INFORMATION POST: PitchMAS 2016

SUNDAY Dec/11/2016 - MONDAY Dec/12/2016
*SUBMISSION WINDOW*

We will be accepting your 35-word pitch submissions VIA EMAIL ONLY (pitchMAS@gmail.com), beginning Sunday 12/11/16 at 9:00am PST until Monday 12/12/16 at 6:00pm PST. 

We will delete any submissions received before or after that submission window. No excuses, no exceptions. YOU are responsible for figuring out the time zones. If you are unable to make that window, you MAY have a friend submit your pitch for you.

Submission emails MUST look like this (but without the brackets, FYI):

Email subject line: 

PitchMAS Blog Pitch Submission: [title]

Body of email:

Name: [your name]

Title: [title of your manuscript. ex: DIVIDE]

Category/Genre*: [your category and genre, ex: YA/Fantasy, Fairytale Redux]

Manuscript Word Count: [word count]

Pitch: [your 35-word blog pitch. ex: Things not on Holland Briggs' senior year plan: burning her ex's house down, poisoning her ex-best friend, or turning into the Beast from fairytale lore. But that's exactly what happens.]

(No, you don't have to use brackets.)

*Please know the difference between category and genre. Category is basically age group (MG, YA, Adult, etc). Genre are the types of books in the categories (contemporary, romance, steampunk, thriller, epic fantasy, etc)

Please email your 35-word or less BLOG PITCHES to this email address: pitchMAS at gmail dot com 

PLEASE NOTE (and read carefully before asking questions that may be explained here):

• PitchMAS submission window opens at 9:00am pacific time, Sunday, December 11th. Submissions received before that time will be deleted. 

• PitchMAS submission window closes at 6:00pm pacific time, Monday, December 12th. Submissions received after that time will be deleted.

• Your email MUST be formatted exactly like the example above (minus the brackets). Submissions that are not formatted correctly will instantly be disqualified. You will NOT be notified if you are disqualified. (This seems harsh, but a large part of success in publishing is FOLLOWING GUIDELINES.)

• PitchMAS is for completed and polished manuscripts only. The only works we are closed to at this time are poetry, graphic novels and short stories/anthologies. (Though we do hope to change that someday.)
• There is NO auto response to acknowledge receipt, so don't send more than once.  

• You are welcome to pitch more than one manuscript, but each must be completed and polished, AND must be in its own submission email. ONE BLOG PITCH SUBMISSION PER MANUSCRIPT. 

• We will read through all submissions and post the TOP choices right here on the blog on Thursday, December 15th. PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT on the pitches we post UNLESS you are an agent or editor, OR unless an agent or editor asks you a specific question about your pitch for clarification. 

• TWITTER PITCHES: If you do not get chosen for the blog, and even if you do, please join us for the Twitter Pitch Party on Friday, December 16th. This will go on *all day long*, and agents/editors will respond to the pitches they want to request. We know that *all day* is not an exact timeframe, but judge's schedules don't always allow for rigidity near the holidays. Tweet when you wake up. It ends when people are done making requests. Sometimes they come back a few times. 
• Twitter pitch parties are a LOT of fun, but please don't get carried away. TWO PITCHES PER HOUR, PER MANUSCRIPT is plenty, and doesn't bog down the feed. Editors and Agents know how to scroll down, I promise. Please respect your fellow writers by respecting these rules. You are welcome to pitch more than one manuscript, but please only pitch EACH manuscript no more than TWICE per hour. 
• We research our official judges, so you can trust that if they are listed in the official participants post, they are worth their weight in gold. But even the best agent ever might not be the best agent for YOU. This is why YOU are responsible for your career. There are great agents at "bad" agencies, and bad contracts at great publishing houses. Never sign something you're uncomfortable with, and haven't read and understood completely. We welcome all agents and editors to participate in the Twitter portion of PitchMAS, which means we cannot possibly research everyone That's YOUR job. 
• PitchMAS has editors AND agents because we realize (and support!) that not everyone wants the same thing for their publishing journey. That said, just because someone asks you to dance, doesn't mean you have to say yes. If you know you wouldn't accept an offer from X, and X requests, don't submit to them. It's a waste of both of your time. 

Follow along on Twitter with the hashtag: #PitchMAS

PLEASE ask any and all questions in the comments below or tweet using the hashtag, or tweet directly to us on twitter (@feakysnucker or @jessarusso)! 
One of us will respond as soon as we can. 

XO,

Jessa & Tamara