NaNoWriMo Online Pitchaplaooza
You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You’ve been congratulated. You felt the high. But here’s the 64-gigabyte question: What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious manuscript? If you’re like the approximately one gazillion writers we know, you want to get published. And you want to get published successfully. You want readers to devour your book ravenously; you want raves glowing in blog posts; you want bookstore owners to hand-sell your book so fast it’s literally flying off the shelves; you want to trade barbs with Steven Colbert; you want readings in front of rapt devotees; you want to go viral at the speed of one of those krazy kitten movies. But how? This is where we, The Book Doctors, come in. It’s our job to help writers make their dreams come true. It’s what we did with our first Pitchapalooza winners, Nura Maznavi, & Ayesha Mattu, whose book, Love InshAllah, just hit the shelves. In the last week, they were profiled in the New York Times, had one of the most talked about pieces on the Huffington Post, and cracked the top 500 of all books sold on Amazon. Then there’s Pitchapalooza winner and NaNoWriMo veteran, Genn Albin. After she won Pitchapalooza, one of New York’s top agents sold her dystopian novel in a 3-book, 6-figure deal. Now we’re embarking on our second online Pitchapalooza exclusively for NaNoWriMo participants so that you, too, have a chance to win.
For those of you not familiar with Pitchapalooza, here’s the skinny: You get 200 words to pitch your book. You then email your pitch to nanowrimo@thebookdoctors.com. Twenty-five pitches will be randomly selected from all submissions. We will then choose one winner from the group. The winner will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her manuscript. We will also award a fan favorite who will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250). All pitches must be received by February 29, 2012. The twenty-five random pitches will be posted on March 5, 2012. Winners will be announced on March 15, 2012. Anyone can vote for fan favorite, so get your social media engine running as soon as the pitches go up!
You may be thinking, “I can’t sum up my entire book in 200 words!” Let us say this: “Yes you can!” Your pitch is the first thing an agent, editor, publisher, bookseller, and often reader, will look at. In this age of one-minute attention spans, if your pitch doesn’t blow the person you’re pitching out of the water, you’ll get that dreaded letter that starts: “Dear Writer, Unfortunately…” We don’t want you to get any more of those letters. So enter the 2nd Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchaplooza by sending us a kick-ass pitch for your kick-ass novel. Who knows, maybe this year, the golden ticket will have your name on it.
P.S. Like last year, we’re offering free 20-minute consultations (worth $100) to anyone who buys a copy of The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published. Just attach a copy of your sales receipt to your email and we’ll set up your consultation.
Gemma Gladstone
February 8, 2012 @ 4:59 pm
Hi The Book Doctors,
Last year’s first annual NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza stated “You’ve finished your novel (or maybe not—that’s okay, too)”.
I have a partial pan and complete synopsis for my first novel but am not too far into writing it (though I have conducted historical research and telephone interviewing). However, I am trying to write the novel in six weeks which I understand can be (and has been) done.
This is a big challenge for my profound obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – one of my obsessions is perfectionism and one of my compulsions is checking, especially proofreading.
I believe I have a unique pitch. I am writing an OCD ghost story set in an old lunatic asylum where I used to live once – it is part of a trilogy or series.
Can you confirm whether it is okay for a writer to apply this year if they have not finished writing their novel please?
Thanks and best wishes,
Gemma Gladstone
admin
February 8, 2012 @ 6:23 pm
Yes! You don’t need to finish to submit. Cheers
N. A.
February 9, 2012 @ 5:38 am
Is there a particular format that the pitch must be written in?
admin
February 9, 2012 @ 7:19 am
Just 200 words or less!
Anna Mittower
February 15, 2012 @ 6:57 pm
This contest is a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for donating your time and energy!
I have one question. I wrote the beginning 2 novellas in a series for 2011 NaNoWriMo, however, the first of these needs a great deal more research to the point where I won’t be looking at revising it for another year at least. However, I have a incomplete novel I wrote for 2008 NaNoWriMo which I will be revising this year (according to my schedule). My question is, can I submit the pitch for the 2008 novel instead of the 2011 novellas? (For the record, I did not enter the 2008 or any other novel into the pitchapalooza last year.) Thanks!
~Anna
admin
February 20, 2012 @ 1:39 pm
Hi Anna,
I’m afraid this one is just for 2011 novels. But you don’t have to be anywhere near finished to pitch! Some people pitch who barely got beyond chapter one!
Linda Laaksonen
February 18, 2012 @ 9:35 pm
Does the title and author count towards the 200 words? If they do, I blew it. With a title like Molly and the Vampire: A Sensible Woman Learns About Love, Lust, and Things That Go Bump in the Night add my name and that’s half the allowed 200.
Even if I did screw it up and won’t be entered, I like the idea from some others about letting us read and vote on the entries. I’m a greedy soul and have a lot of fun reading that sort of thing. Okay, so you don’t have to put them all up. Toss out those who went over, like me, and probably anything written in crayon or letters cut from a magazine.
