If you're entirely unfamiliar with Pitch Wars, please read the info on the PW site first. If you're unaware how I became the 2019 Managing Director of Pitch Wars, there's a post about that here. Pitch Wars mentors are the heart and soul of PW. Without mentors freely giving their time to give a hand-up … Continue reading What We’re Looking for in #PitchWars Mentors
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Post #pitmad Thoughts
The #pitmad prep post I put up yesterday seemed to be well-received so I thought I'd do a post-#pitmad wrap-up while everything is fresh in my mind. General Thoughts JFC, read the guidelines! And follow them! (I'm probably preaching to the choir here though) While watching the tweets go by, there was a constant stream … Continue reading Post #pitmad Thoughts
Secrets to #pitmad Success
As the 2018 Pitch Wars Social Media director, I've overseen a year's worth of #pitmad events. (If you're unfamiliar with #pitmad, it's a quarterly pitch party on Twitter where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. Agents and editors make requests by liking/favoriting the tweeted pitch. More info at the link … Continue reading Secrets to #pitmad Success
10 Tips for an Outstanding Query
People think I'm crazy when I say this, but I LOVE query letters. I love writing them, I love editing them, I love reading them. When I worked for a publisher, reading queries was my favorite part! With #pitchwars coming up and the workshop on query writing I just taught at my local library, I've … Continue reading 10 Tips for an Outstanding Query
Published Authors: Your Basic Media Kit
My day job is to plan events, mainly author events. I have emailed my manager the words "I just can't." twice today. Because I have spent the entire day dealing with authors who don't have the most basic materials they should have in order to promote their book, I thought I'd develop a short list … Continue reading Published Authors: Your Basic Media Kit
Faking a Professional Author Photo
At the dayjob, I work with a lot of authors and frequently ask for headshots to use in our marketing of their events. You would be floored by how many people send me shots like these: click to see what's really wrong with this one. (Note: These are all altered stock photo images, not actual … Continue reading Faking a Professional Author Photo
Ten Tips for Your Elevator Pitch
There is one thing writers at any point in their career need to have prepared: an elevator pitch. The last time I asked an author "what's your book about?" I got a fifteen minute rambling monologue. I know a lot about the guy's son (?) but still have no idea what his book is about. … Continue reading Ten Tips for Your Elevator Pitch
My Latest Articles at Book Riot
I haven't updated since last summer, so here are the articles I've published at Book Riot since then!100 Must-Read Middle Grade Fantasy Books from the Last 10 Years 8-8-17Leigh Bardugo Talks Wonder Woman: Warbringer 8-28-17Inbox/Outbox 9-22-1710 US Rare Bookstores You Can Visit Right Now 10-18-17"Audiobooks Don't Count": A Suggestion of Extreme Privilege 10-24-1712 Books to … Continue reading My Latest Articles at Book Riot
Hard Truth Time: Not Every Book Deserves to be Published
I wrote this book. Let's call it MF. I thought it was fantastic, unique, clever, wonderful, etc. It was going to be a great hit and sell movies because it was so awesome. It was the second book I ever wrote (the first is this glorious kind of mess that I do intend on resurrecting … Continue reading Hard Truth Time: Not Every Book Deserves to be Published
Word Counts for Children, MG, YA, and Adult books, by genre
I've been getting a lot of word count questions from Pitch Wars hopefuls, so I though I'd write everything out in a post for ease and convenience. These ranges are generalizations and there are always outliers. If you have a book that is a little bit outside these ranges, it's an extra hurdle and your … Continue reading Word Counts for Children, MG, YA, and Adult books, by genre
Sarah Nicolas 