You may all remember a little contest we did a few months back called Pitch Plus Five. Well, we have some good news to share! Grand Prize Winner, Rosalyn Eves, went on to receive multiple offers of representation. And since we always enjoy sharing the love,  we’ve asked both Rosalyn and her new agent, the amazing Josh Adams of Adams Lit, to join us for an interview. 

1. Rosalyn, How long have you
been seriously writing?

That’s kind of a hard question to answer. I first started
thinking of myself as a writer when my fifth grade teacher told me I had a
talent for it. I wrote all kinds of things through junior high and high school
(including an inflated fantasy trilogy that is now safely trunked), but in
college I got sidetracked by academics. After I graduated with a BA in English,
I continued on, earning an MA and a PhD, also in English. These degrees
required a lot of writing, but very little of it was creative. It wasn’t until
about three years ago that I started writing fiction again. My sister was
writing, and watching her made me realize that my goal of publishing a book
wasn’t going to happen unless I started now.

2. Did you ever have
a moment when you thought you were going to give up?

A few—I imagine most writers do! One of those moments, oddly
enough, was shortly before I got my first call offering representation. I just
felt overwhelmed and discouraged by recent rejections. I think sometimes we
can’t see how close we are to success until it happens. Luckily, most of those
moments don’t last long for me. One of the nice things about having finished a
lot of degrees is that I’ve learned I’m stubborn: I have a hard time letting go
of things once I start them. I might not reach my goal as quickly as I’d like,
but I do eventually get there.

3. How did you decide
to enter Pitch Plus Five? What was the contest like?

I saw an announcement on twitter and thought it sounded
interesting. I’d recently had a little bit of luck in one of Miss Snark’s First
Victim’s Secret Agent contests and I was waiting to find out the results of
Pitch Wars (I didn’t think I had much hope of getting in), so I entered. I was
hopeful of making it into the second round, but I didn’t really expect to get
past that—I was mostly looking for feedback on my opening pages: what worked,
what didn’t.

I had a great experience: I got some positive feedback from
readers and other contestants, and several of us connected on twitter.
Honestly, I think getting to know other aspiring writers is one of the best
parts of contests like this!

I was excited to make it into the second round, thrilled to
make it into the top ten, and stunned to actually win—much less get serious
requests. I think I wound up with requests from six of the participating agents.

4. Tell us about your
offer(s).

Here, I need to back up just a little. In addition to Pitch
Plus Five, I wound up getting into Pitch Wars, and between the two contests I
had over a dozen agent requests. I queried some as well. Just before
Thanksgiving, I heard back from one of the agents from Pitch Plus Five: she’d
loved my manuscript and could we talk?

I have to admit that I was really anxious going into that
talk: I wasn’t sure what to expect, and part of me was afraid she’d admit she
made a mistake if she actually talked to me. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
Instead, we had a delightful conversation. She was smart, savvy, and
incredibly, she loved my book. So I sent out emails to the other agents who had
my manuscript—even just those who had my query. 
This last turned out to be a good move, as I ended up with more full
requests (even a couple of offers) out of those queries.

Then came the hard part. This is the dark side of getting an
offer that not very many people seem to talk about: I had to make a decision. I
ended up with five offers (two of them from PP5!)—and every one of those agents
was a terrific individual who loved my book enough to want to represent it. I
talked to their clients, scoured information about them and their agency, and
agonized over which agent to go with. I’m confident that I could have had a
good career with any one of them—but I could only pick one. Turning down nice
people who loved my book was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

In the end, I went with the agent I personally connected
with the most—I think it helped that I’d met him at a conference earlier that
year, and he represents a good friend of mine so I knew what I could expect of
him. I accepted an offer of representation from Josh Adams, of Adams Literary (http://www.adamsliterary.com/).

What’s next?

Josh has already gotten back to me with some suggestions to
strengthen my manuscript before we go on submission, so I’m tackling those
revisions and writing up synopses for possible sequels. I’m also trying to get
started on an entirely new manuscript.

I’m a little sad that my contest days are over—I had a lot
of fun with them—but I’m excited to move on to the next stage of publishing.

Josh: what was it
about Rosalyn and her writing that made you decide to extend an offer of
representation?

I had the opportunity to meet Rosalyn last April at the
LDStorymakers conference—and the chance to read the opening chapter of her
novel, THE BLOOD ROSE REBELLION. I was immediately taken with the strength of
her writing and the concept behind the novel. The world she created was
intriguing, atmospheric and fresh, and the writing lush, lyrical and engaging.
It seemed to be the perfect blend of the type of YA I love to read—at once
literary and commercial, with a setting I hadn’t seen before and a pace that
made me want to keep turning the pages. I remember clearly that I struggled to
come up with constructive feedback on the first chapter, as it was already in
such great shape. When we discussed the manuscript in an open critique forum,
and I learned that Rosalyn was a professor, it reinforced what I could already
tell from her writing: that she’s a smart person and a conscientious writer.

When Rosalyn queried six months later, I was excited to read
the full manuscript, as the opening chapter had lingered with me all those
months. It didn’t surprise me when she wrote back a few days later to let me
know she already had an offer of representation (which would ultimately turn
out to be many offers of representation). The novel didn’t disappoint, but
continued to impress page after page until its satisfying conclusion. Speaking
with Rosalyn on the phone, I was equally impressed with what an intelligent, well-spoken
and thoughtful person she is, and I could tell not only that she was committed
to her craft, but also willing and able to make her work as strong as possible,
with an eye toward a longterm career—exactly the things we look for in an
author. I thought we’d be an excellent fit, and it didn’t hurt that she’s
friends with some of our extremely talented authors in her area, so I felt
confident we’d also be a good personality match.

I am incredibly thankful to be working with Rosalyn, and
look forward to sharing her debut with editors—and helping her launch what I
believe will be a spectacular career. Rosalyn is someone special—and I know her
writing will find a dedicated following who, like me, will both savor and
devour every page of her work.