Agent Pitch Winners!

Here’s Sarah choice for winner and some honorable mentions (there were so many good ones!)

Winner: High Hopes by Lisa (contemporary YA)
You win a critique of a query letter and your first chapter!
Lisa - congrads and email me at sjohannes@bilaninc.com for instructions

HIGH HOPES is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey,” but instead of going to Bath, eighteen-year-old Katie Moreland takes a trip to Florida for Spring Break week. There, she meets Hal Tilney, who quickly wins her over with his charm and wit, and who also happens to live in one of the most haunted houses in America – the home where the events of “The Amityville Horror” took place. When Katie is invited to visit for the weekend, her horror-obsessed brain goes into overdrive and she imagines ghosts and ghouls around every corner. Hal tries to explain to her that all the sinister stories about the house are just rumors, but Katie is convinced that the Amityville home is hiding a dark secret. Katie tries to find the source of her supernatural suspicions, but doesn’t know she also runs the risk of something truly scary – losing the guy she loves.

Honorable Mentions

• Flight by Allison Morris (literary fiction/magical realism)
• Unraveled by Susan Bradley (YA mystery)
• Mercy by Jess (YA magical realism)
• The Last One by Chersti Nieveen (YA dystopia)
• Waiting for April by Jaime Loren (paranormal romance)
• The Ghost Writer by MarcyKate (YA ghost story)

The “honorable mentions” are in no particular order and that they were all great!

Next week, Sarah may post some critiques of these pitches so stay tuned.

I'm unplugging this week and heading out of town to be on faculty for SCBWI Carolina conference in Charlotte. I'll be back next Monday with a whole slew of fun new posts!

Have a great week! :)