Thursday, May 30, 2013

Thursday's Children Blog Hop. Inspired by. . .



Pitch Contests!

Yep. After another round of #PitMad this past week, and the Writer's Voice recently, I can assure you that these adrenaline inducing, live and public pitches, are inspiring.

And How…

*You get to put your stuff out there. Whether it’s in 140 characters, as in an elevator pitch, or your query and first page. Other writers and even agents comment and/or critique your work. This definitely charges my battery.

*You can read what’s out there in writer land, and in writer’s minds in its developing stage and possibly the books of tomorrow--more for the TBR list!

* You can see what other agents are looking for by what they pick or comment on. And often tell us in their search through pitches. You can see what other writers are digging and want to add to their TBR. –In this case if an agent hasn’t commented, you may get several writers who really really want to read your book. Once again, proving subjectivity reigns.

*And quite possibly the BEST thing about writers’ contests is meeting/connecting with other writers!  
(‘course Blog Hop are great for this too… I’ve met some very inspiring writers through this hop!)

*And the you-never-know element: 
The coaches for The Writer’s Voice didn’t pick my MG from the 150 submissions they got; however, since my first page and query were still up on my blog, an agent found ME! And asked for a partial!!  Very cool. And very exciting.

Have you participated I any online pitch contests, or query/first page contests?


What have you gained or learned from them?


And Once again, I'd like to thank Rhiann Whynn Nolet and Kristina Perez for organizing this weekly hop and keeping the energy and the LOVE going. They ARE inspiring! Hop on the blog, get inspired and meet some great people. And write, write, write. . . 

10 comments:

jessika fleck said...

So much fun! Congrats on the agent request, how awesome is that?!!! I feel like I've participated in them all and aside from a few agent requests, the best thing I gained was experience and connecting with other writers. Come July, I get to be on the other side of things and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Unknown said...

I haven't participated in a pitch contest yet, but they sound like fun. Looks like you got an agent request (read the 1st comment) so I'd like to say--Congrats! Awesome first step. :)

Anonymous said...

Late last summer and throughout the fall I did various pitch contest and you're right, it was a great learning experience and I met some awesome people (including several TCers and my lovely cohost of TC). For the first time I've been on the judging side this week - look for a TC post about that experience at some point. And YAY for that request!!

Dannie Morin said...

I did a post a couple months ago about why blog contests rock, and cosign all your points! I didn't get picked for TWVoice either, but that actually ended up working out for the better. But I have met some of my best CPs and betas through pitch contests. Like you said, definitely gets the adrenaline and creative juices flowing!
~Dannie @ Left to Write

Mia Celeste said...

Karen,
Pitch contests are scary fun. I'm impressed you braved several and came away with a request. Way to go!

http://www.miaceleste.com/?p=341

Jeannette said...

I haven't had the best experience with contests, but I keep trying anyway. I'm in QueryKombat right now, which is a playoff style head-to-head deal. It's been SO great for connecting with other writers, and for that I'm grateful. Because the design of that contest is more intimate, we're getting to know each other better, and the level of support (even among opponents) is astounding!

Congrats on the agent request!

John Krissilas said...

HAha... I know you love contests... especially video pitch contests... or so it SEEMS...

I love reading other people's pitches, and providing feedback when it's allowed. In the same respect, I love getting comments on my own pitch too! Everything helps, and contests can be a great way to test the waters.

Thanks for sharing!

-John (not Jeff)

K. L. Hallam said...

Thanks for commenting guys! So many in the hop. THink I made my rounds to most every post. --whew!

Akoss said...

I don't know if I will ever participate in any online pitch contest but I do love reading other people stuff and making new friends.

K. L. Hallam said...

Akoss--never say never... ;)

Everyone visit Akoss's blog for great MG book reviews.