Pitch:
13-year-old Joey Goodman is about as tough as gefilte fish—just ask his big Jewish family. But when a notorious Atlantic City gangster offers him a job, Joey unwittingly joins a very different “family.” Now, Joey must find his strength and stand up to the mob boss to save those he loves from sleeping with the fishes.
Excerpt:
It’s nine o’clock on Friday morning, and Mrs. Goldberg is definitely dead.
We stand around the bed in her hotel room, but Mrs. Goldberg isn’t waiting for us to decide what to do next. She died in her sleep. She’s just lying there, eyes closed, mouth ajar. Her tongue is bloated, like a thick slab of putty. She’s the first dead hotel guest I’ve ever seen. Come to think of it, she’s the first dead anything I’ve ever seen, except for bugs. That might explain why I’m shaking.
She doesn’t look peaceful, like I thought a dead person would look. More like defeated. Or deflated. She’s a balloon with the air let out.
Uncle Sol rubs his chin like he expects there to be a beard beneath his fingers. “And here I thought we were going to get through the whole summer without one guest dying on us.” The guests at the St. Bonaventure are so old that two or three usually die during the course of a season, but my dad never let me see one before. “Such a shame. Mrs. Goldberg was a good guest. Paid for the whole summer up front. Never missed our Shabbat services.”
“She gave good tips, too,” my oldest brother Reuben says. “Slipped me an extra ten at the end of August last year. She didn’t have to do that.”
“She looks like a piece of gefilte fish,” my other older brother Simon mutters.
I would love to have a look at this. You can send the manuscript to me at jmccarthy@dystel.com. A Word attachment is preferable if possible.
Happy Pitch Wars!
Jim
Hi Stacy,
I’m so happy to see your pitch here, though I was expecting to run into it. I loved your book before you revised, so I can’t wait to see what it has become since then. I’d still love to consider it, if you’re open to sending it to me again. As a reminder, my email is karyn@bookstopliterary.com.
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!
Karyn Fischer
BookStop Literary Agency
Wow, the voice in this is just incredible! I’d love to see more! Can you please send me the query, synopsis, and full to kat@theseymouragency.com?
P.S. If more than one agent at the Seymour Agency requests this, please only send to one of us! Best of luck.
Hi! I’d love to take a look. Please email the ms. as a double-spaced .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thanks!
Hi Stacy,
I hope this finds you well! I’m an associate agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd.–it’s great to e-meet you. (I also assist Elizabeth Harding, Cindy & Amanda’s agent, so we are obviously big fans of #TeamMascaraTracks over here!)
I was hooked by the first page of THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER and would love to read more. If you’re interested in submitting to me, would you please send the full manuscript as a word doc to sg@cbltd.com with “PitchWars” in the subject line?
Thank you, and good luck in the showcase!
All best,
Sarah Gerton
Hi, I would love to see this. Please send the full manuscript as an attachment (a PDF, RTF, or Word Document is fine) to my email address which is gc@cbltd.com . Please include “Pitchwars 2019 Request” in the subject line. Thank you very much.
I like the voice so far. I’d love to see more! Please submit your query and first 30 pages via my Query Manager: http://QueryMe.Online/marloberliner
If more than one JDLA agent requests, simply submit to the agent you feel would be the best fit. Be sure to only submit to one JDLA agent at a time. If the first agent passes, you are welcome to try the next.
Hi Stacy,
I’m intrigued, and I’d love to see the full! Please see my bio at JDLit.com, and if you’d like, please send your query + synopsis pasted into the body of an email with your full attached to: colleen@adventurewrite.com with the subject, #PitchWars – THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER.
If more than one agent from JDLA requests your manuscript, please feel free to submit to the best fit.
Thank you and looking forward to reading!
Colleen Oefelein
I’d love to read this full manuscript. Please send it attached as a word document to: rena@thedeborahharrisagency.com
Thanks!
– Rena Rossner
The Deborah Harris Agency
Hi Stacy,
I’d love to see the full manuscript for this! Please send it along to my email at ahenkin@tridentmediagroup.com and copy my assistant’s email at henkin.assistant@tridentmediagroup.com.
Looking forward to reading!
Best,
Alyssa
Dear Stacy,
This is such a fun concept, and Joey’s voice is great here! Please send your query letter and the full manuscript as a Word doc to dca@doncongdon.com with PITCH WARS REQUEST in the subject line. Thanks and look forward to reading more!
Best,
Katie Grimm
I’d love to read more!! Please send a query + 50 pages to shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com. Thanks, Shannon
Dear Stacy,
Thank you for participating in Pitch Wars! I loved this pitch for THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER, and definitely want to keep reading. Can you send me the full manuscript as a Word doc to fullcirclelit@gmail.com? In the subject line, please include: Attn: Taylor Martindale Kean – Pitch Wars, THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER. Can’t wait to see more of your work!
All best,
Taylor Martindale Kean
Full Circle Literary