Pitch:
SIX WAKES x ORPHAN BLACK Rather than face the specter of his divorce, a detective takes an impossible case: find a stolen reality-breaking stardrive. Deep in unregulated space, he’ll need the help of a flamboyant privateer and the ghost haunting her ship to solve the mystery— before a technofascist uses the drive to wage galactic war.
Excerpt:
The first explosion shook Proxima Station, and halfway down the docking ring corridor, Verity stumbled. The abrupt peal of the emergency klaxon pulsed in her chest. Her whole being rebelled at every dragging step toward the airlock, gripped by an overpowering impulse to turn and run back toward the habitat. She fought it, panting.
No, not an impulse. A compulsion.
Programming. It was only programming. An if-then statement in a line of code, a failsafe. But naming its source didn’t weaken the governor implant’s hold on her. Not even a scalpel in the hands of the installation surgeons could do that now. It nestled deep in her basal ganglia, cybernetic fibers entwined around her own neuronal wetware, impossible to disentangle. A manual uninstall would leave her brain-dead.
Or downright dead.
Another storm of negative feedback flooded her mind and drove her to her knees. They’d upgraded the implant’s settings to discourage self-harm after a previous Galatea had taken that way out.
Verity shuddered. She retched. Her fingers clenched and splayed on the segmented plastisteel floor panels. She pushed herself back to her feet, swayed for the space of a breath.
One foot in front of the other. Only fifteen meters to the docking arm’s junction now. Twenty more from the junction to the airlock where the prototype ship waited.
A single surveillance camera guarded the joint of the corridor. She raised her stolen ion pistol and took aim.
Hi Erin,
Congratulations on successfully completing PitchWars! You must be thrilled!
I really enjoyed the tension and world building you packed in here. I’m dying to continue reading! If you’d like to share it, please send the query in the body of an email, with the full manuscript and synopsis attached as a Word doc. The subject of the email should be “Pitch Wars Request: YOUR TITLE for Root Literary” sent to submissions@rootliterary.com.
Although not all of Root Literary is participating in Pitch Wars, please feel free to query whoever feels like the best fit! We’re happy to coordinate internally.
All the best,
Kurestin
Hi Erin,
I’d love to take a look at more of this! I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve created so far and would love to look at the first 50 pages. I’ve set up a special link for the Showcase, so I can stay on top of these: QueryManager.com/MWBelford/PitchWarsShowcase. Please fill out the form and upload your first 50 pages as an attachment so I can take a look.
If you receive requests from two or more agents at the Tobias Agency, please send your materials to all requestors. We will coordinate internally and discuss the projects that we’re interested in!
Thanks,
Matt Belford
I love how this starts with a bang! I am thrilled to request the first 50 pages! 🙂 You can send the query and manuscript through my online submission form: QueryManager.com/dorianmaffei/Request.
If more than one agent from KC&A has requested your work, please mention this in your submission. Thank you!
Hi Erin! I’d love to take a look at your query letter, synopsis and full manuscript. Please send them over to me at jfsubmissions@jenniferlyonsliteraryagency.com and mention that I made the request via Pitch Wars in the subject line. The query and synopsis can either be attached or in the body of the email, but please send the manuscript as a Word Doc attachment. Looking forward to reading! -Jessica Felleman