psycho "Caitlin" chick swiped my email address off the contest entry and wanted to steal my baby. Bree, with her red lipstick fetish and love of things dark and wonderful, would never be interested in some loser stay-at-home mom with a minivan and a Diet Cherry Coke addiction.

I did what any sane person would do. I called Bree's executive assistant a manuscript-napping fraud and said she needed to get smacked around. Then I got this email;

"Ha ha! Yes, she is my assistant. And yes, I told her to request fifty pages. Thanks for checking!"

So I apologized to Caitlin for calling her a scam artist and accusing her of trying to hijack my story. I made such a splendid first impression, I figured I'd slaughtered any chance I had of landing Bree.

A bunch of other stuff happened. (I just saved you half an hour. You're welcome.)

All of a sudden, I had offers. It was an overnight thing and I'm still in shock. I wrote a bunch of "thank you for considering my MS, blah blah blah" emails and sent them to the agents who hadn't answered my query yet. To the agents who'd made submission requests, I gave them a heads up about my offers and got emails back, asking for a week to finish reviewing my MS. Bree was one of them.

Bree's offer was preceded by a middle of the night email, confessing she was (and I quote) "falling madly in love" with my manuscript. She sent an email the next day, asking if we could chat on the phone because she had an offer for me. I locked myself in my room and The Gunny hung out with the kids so I could have a semblance of privacy. We talked on the phone and she was every bit as jaw-droppingly cool as she seemed online. (Her hair changes color! Pink! Blue! Green!)

I have to add here how awesome my other offers were. This wasn't an easy decision. I didn't query every agent known to man-- just agents I really wanted to work with. Getting an agent is more than signing a contract. It's agreeing to a sort of partnership. It's finding someone who genuinely loves you and your work and will rave about you to publishers and fight for your manuscript's life. It's not something I took lightly when I sent queries. I think having this attitude made rejections easier for me. When I got a rejection that praised my writing but said they just didn't love it the way they needed to in order to represent me, I was cool with that. I was looking for love and I found it.

Congratulations, Caitlin! I'm so happy for you! I look forward to news of a book deal!

Winner of the Three-Two-One Pitch Contest!

Yes, it's time to announce the winner of this month's Three-Two-One Pitch contest.

Our judging agent, Bree Ogden, seemed really impressed with the entries. In fact, she said, "Wow, those were some amazing pitches! So hard to choose one." So without further ado, here's our winning entry:

•Megan Orsini 



•Fall of a Sparrow



•YA contemporary



•60,000



•Set within the confines of a traveling freak show, in this modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic tragedy Hamlet, Ben McPherson, son of the proprietor of McPherson's Traveling Carnival of Wonders, must avenge his father's untimely death. Narrated by Ben's best friend Liam, Fall of a Sparrow explores the monsters and madness that hide in the shadows and the secrets that can eventually become our downfalls.

Congrats, Megan! Bree would like to see your full manuscript and, as a bonus, would like to critique your query! How cool is that! (Please send your full in an attachment, the query in the body of the email, use the subject line "Requested Material: FALL OF SPARROW" and mention this contest as a reminder of where she found you, to bree@d4eo.com - and good luck!)

Thanks to everyone who participated, especially our awesome agent judge. You rock, Bree!

Keep writing and polishing, everyone. Our next pitch contest takes place September 21st and 22nd! Details to come.

Three-Two-One Pitch Contest Official Entry Post

This contest is now closed to entries. Our judging agent will review all pitches, and I'll announce the winner once a decision is made. Stay tuned!

Yes! It's here! Are you all ready to enter the Three-Two-One Pitch Contest? That's awesome! But first, before you post, look over the rules once more.

To remind you all what the contest entails, it goes something like this:

THREE - Pitch your story in only three sentences. 

TWO - Two days to enter: August  20th and 21st.

ONE - Literary agent Bree Ogden  of D4EO Lit will judge and pick a winner.

You have today,  August 20th, and tomorrow, August 21st, to post your three-sentence pitches (no run-on sentences!) in the comments section of this post. At midnight on August 21st, I will turn off comments and no other entries will be accepted. You are allowed two entries per person. Bree Ogden, our judging agent, will then read all the entries and pick a winner, who will get a full manuscript request!

