First Place in Children's Books, 66th Annual Utah Original Writing Competition
I was notified by email on Oct. 15, that I won first place in the children’s book category for my unpublished children’s mystery, The Summer of Grandma's Dolls, by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and the Salt Lake Community College Community Writing Center.
This is what the judge said: “The Summer of Grandma’s Dolls was a tense, propulsive read with a very compelling mystery at its center. That’s no easy task! I loved the dynamic between sisters Holly and Laura Jo. Both their love for each other and their irritation with one another felt authentic to the characters and to sibling relationships more generally. The familial concern at the heart of the story felt like a realistic catalyst for the mystery, and though I wish the villains were a little more developed and the ending slightly less rushed, moments of expertly written peril and fear, combined with a sibling duo that I loved rooting for, pulled me quickly and deeply into this story. At the end of each chapter, I couldn’t wait to discover what would happen next. I flew through this book and enjoyed it immensely.”
What is a live pitch?
I said in my last events update that I would tell you next time what a live pitch is, as I had mentioned that I was able to have a successful live pitch with an editor from a literary agency in Denver. It requires a little bit of an explanation. You see, when you finish writing a book, the next thing you do is look for an agent to represent your book with publishers. This has always been done with a query, which is basically a letter to an agent introducing your book, giving a synopsis, and a little about yourself. They usually ask for the first 3 chapters, or 50 pages, or 10, etc. What you’re hoping is that you will wow them with your query and they will ask to see your complete manuscript. This is the most discouraging part of being a writer because it just seems impossible to sway an agent. I can tell you that I sent over a hundred queries for The Secret of Surviving In The Sea with never a positive response. I finally went with a hybrid publisher. Now I will have to explain what that means in the next update.
Anyway…
A live pitch is when you get to sit with an agent or editor face to face and tell them about your book, hoping to sway them in person. It is so personal and such a better way to do it. You just don’t get the opportunity to do that except at a writer’s conference. You sign up for the 10 minutes that you will get, to convince that person that they want to represent your book. Or at least look at it. So when I said I had a successful live pitch I meant that the editor, Angie Hodapp and I, really hit it off at the conference and she asked me, not for my complete manuscript, but for a query. So now it is a solicited query. Much better than an unsolicited query. Unfortunately this still didn’t work out for me, and my solicited query for my book, Adayla, Adayla, Soft and Wild, was rejected. Bummer. So back to the queries. And decisions to make, whether I want to go the Hybrid Publisher route.
Get in touch, ask questions, share thoughts: louise@louisehurdwords.com. I'd love to hear from you! Join my email list for updates on my next book, events and more.
