Publishing Pulse 4/30/10 Prizes Announced!

Contest News

Thanks to all who made our contest with Chris Richman of Upstart Crow Literary a success. And thanks to Mr. Richman for so graciously judging entries. I've enjoyed working with him and can promise that anyone lucky enough to sign with him has hit agent gold.

And now about PRIZES! We all know that it can take a while for an agent to get to a query (or submission!) Mr. Richman has come up with quite an amazing prize - a Skip the Line Submission! For our winners, he has offered to make their submissions his first priority.

• The Grand Prize Winner will be invited to submit a query plus the FULL MANUSCRIPT.
• Runners-up will be invited to submit a query plus the first fifty pages.

Stay tuned to the blog, winners will be announced sometime in the near future.

For those of you who missed entering this contest, there will be other opportunities - several contests are in the works!

On the Net

Curious about how exactly an agent tackles the query pile? Elana Roth reveals her methods on the CJLA blog.

Agent Suzie Townsend has some great advice on how to pitch an agent at a conference. She also talks about why YA is not the only genre she is looking for.

Thinking of signing with a small press? Could an agent help you negotiate a better deal? Jessica Faust addresses this question on her blog.

A Word About Conferences

Speaking author to author here, conferences are a fantastic way to connect with writers and learn oodles about your craft. Plus you can meet industry professionals. Elana and I recently attended a local conference (Elana taught a fantastic class on queries!) and we were fortunate enough to meet some pretty amazing folks: Krista Marino of Delacorte Press (she edited Forest of Hands and Teeth!), Laura Rennert from Andrea Brown Literary, and Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency. All were fabulous speakers and incredibly approachable. So find a conference in your area, or fly to one. I promise, it will be well worth it!

Success Stories

Kendra Highly signed with Shana Cohen at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency for a YA Urban Fantasy/Adventure.

JA Souders signed with Natalie Fischer at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency for a YA Sci-Fi.

Diana Renn signed with Kirby Kim at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment for a YA contemporary mystery.

Renae Mercado signed with Bree Ogden at Martin Literary Management for a YA Paranormal Romance.

Julie Eshbaugh signed with Natalie Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency for a YA Sci-Fi Romance.

Congratulations, everyone! (And how interesting that they all signed for YA...)

Have a great weekend.