I want to see all the great stuff everyone is writing and perhaps even learn something about what I should have done.
admin
February 20, 2012 @ 1:38 pm
Hi Linda,
Title and author do not count towards the 200 words, so you’re all set. We didn’t know that people wanted to have us put up every pitch. The trouble is that there are hundreds so far! And having done this sort of thing on a smaller scale, I know what happens: The pitches that are at the top of the queue get read and the ones at the bottom don’t. So as annoying as it is that we have to randomly choose, I think it’s more fair than the alternative. Let us know if you disagree or have other ideas for future Pitchapaloozas. Cheers!
Kayla
February 28, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
Hi,
I know this may sound like a stupid question but I’m new to NaNoWriMo and all of this stuff… basically I have not entered a NaNoWriMo competition so far so would that mean I can’t enter Pitchapalooza?
admin
February 28, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
Hi there,
Unfortunately, this online Pitchapalooza is reserved for NaNoWriMo participants. However, we do live Pitchapaloozas all over the country. Where are you located?
Cheers, Arielle & David
Kayla
February 29, 2012 @ 1:58 pm
Hi,
I joined NaNoWriMo this year and I got the newsletter which talked about Pitchapalooza so I thought I’d give it a shot. I did submit my entry under my real name but I guess I’ll have to enter next year instead. Oh and I’m not in the USA, I live in the UK. Which isn’t convenient either I guess lol.
Thank you anyhow 🙂
admin
February 29, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
Hi Kayla,
We’re confused about why you need to submit next year. You still have until midnight EST tonight to submit.
Cheers
Kayla
March 1, 2012 @ 2:42 pm
Oh, I already sent in my entry for Pitchapalooza within days of receiving the newsletter. I just thought as I’ve recently joined the NaNoWriMo site and haven’t yet taken part in the 30 day challenge, I wasn’t allowed to submit an entry for Pitchapalooza… I’m sorry, I must be coming across as really, really confused but as I mentioned before I’m a newbie. :s
Eve
February 29, 2012 @ 9:56 am
Hi – I realize I’m down to the wire, it being leap-day already! Can you recommend a website with tips on writing a pitch for the Nanowrimo contest? I’m determined to enter today!
Thanks,
Eve
admin
February 29, 2012 @ 5:55 pm
Hi Eve,
We have videos on Youtube about how to pitch.
Cheers,
Arielle
Lucas
February 29, 2012 @ 10:00 am
My thought:
If Pitchapalooza was only for NaNoWriMo participants who have actually completed their novels, then it would get the most possible mileage out of the author/agent/publisher contact.
A book that is complete, edited and “ready to go” seems like a better creature to present to the agent than an incomplete one…
admin
February 29, 2012 @ 5:56 pm
We agree in principle, Lucas. But some people’s finished novels aren’t as publisher-ready as some of those who have just written the first chapter!
Lucas
March 2, 2012 @ 10:20 am
Lol… Fair enough!
susan
March 3, 2012 @ 8:07 am
Hello!
Is there a way to find how many entries there were for the online Pitchapalooza this year? Just curious 🙂
admin
March 3, 2012 @ 7:52 pm
We don’t have an official count, yet, but there are hundreds!
susan
March 4, 2012 @ 9:35 am
Thanks! 🙂
Marianne Sheldon
March 4, 2012 @ 10:07 am
Hello,
Just wondering how we’ll know if our pitch was chosen as one of the 25. Also, worrying that mine will be rejected out of hand because I sent it as an attachment rather than enclosed in the body of the email. (Just read on another pitch website that that’s typically a no no.) If you can reassure me, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks!
admin
March 4, 2012 @ 12:16 pm
Hi Marianne, We will post all 25 on our website. So you can look to see if yours is there. It’s fine that you sent your pitch as an attachment. We’ve opened them all. Cheers
Marianne Sheldon
March 4, 2012 @ 1:06 pm
Thanks!
Lucas
March 4, 2012 @ 5:49 pm
If I’m any good at reading… the 25 random selections get posted tomorrow…
admin
March 4, 2012 @ 6:32 pm
Yes! They will be up by end of day tomorrow! We’ll post on Facebook as soon as they’re up. Stay tuned…
Moonaft
March 5, 2012 @ 7:29 am
Hello!
I don’t think I read the rules as closely as I should have… I submitted my pitch with my real name, not my NaNoWriMo name. Would that disqualify me?
Thanks!
admin
March 5, 2012 @ 10:03 am
You read them correctly! All is good. Cheers
Lara
March 5, 2012 @ 2:00 pm
What is the name of your facebook page? I can’t find it for the life of me!
admin
March 5, 2012 @ 6:57 pm
The Book Doctors!
Kell Willsen
February 27, 2013 @ 5:17 am
Getting in just in time! Sent three pitches, all for works in progress.
Interestingly, writing the pitch helped me to identify a key weakness in one of my stories. Condensing the plot down to a couple of hundred words really makes things stand out. Even if I’m not one of the lucky 25, I’ll still have gained something from this. Thanks!
admin
February 27, 2013 @ 7:38 am
Isn’t that amazing how that happens?! Cheers, Arielle & David