Our July workshop will open for entries at noon, EST, on Saturday July 4, 2015. We’ll take the first five Middle Grade, Young Adult, or New Adult entries that meet all guidelines and formatting requirements. Click here to get the rules. I will post when it opens and closes on Adventures in YA Publishing and on twitter (@etcashman), with the hashtag #1st5pages.
And we have some exciting news here at the workshop! We have four fabulous new permanent mentors: Brenda Drake, Janet B. Taylor, Stephanie Scott and Wendy Spinale. All have wonderful books coming out in the next several months that I can’t wait to read! (And if you want a chance to win one – make sure to add them to your shelf on Goodreads!) Also, the workshop will now run for 4 weeks.
- Week One: Your two assigned permanent mentors plus Ava Jae provide feedback on your original entry, and you receive additional feedback from other workshop participants. You revise based on their comments.
- Week Two: Permanent mentors and the guest mentor review and critique your 1st revision. You do another revision.
- Week Three: Permanent mentors, the guest mentor, and the literary agent mentor review and critique your 2nd revision.
- Week Four: You provide a pitch (up to 200 words) that would be the core of a query letter and describes what your manuscript is about. Mentors and the agent mentor review it, consider whether it matches up to your first five pages, and recommend changes to make sure it matches up with your manuscript and answers questions while sounding enticing and marketable.
Another new feature we’re introducing this month is that the guest agent will chose a workshop “winner” — but, of course, you win just by joining the workshop, accepting the feedback, and working hard on revising your pages! The guest agent will review and comment on a partial of the winner’s manuscript or work-in-progress!
In addition to our talented permanent mentors, we have Ava Jae, author of the forthcoming BEYOND THE RED, and Patricia Nelson of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. So get those pages ready!
June Guest Mentor – Ava Jae
A feud on a distant, crimson planet with established nanite technology creates a violent uprising that threatens the reign of a teenage queen and forces her to turn to her rebel half-blood bodyguard for help, before the planet’s human population is destroyed at the hands of her power-hungry twin brother.
June Guest Agent – Patricia Nelson
Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is actively looking to build her list. In general, Patricia looks for compelling, well-written stories featuring complex characters that jump off the page. On the adult side, she is seeking women’s fiction, historical fiction, and accessible literary fiction, as well as contemporary and historical romance. For YA and MG, she is open to a wide range of genres, with particular interest in contemporary/realistic, magical realism, mystery, horror, and fantasy. She is interested in seeing diverse stories and characters in all genres.
We fill up early so get those pages ready — write, revise, repeat!
Erin
