Pitch:
A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE meets NINEFOX GAMBIT
Esek Nightfoot has little regard for the destruction and suffering she causes across the Treble star systems. But now a figure from her past, known only as Six, has uncovered evidence that implicates her family in a genocide. If Esek doesn’t smother that evidence, it will fracture the interplanetary balance of power, and—most importantly—put her fortunes at risk. Her fight to stop Six will take her all over the systems on a brutal hunt to the death.
Excerpt:
Her ship alighted on the tarmac with engines snarling, hot air billowing out from beneath the thrusters, nose pointed challengingly at the school gates. The hatch opened with a hiss and she disembarked to the stench of the jump gate that so recently spit her into the planet’s orbit—a smell like piss and ozone. Blast burns scorched the ground around her, signatures from ships that had come and gone in the school’s three-hundred-year history.
She pulled back her sleeve, exposing her wristcomm, and cast a hologram into the air in front of her: there was a message from her aunt; warnings about an incoming hailstorm; notices on a recent and lucrative trade in sevite fuel, which would pad her family coffers and keep the jump gates operational. She flicked these notices away and snapped the hologram out of the air. She breathed in deeply, piss smell be damned, and looked out over the emerald savannahs abutting the Kinschool of Principes.
She was hungry. A little annoyed. There was a marble of nausea lodged in the base of her throat, a leftover effect of being flung from one star system to another in the space of two minutes. If the kinschool master had brought her here for nothing, she would be very unhappy.
Hi Bethany,
Congratulations on successfully completing PitchWars! You must be thrilled!
I love how you manage to pack in so much about the character, voice, and scene setting in this one short page. 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
This sounds great and I’d love to read more! Can you please send me the full manuscript, as a word file, to sam at lottsagency dot com?
Hi Bethany,
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
This really pulled me in! 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 the manuscript, please mention this in your submission. Thank you!
I really enjoyed your pitch and extract. Can you send the full through to Amanda Rutter from Azantian Literary Agency? Please also include the query, but no synopsis. The email should have Pitch Wars and the novel title in the subject line. The email address to use is amanda@azantianlitagency.com. If two agents from Azantian have requested, then please pick your preferred – we will share amongst ourselves if we think another agent would be a better fit. Thank you, and I look forward to reading!
Hi Bethany! 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