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Pitch Wars Showcase

Please note: These are the entries for the Pitch Wars season beginning in 2021 and continuing through 2022. Please note that our Agent Showcase ends at 9:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 14, 2022. Agents will not be able to leave comments requesting material after that time.
PW2020 YA #35: BECOMING CINDERELLA (Contemporary Rom-Com)
Mentee:
Madison Packer
Mentored by:
Abigail Johnson
Book Title:
BECOMING CINDERELLA
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Contemporary Rom-Com
Word Count:
60,000

Pitch:

Kasie West meets Notting Hill. Small-town teen Carter has one goal in life—and it’s not to eventually take over her mom’s dance studio. She wants her friend Jared to fall romantic-movie-level in love with her. After saving teen movie star Liam, in town filming a new version of Cinderella, from a mob of fans, she thinks she’s found her solution. If Liam will use his rom-com knowledge to set up scenarios for Jared to fall for her, she’ll teach him to dance like the pro he bluffed he was. Between clandestine dance rehearsals and flirting lessons, Carter starts feeling like a real-life Cinderella. Until she wonders if the happily ever after she’s working for is the one she truly wants.

 

Excerpt:

Trying to free yourself from a crush is like trying to get over a drug addiction. I’m not an expert on chemical reactions in the brain, but between books I’ve read and podcasts I’ve listened to, addicted is exactly how I’d describe my feelings for Jared Green.

My family moved to Utah when I was in sixth-grade, and when my pencil broke on my first day of school, Jared handed me his without a word. It wasn’t until halfway through the lesson that I noticed he’d given me his only one.

Five years later and I’m still addicted to this kind, floppy blonde-haired boy who winks like it’s a character trait and plays with my feelings like they’re his favorite video game. Not that he realizes he’s playing. I’ve been banished so far into the friend-zone with Jared that he barely notices I’m a girl. It was hard enough trying to hide my feelings when we were only classmates, but it’s a million times worse since we both started working at Threads, a small clothing store on Center Street.

9 responses to “PW2020 YA #35: BECOMING CINDERELLA (Contemporary Rom-Com)”

  1. Jennifer Weis says:

    I would love to read your novel! I am a romantic at heart.
    Please send to jenniferweis@rossyoon.com
    All bets,
    Jennifer

  2. Eva Scalzo says:

    Hi Madison,

    A Notting Hill comp with dancing! This is right up my alley, and I’d love to read more. Please submit the full manuscript to: QueryManager.com/evascalzo/PitchWars2020

    Cheers,
    Eva

  3. Shannon Snow says:

    Hi Madison!

    Your story definitely caught my eye. I would love to take a look. Please send the complete manuscript, synopsis and a short bio to shannon@cmalit.com. Please put “Requested Materials-Pitch Wars” in the subject line so it will be sure to stand out in my inbox.

    If more than one person requests materials from my agency (Creative Media Agency, Inc., or CMA) just pick one of us. If it doesn’t work for that person, we will share it around.

    Thank you and I look forward to seeing your story very much! Best of success with Pitch Wars!!

    Shannon

  4. Jennifer Herrington says:

    Hi Madison,

    Great pitch! I’m intrigued, and I would love to see more. Please submit your query, synopsis, and first three chapters to QueryManager.com/JenniferHerrington/PitchWars2021.

    I hope to see you material!

    Jenn

  5. Haley Casey says:

    Dear Madison,

    This description of your work immediately had me hooked. I would love to read more!

    Would you please send your full manuscript, a synopsis of the project, and a short bio about what you do and any of your previous publications to Haley@CMALit.com? Each should be a separate attachment in Microsoft Word or PDF format. To ensure your email doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, please include “Pitch Wars” in your subject line.

    The two other agents at Creative Media Agency, Paige Wheeler and Shannon Snow, are participating in Pitch Wars with me. Should one of them also request your manuscript, we would appreciate it if you would choose the agent you’d most prefer to work with and only send them the requested materials. Should they pass on the project for any reason, and you find yourself still seeking an agent, then you are of course free to resubmit to another member of CMA.

    Thank you for taking the time to send me more of what you’ve written!

    Sincerely,
    Haley Casey

  6. Elizabeth Bewley says:

    Hi there! Thanks for the opportunity to read your pitch and sample pages. I’m intrigued! Can you please email me your full manuscript as a Word document attachment? My email address is ebewley@sll.com. Please include “Pitch Wars” in your subject line of the email. I’ll look forward to reading.
    Best,
    Elizabeth Bewley
    Sterling Lord Literistic

  7. Tara Gonzalez says:

    Hi Madison! I would love to keep reading BECOMING CINDERELLA. If you could send me a query with the full manuscript attached to tara@emliterary.com, with “Pitch Wars” in the subject line, that would be fantastic.

    Tara Gonzalez – Associate Agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency

  8. Kristin Nelson says:

    Oh! I really liked the voice of this opening. I’d love to take a look at more. Here is my Pitch Wars QM link if you would like to send to me.

    https://querymanager.com/query/1350/PW2021

    Kristin

  9. Kelly Peterson says:

    Hi Madison!

    I love this, and can TOTALLY relate to both the dance and friend zone aspects. Ugh. I also love Abigail, as she was the mentor for another of my clients from PW, so I know she’s one of the best and that your story is probably AMAZING!!! I’d love to see the full! Can you send me your query, synopsis, and full manuscript to http://querymanager.com/kellypeterson/pitchwars? I’m so excited to read it! =)

    -Kelly