...a query critique from Sarah LaPolla from the Curtis Brown Literary Agency!
Sarah LaPolla is an associate agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd. She represents both adult and YA fiction. For adult books, she is looking for literary fiction, urban fantasy, magical realism, mystery, literary horror, and has a soft spot for short story collections. On the YA side, she welcomes contemporary/realistic fiction, sci-fi, urban fantasy, magical realism, mystery, and horror. No matter what age the intended audience, Sarah tends to be drawn to voice-driven narratives, strong female protagonists, and complex characters.
Sarah runs a literary blog called Glass Cases (http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com) and can be found on Twitter at @sarahlapolla.
How to enter:
Pitch your book in 140 characters or fewer!
Via the blog comments: Paste your 140-character pitch in the comments below. Be sure to include genre!
Via Twitter: If you Tweet your entry, you must Tweet the following:
"#TCUHBIP (insert pitch here)"
All entries MUST be in the genre/age group Sarah reps.
Open internationally.
Good luck!!
~K
53 comments:
I didn't know Sarah had a blog! Now I'm following. :)
Here's my Twitter pitch: "YA Contemporary: Jenn, a 17-year-old murderer, works with the brother of her victim to find her missing brother...and a shot at forgiveness."
YA contemporary:
Midwestern teen Jason Wells unexpectedly learns that the father he’s never known is actually a famous TV star who’s in big trouble; as spin control goes into overdrive, Jason finds himself in Hollywood costarring with his brand-new dad on a hit reality show.
Here's my pitch for my adult urban fantasy:
When God goes AWOL, righteous demon Liam and angelic lover Mikael become pawns in the battle for Heaven. Victory means losing each other.
Cool contest! Here's my pitch for my YA sci-fi.
When a 16-year-old girl uncovers the secret about the mandated mindscan, she can flee to safety or take on the capitol to pull the plug.
MG Boy Adventure
To save himself from his massive tyrannical Mother, Bill must befriend and train a giant rat to face her in a prize fight for his freedom.
YA sci-fi
Six months after Earth is attacked by cyborgs, that humans refer to as Scrappers, Morgan still fights to survive. But she isn't alone.
This is so sweet! Thanks!
YA urban fantasy
Seventeen-year-old Paul has a chance to endure his short zombie existence without chains. But he’ll have to sacrifice Heather to do it.
Here goes!
YA urban fantasy
When the Queen's Knight turns up murdered, part-time errand girl Jack is roped into his duties, or else fall victim to a deadly curse.
Urban Fantasy: A traumatized foodie disgusted by magic is taken to a safe house for Magi and discovers she has become what she fears most.
Love it!
YA Gothic Thriller
Cursed, Elizabeth must unravel a dark Puritan secret, embrace an ancient society, and face a love that defies time to save herself from evil.
Awesome! Thank you so much for this contest. :)
Here's my pitch for my YA contemporary novel.
After Felicia Gonzalez attempts suicide, seventeen-year-old Hector Mercado knows it will take more than words to prove his love. It will take revenge.
My pitch for "Campus Crimes," a literary mystery/horror novel:
Phil (wannabe lover) forces old flame (Claire) to see her current boyfriend (Jack) is really a killer.
YA contemporary
"During the summer after her mom leaves, 16 yr old Jill meets & falls for older neighbor just as her former crush wants more than friendship"
YA sf: When the army attacks her school to steal a device that predicts the future, Kleo must deliver it to the rebels to protect the world
Here's my YA fantasy pitch:
When a smart-mouthed dragon kidnaps 13 year old Ria, she is whisked off to a land where the only princes are the ones who need rescuing too.
YA Urban Fantasy:
17-year-old Gabriel Durante has to team up with a fashionista and the Angel of Death in order to kill the demon he's served for six years.
YA Contemp
After her journalism teacher dies, Keely’s article on the school newspaper closing gets censored and she organizes a free speech protest.
YA Fantasy:
In a war-torn land, a suicidal teen must overthrow a despot to restore peace or fulfill his death wish and condemn the world with him.
YA/Science-Fiction
A prank gone wrong leaves Brian dead and his friends giving up parts of their lives to the man known as Death over 16 years to save him.
Twitter pitch for YA Paranormal Romance:
16yo Kara doesn't realize she has anything else to live for until her ghostly boyfriend tries to destroy what's left of her meager life.
Adult Urban Fantasy
An attack by a stalker sparks memories of a past life as a Valkyrie. While decifering her past, events cause her lover to become possessed by the very demon she must destroy.
Twitter pitch for YA sci-fi
A servant girl who believes she’s on a spaceship and a boy who everyone thinks is dead need to find the truth or two rebel causes will fail.
YA contemporary:
Jen Carter is child number six out of fifteen, an atheist in a rigid Baptist family -- and a gay boy in a girl's body. When her parents find out, everything from her family's love to her very safety is at stake.
YA Paranormal:
Seventeen-year-old Friday Anderson discovers that the hipster musicians she’s working for are actually immortals, and she’s one of them.
