Monday, September 10, 2012

Pitch Polish Week Has Begun!!

Deana Barnhart

So I have to start off by saying I messed up...in a few ways.

1) I accidentally took more entries than 100. That's what I get for opening the window for Pitch Polish entries in my regular email account. I WILL NOT be doing that for the contests so stay tuned for a new GUTGAA email address.

2) Another accident. I posted a few of the query/first 150 at about 3AM while I was bleary eyed and losing it just a tad. Once I realized what I'd done and fixed the problem, people had already left a couple comments on them. I'm sorry to say those entries numbers have changed so you'll have to find them once more. Also, I have the comments in my email and I will be posting them to the correct entries soon. So sorry about that one:(

I plan on posting links to the entries as well (title and number) on my sidebar today so be on the lookout for that.

3) And another mess up. I realized 75% of the way through posting the entries that I said queries on the Pitch Polish didn't have to be only the meat (they do for the contests!) so some queries had credentials taken out. If you would like them to be put back, please look over your query/first 150 and email me what you want back in.

I think that's all the mistakes I made. Sorry guys. I try, but I'm only human.

Oh, and I have no idea why, when you click on 'older posts' it takes you beyond the pitch polish entries to much older posts. Anyone tech savvy know why that might happen? Oh well, you can use the left sidebar links for now. What's a large blogfest without a couple glitches, right? :)

Rules for Pitch Polish

- I have tried to group the entries in similar categories (sorry Kevin, only one PB made it in the PP.) It would be great if you can critique as many entries as possible (you have until Thursday), but if time is short for you, at least ten would be a good number. And so that no one is missed, please do the ones right around your entry first.

- I know we all love each other, but lets make this constructive. No fluff comments just to be nice and please don't be rude either. I think I mentioned before how we can all be helpful without thrashing someone to bits.

- These entries are anonymous, but if someone wants to reveal themselves in order to answer questions from the critters, that is completely fine by me.

- As I looked over some of the queries last night, I noticed that some seemed more synopsis-like, rather than query-like. If you're having query trouble I want to help you out.

Here are some links that are really helpful:
Kelley Lynn's Three C's 
Nathan Bransford's How to Write a Query Letter
Elana Johnson's From the Query to the Call
Query Hell: The Fastest Way to Madness

FYI: I've been talking to some of my friends, who have agents, about doing a Twitter Q & A with you guys if you're interested. We may not be agents or publishers, but we've made a big leap in the right direction and maybe we can help you make it too. Would anyone be interested in doing something like this?

Also, this week I will be posting some interview questions that our agents were nice enough to answer for us. 

I think that's it for now! Have fun polishing your pitches!

24 comments:

Katie Slivensky said...

Everyone makes mistakes! No worries, Deanna!

Thank you so much for doing this. I'm excited to start reading entries!

T.J. said...

Don't worry about the mistakes! Shoot, I make them allll the time *G* it's what makes us great...

I would absolutely LOVE Q&A. Anything to help me learn more.

Off to read and see if I can help anyone...

Jodie Andrefski said...

Don't worry about mistakes...I can't even imaging facing the task you undertook for us! Thank you!

I think a Q&A would be fab!

My only question that I may be missing the obvious answer...is there a way to scroll through the entries past the first page of them rather than having to hit each one individually by entry number in the sidebar? Because when I hit "older posts" on the bottom after I read the ones here on the home page...I get sent to the page about the meet and greet or telling about the contest (I forget which). Thanks!!

Deana said...

Thanks guys! And Jodie, I don't know, that is really weird. I just went and tried it too and it won't let me. I'm not sure how to fix that either.

I am going to be posting the names of the entries and their number on the right hand sidebar sometime today. I don't know if that's much different than the other thing though....

Lara Schiffbauer said...

Thanks, Deana! I think you're doing a fabulous job, so no worries for me!

I'd be interested in a twitter Q&A, but I would only be able to participate if it was in the evening hours, so I don't know how that would go over!

Have a great day!

Unknown said...

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work it took to put up 109 pitch entries-- did you get any sleep at all? Eh--on the mistakes. I'd have made more. lol. You did such a great job and we are all so appreciative! :D

Kissed by Ink said...

Deana,
Thank you for all of the hard work you are putting into GUTGAA! I can't imagine the time it has taken to organize this event. Don't worry about mistakes...I didn't even notice:)

Jeannette said...

Yes, we do appreciate your effort and hard work! I certainly couldn't deal with that amount of email ALL AT ONCE, plus then, you know, actually do something about it. Props to you, and thanks so much again!

Christy said...

I think you are doing great Deana, thanks for all of your hard work!

Rebecca Enzor said...

A QA would be awesome :)

And thank you so much for doing all this work!

Cassie Mae said...

No worries, Deana! This thing is huge!

Q&A sounds fab!

(Please let me know if you need anything more from me, yes?)

Unknown said...

Thanks Deana,
You are doing a super-terrific job, I would be interested in a Q&A

Adriana Ryan said...

Thank you, Deana! And those mistakes are teeny; don't worry about them. :D I'll wait for the entry links because I can't seem to access the rest of the pitches.

Oh, and a Q&A would be fab!!

Shiela Calderón Blankemeier said...

Don't be so hard on yourself. This is a huge undertaking and you're doing a wonderful job! I'd love a QnA. Thanks for all your hard work :)

Jenna and Ashley said...

We just appreciate all the time you've put into this. Don't stress out. We're a forgiving bunch:)
Also, a Twitter Q&A would be fabulous.

You rock,
Jenna

Emily R. King said...

Deana, you're amazing. Thanks again for doing this for everyone!

VikLit said...

You have put so much work into this, you are fabulous.

I vote for a twitter Q&A :)

Yolanda Renée said...

You have done a masterful job, and we are all grateful. I've learned so much in just this first week and can't thank you enough, but sincerely, Thank you!

Kelley Lynn said...

Deana, you rock. Seriously, amazing woman :)

Tasha Seegmiller said...

I'm completely amazed at what you have done here. Incredible!

alexia said...

You rock for doing this!! Don't sweat a couple little glitches.

Anonymous said...

Okay... maybe I'm getting tired here but, when you wrote "If you're having query trouble..." I wanted to finish it with, "I feel bad for ya' son. I've got 99 problems, but a pitch ain't one..." Yeah, I'm a dork.

And, yes, you totally rock for all you're doing here! Thank you!

Deana said...

Heather - If you're a dork then I'm happy to be one with you, because this CRACKED me up...and I couldn't hep bobbin' my head to the beat in my head:)

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