This contest is open to unagented, completed and polished manuscripts in the genres of:

• MG
• YA (no paranormal, urban fantasy, romance [ unless there is a superb dark, psychotic element ], or magical realism)
• New Adult
• Graphic Novels
• select adult genres: transgressive fiction, genre horror, genre noir, and nonfiction

To be eligible, you must:

• Follow this blog - go ahead and click "Join this Site" on the right if you haven't already
• Follow me on Twitter
• Spread the word! Tweet, Blog, or mention on Facebook about the contest linking back to this post

Not necessary, but in the spirit of paying it forward:

• Friend me on Goodreads
• Like my Facebook Author Page
• Check out my upcoming debut (and maybe mark it as to-read) on Goodreads

HOW TO POST YOUR ENTRIES

Please format your entries in the following manner:

• Name and email
• Title of your manuscript
• Genre of your manuscript
• Word count
• Three-sentence pitch (No more than three sentences or you'll be disqualified.)

Good luck, everyone. Can't wait to read all your pitches. On your mark, get set, GO!

Introducing Our Judging Agent

I know you've been anxious to find out who will be judging our Three-Two-One pitch contest next week. Well, the wait is finally over.

The amazing literary agent judging our contest is Bree Ogden of the D4EO Literary Agency!

Bree Ogden joined D4EO in November 2011, after having been an associate literary agent at Martin Literary Management for nearly 2 years representing children’s, YA, and graphic novels.

Seeking: Middle grade, Young Adult, New Adult fiction (readership: ages 18-30), Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, and Art books. *Now accepting queries for select ADULT GENRES: transgressive fiction, genre horror, genre noir, and nonfiction*

Bree’s wish list:

• Dark (not angst-ridden)
• Realistic
• Psychological horror (with no paranormal elements)
• Hard sci fi. Meaning no fantasy, or magical realism at all
• A Dexter-ish type YA black comedy
• A Roaring Twenties historical for YA
• A manuscript written in the era of Mad Men with panache and style
• A unique and theme-driven art book
• Any book dealing with Anne Boleyn
• Historical fiction (crime-driven)

Manuscripts Bree will not look at:

• Paranormal or fantasy (that includes urban fantasy)
• Romance (unless there is a superb dark, psychotic element)
• Magical realism
• World building

We're very excited to have Bree judge our contest. So come back on Monday and/or Tuesday to take part. Good luck to everyone entering. I can't wait to see the hidden gems out there!

Contest details can be found here.

Interview with Nikki Katz

Hello, my wonderful followers. I'm running on four hours of sleep, so please excuse me if I make any mistakes or start to ramble. Why four hours? Let's just say I was caught in a battle to save my computer from evil viruses. *swings a sword* Ugh.

But at least I was victorious ... at 3 in the morning. Double ugh.

On a happier note, I've got a great interview for you! Let's all welcome Nikki Katz.

Nice to have you here Nikki. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a freelance writer, blogger, rocket scientist, and work-at-home mom of 3. I’ve been an avid reader since I can remember, and have always dabbled in writing. I can fondly remember sitting on the playground in elementary school during recess, writing plays with my friends. Of course, that was mostly to avoid any sort of physical activity – I’ve never been good at sports or hand-eye coordination. I have written one YA novel that will never see the light of day, have started (and stopped) several young reader books and a chick lit novel, and last year I wrote two YA novels – Shoreline and SoulCatcher. I have representation for Shoreline and am currently editing SoulCatcher.

Let's hear about Shoreline. What's the story about?

When sixteen-year-old Maya Georgiou moves with her family back to Bar Harbor, Maine she expects to easily remedy the sickly marine life developing offshore. After all, she is an ocean nymph and this is her territory. But nothing goes as planned. The poor creatures continue to die, rain falls whenever she’s upset, and her cousins whisper cryptic comments behind her back.

After her family nearly drowns her boyfriend, Nate, Maya demands to know the truth. Of course, when she hears their response, she wishes she never confronted them. Because the truth is that Maya is also a Siren and must sacrifice Nate to appease the Goddess Persephone. Until she does, the marine life will continue to die, and ultimately Maya will too.


Maya has only days to make her decision. Does she spare Nate by succumbing to the sickness that is literally drowning her alive? Or does she convince him to plunge into the ocean abyss to fulfill her ancestral obligations?

I love it! Can I read it RIGHT now? LOL. How did the idea for the story come to you?

