I must say I'd arrogantly assumed I'd make it into the second round on the strength of my killer pitch (thanks all here for helping), and was shocked to see my name wasn't on the list. How arrogant? So arrogant I went back to the document header to make sure I had the right list!
I made it! Anyone else here in the second round?
Posts: 964 | Registered: Dec 2010
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quote:Originally posted by Meredith: Congratulations, MattLeo.
Evidently, my pitch wasn't that killer.
I thought the versions I've seen were pretty good And your pitch wars one-liner got a partial request, which means you're onto something there.
I'm surprised you didn't make the second round, but I think YA is a tougher category than science fiction. Having spent a couple years in a certain large on-line writer's workshop, I've come to the conclusion that there are a huge number of sci-fi fans who have enough energy and determination to complete a novel manuscript, but lack the semblance of even basic English composition skills. One of the consistent pleasures of critiquing Hatracker's manuscripts is sentences that parse.
In any case, pitching involves a great deal of luck. A pitch needs to find a ready ear, and depending on what time of day the reviewer reads your pitch he could react quite differently. There are plenty of stories on the Amazon forums of people who submit the same pitch year after year who either made to the next round for the first time, or didn't make the second round for the first time.
Speaking of elevator pitches, I worked on the full pitch for THE KEYSTONE off and on for over ten months. One consistent thing I found is that the more I cut it, the more effective it became. The query went from just under five hundred words to just over two hundred for the actual pitch part, and now I feel is very close to as effective as I can possibly make it.
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