In YA sci-fantasy novel The Sun, The Moon, a girl on the moon stumbles upon a fabled monster she doesn’t believe in and a disembodied spirit hell-bent on revenge.
YA Mystery:
Comic book geek Marcus Reed's life depends on a race to solve a decades old scavenger hunt with clues buried in old comic books.
YA Paranormal.
Kaila must keep herself alive long enough to save innocents around her from an untimely death, while the murderer constantly changes faces.
YA Paranormal Romance
In a dark world, Nadine has mysterious visions. After she meets the guy who haunts her dreams, everything starts to change, even the world.
YA sci-fi
Agnes travels to parallel worlds, some destroyed by catastrophes. Can she save the worlds without being discovered or too distracted by a boy she meets repeatedly?
Urban Fantasy - Deena wants to leave the life of crime. Her sister Harper, doesn’t. Sibling rivalry gets out of hand when their boss sends his best people to kill them both.
YA Paranormal Romance/mystery
Chris has finally met a girl. And she seems to like him. But Kathy won’t even hold his hand. Watching his hand pass through hers, he finds out why. Kathy is a ghost.
Adult Paranormal Satire
Lucifer wants nothing more than to wipe that smug
look off God’s face and crown himself ruler of
the universe.
The Archangel Michael is meddling in Lucifer’s affairs by
trying to stop Heaven from being overthrown.With both the Order of the Dragon and a gun-toting Jesus determined to destroy him,Lucifer has to obliterate all those who dare to defy his will.
Treachery is being conceived in the depths of Hell as some of Lucifer's closest allies plan to betray him.Could it be Marou who suffers from guilt and regret, as he longs to be reunited with his beloved Sophia? Or is it Beelzebub seeking redemption for his sins?
Deviances on both sides shall strain delicate alliances devised by Lucifer and God. For every technicality, there is a loophole, and for every dead end, there is an escape. And Lucifer always has an ace up his sleeve.
YA Fantasy
When a narrator hijacks his fantasy novel, one prince (now a disinherited princess) must set the story straight.
YA Sci-fi
Sparing an infected's life shoves Foxtrot into a place, where teens like her are just guinea pigs sold and traded for political favors.
YA dystopian
Neely has 40 days to make it through the forgotten world. If she succeeds, freedom is hers but can she when death seems to be closing in?
Urban Adult Fantasy:
An anarchist punk elf with mob ties takes on one last job with the help of a vengeful shape-shifting slave soldier in 1979 Philadelphia.
Aw, no. =( I found out about the contest only a little while ago, and it looks like my time ran out while I was trying to get the site to accept my Open ID. I apologize.
YA Urban Fantasy:
Emma must master her unwanted ability to manipulate emotions to destroy a creature called a Soul Eater – or suffer a fate worse than death.
Thanks for running this contest! Here is my 140 character pitch for a YA Fantasy:
The enemy is training her to fight, her family is forcing her to spy and Roe can either pick a side or stop the war her sister's death began
YA fiction
After the only person she has ever known dies, 17 year old Lily leaves the remote mountainside where she grew up and sets out on foot to discover what remains of humanity. Lily was the last female ever born. She was prepared to forage for food and fend off lonely, desperate men, but she was not prepared for what she found.
YA post-apocalytpic
When Eri develops a link to the beasts plaguing the planet, she must control the calling before eaten by a beast or discovered by the male guardians known as Protectors.
Man that was a challeng! Thanks for making me do this :) Happy holidays!
YA Fantasy
Jonathan falls in a hole, told he’s an immortal who’s being hunted by the Master, tries to trigger a power without killing himself, and has to use it to save his parents.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Thanks very much for this chance!
YA Fantasy
14-year-old Casey, after numerous lives, has earned the right to go to the Hereafter, which would be great if she actually wanted to go.
What a great contest!
Ya Fantasy:
When Malodora Gray, a small town peasant girl, discovers she is a witch, her world turns upside down. Betrayal, heartbreak, and a power beyond her control leads her into the classical role of the Wicked Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Thank you.
YA Science Fiction:
In a Victorian-esque world of ray guns, twins Isabell and Amelia couldn’t be more different, but when one sister is chosen as the prince’s secret mistress, and the other is forced to wed, they must reclaim the one thing everyone is trying to steal from them—their freedom.
Thanks, Kathleen (and Sarah)!
Literary Fiction:
Losing your mom to cancer is bad; discovering she may not be your mom is worse. To find herself and save her family, Cassie Alvarado must unknot the secrets of their past.
Science Fiction
When in doubt, write a list. That's what Levi Cole did, because it pays to stay organized - especially when you're a superhero assassin.
Thank you for having this contest!
YA Science Fiction
A teen time traveler from the 24th century must discover why his dead father was trying to prevent a 21st century girl's murder.
YA Futuristic Fantasy:
In the ruins of South America, 17 year old Alina Marquez, the daughter of the general, must overcome her aversion to being a soldier and rediscover the magic lost to her people in order to save her home from the previous rulers, after she and a small band of survivors escape an attack.
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