Son of a Pitch! is BACK!

That's right! We're back for another round of our feedback orientated pitching competition, Son of a Pitch!

Follow along with the silliness and discussion under #sonofapitch on Twitter. This time, we're doing a theme as well, just to make things extra fun. Our hosts will be decorating their blogs with Disney heroes and villains! That's right, we're going for a Disney battle. So pick your favorite Disney hero or villain and join in the banter.

It's a month until the first round, so although it's short notice, I hope you jump in. Below is all the details, my little padawans. (Yes, it totally works because Disney owns Star Wars now!)

This comp is for Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult manuscripts of all genres.

Week 1 starts September 5, 2016:A chance to refine your query and first 250 words. Post this on your blog then leave a direct link in the comments of a post I will put up on my blog the week of Sept 5. Please leave feedback on the author's bog, and for a minimum of three other queries and first 250. All feedback left in the comments of the post for links will be deleted.

***You don't have to participate in Round 1 to join Round 2. It is highly recommended to get that extra polish before the voting round.***

Week 2 starts September 12, 2016:
This week, published authors will give you feedback. The Son of a Pitch team, who are all published, will post your emailed in queries and 250 words on their blogs. Please use the formatting below and email to:

sonofapitchcomp@yahoo.com.au

Subject line: Son of a Pitch! (Category and Genre of your manuscript)

Formatting:

Title: (Name of Manuscript)
Category and Genre: (YA/NA/Adult then Genre)
Word Count: (to the nearest thousand)
Query:Insert query here. No bio or comparisons please.
First 250 Words:I don't care if this is from a prologue or chapter one. That's up to you.

Incorrectly formatted emails will be returned.

The team will vote for their favorites from the fifty who make it through to go onto the final round. They will cast five votes each, anywhere they want, and the top 20 will go onto the next round. Feel free to coax judges your direction however you want! But please, only you and the judges can comment on your entry, or the comments can get confusing for tallying votes at the end. Votes will close on Thursday 11:59 p.m. MST. To stalk the hosts/voting authors, click .

The first fifty entries will go into this round. So get your clickers ready to email at precisely 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday September 9th.

But don't be discouraged! You will get good feedback to help you even if you don't make the top twenty. So please go and query elsewhere afterward, and let us know your success story so it can be shared on the blog.

Week 3 starts September 19, 2016:We have a fantastic line up of editors and publishers. They'll swing by the final contestants to try to bribe you into subbing to them. The final Twenty will post right here on this blog, where editors will come and make requests for you. If you make the top twenty, you will be emailed on Friday 9th, and all updated entries sent to the email address by Saturday 10th 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. If you don't make the deadline, the next highest voted entry will be emailed, and will have 24 hrs to get the entry into the inbox.
Feel free to email any requests made whenever you feel like it, but note that the editors are allowed to give feedback on your entry. Also, make sure to include that your query to them is from the comp by putting Son of a Pitch Request in the title.

Twitter Pitch: Sept 26, 2016:

And finally, we'll have a free-for-all twitter pitching opp under the hashtag #sonofapitch
Rules: Makes sure to include #sonofapitch and your genre/age category with the tweet. You can tweet any number of manuscripts, but only once every hour each.
It will open all day, but since I'm in Arizona, I won't be monitoring the earlier stages since that's like 5 in the morning here.

So there you have it! Come back on Monday to meet the hosts and published authors who will be leaving feedback.

Weekend Inspiration

Like a Virgin Blog Hop

So I'm jumping in on this one with an old MS I've had sitting around since I was seventeen! I've just done rewrites to clean it up and make less... childish, I guess, and I want to see how it goes in the big bad world. But anyway! Here's the Q&A's for the blog hop.

How do you remember your first kiss?

2000, I lived in Sydney and I was at my 8th grade boyfriend's house for the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony. I remember during the procession of teams from each country we got bored, so while his parents left to refill the food and drink he kissed me. His younger brothers started yelling, "Gross!"
His dad drove us home afterward, and we made out the whole way, which was a 30 minute drive. I'm surprised his dad didn't tell him to back off actually. Aussies, we're odd ones. LOL 
I remember it being kind of slobbery...

What was your first favorite love song?

First ever? A Whole New World from Aladdin. I was like... eight.

What’s the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?

Check my emails lol. I always read the last little bit I wrote to make sure I get the flow.

Who’s the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?

Either John Marsden of Melinda Marchetta, and JK Rowling's style I want to emulate; great story and characters, but written in a way anyone can enjoy.

Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?

I never rewrote the first book I wrote. I wrote it when I was twelve and I think it's cute! Ha ha ha! But my first published book, Kiya? Pretty much. I removed some info dumping but that's it.

For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting?

Characters. Characters are my priority. In my opinion, you can build a fabulous world, but without the reactions of the people in it the story can't come alive.

What’s the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone’s tongue when they think of your writing?

Wow.

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Some Disney Inspiration!

One of my favorite movies of all time is Remember the Titans. This movie not only has an outstanding cast, but a powerful theme and great dialogue. Here, I've found a clip with Disney's best pep talks to help inspire you to keep at it and fight for your dreams!