I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology and I got it in my head that I wanted to write a story about ocean nymphs ... NOT mermaids. In fact, Maya alludes to this misconception in the book. Her family does not have fins! From there I began researching different myths and merged three together to come up with my own little world. I took a few months to mull this idea in my head, and made it a New Year’s Resolution to start writing a page a day starting January 1, 2009. Instead, I ended up writing several pages a day and finished my first draft in May.

If you were Maya from your story, would you make the same choices she did?

I’d like to say yes, but honestly – I don’t know if I’m that strong!

Before you landed your agent, did you have a long and grueling querying process? And what tips can you give those of us still querying?

It’s been an interesting process. I’m the first to admit that I’m extremely impatient, the kind of girl you see tapping her toes, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the people slowing her down. So I made the major mistake of querying too soon. For the most part I received immediate rejections, and when I did get a request for a partial, that was rejected too. So, I immediately went in search of beta readers, joined a critique group with two girls from my local SCBWI chapter, joined YALitChat, polished, revised, polished, and revised some more. Throughout the process, with every change, I would query a couple more agents. Because, did I mention I’m impatient? I received a little bit more interest, even a couple requests for full manuscripts, but ultimately all were rejected.


Then in April I did a major edit. I took out part of a storyline (Maya working at the resort and Nate leaving town), rewrote the entire beginning of their relationship, and really worked on the characters and voice. I queried Bree, she immediately asked for a two week exclusive read, and then offered representation a few days later!

So my biggest tip is ... Make sure your book is exactly where it needs to be. As a writer, we hear it time and time again, but I’ll be another person to drive that nail through someone’s thick skull. You WILL get representation when your book is where it needs to be, and not before.

Excellent tip, and great motivation for those of us still trying to make it. Tell us about Bree Ogden.

Bree is a sweetheart! She was very open to talking with me on the phone before I made my final decision, and as an agent she’s very flexible. She is as hands-on or hands-off as you want her to be. I prefer hands-on, so I’ve already run ideas past her for future ideas for novels, and she’s helped narrow my next WIP to what she thinks is going to work best in the upcoming marketplace (although she did like all 3 ideas!)

Bree is also great at dealing with my frequent emails (did I mention I’m impatient) nudging her for details on submissions and the process!

She sounds perfect! Let's talk about your writing process. What's the most difficult aspect for you?

I am not a plotter, which is odd because I’m an organizational freak by nature. But if I plot, I find that it strips all of the creativity out of me and I don’t want to sit down and actually write the book!

I don’t start writing from the beginning. With Shoreline I began about 2/3 through the book because I knew that scene the clearest in my head (although it completely changed through revisions). I knew where the characters were, so I didn’t have to do all of that “first chapter” writing. You know, the chapter of backstory that gets tossed because it’s all telling, not showing!


When I’m writing, I do it every day. I skip around so that I don’t really get writer’s block. If I’m fumbling on a scene, I jump to a new one.


The most difficult aspect for me is revising. I don’t mind the rewrite and ripping apart the manuscript to piece it back together again – because that’s all still creative to me. What I don’t like is the line-by-line editing. The word choice, looking for duplicate words on a page, grammar check. It bores me to no end, and makes it tough for me to read!

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: parachute, theater, and kangaroo.

I grabbed my stuffed kangaroo and sent a silent prayer that the parachute would open; whose idea was it to jump out of a Cessna and land on the theater red carpet anyway?

Awesome, hehehe. Here's the part where you thank the people who've supported you. Who would you like to give a shout out to?

Oh gosh, is this my Academy Award speech? I’d like to thank my parents, my husband, and my children, my director and producers and all my fellow actors. Oh wait, I never did become an actress, did I? Well, I’d still like to thank my family for allowing me to lock myself in a quiet room for hours on end! And I have to give fairy dust and buckets of thanks to my writing group and anyone and everyone who has given me feedback (and reread and reread and reread the manuscript). There are too many names to name, but you know who you are!

And finally, where can we find you online?

Personal Blog: http://www.nikkikatz.com
YA Know: http://yaknow.livejournal.com
Oasis for YA: http://oasisforya.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/katzni
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nikkikatz
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/katzni

Thank you so much for chatting with us, Nikki. Give us a heads up when Shoreline is out, and good luck with your future books!


Click here to see the book trailer for Shoreline.