Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Names: Amanda Rawson Hill and Cindy Baldwin
Mentee Name: Remy Lai
Title: RULES FOR MAKING CAKES
Category: Middle Grade
Genre: #ownvoices contemporary graphic novel/prose hybrid
Word Count: 45,000
Pitch:
For Jingwen, immigrating to a country that speaks English-that-sounds-like-Martian is a recipe for loneliness. But roping his little brother into secretly baking cakes that remind him of home and their late Papa, when Mama’s warned him not to, will be a recipe for disaster. EL DEAFO meets the immigrant experience.
Note: The following excerpt is best viewed on a desktop computer and will not be formatted correctly on a mobile device.
Excerpt:
I looked. The wing of the aeroplane sliced through the fluffy clouds like a knife through cake. Sometimes, when the aeroplane leaned enough, I caught glimpses of the ocean. It was as blue as the sky. Only the clouds made it clear that the sky was the sky. Yanghao stuck his oily face to the window and my view was replaced by the back of his giant head.
I opened the box on my lap. It was a plain old pink cardboard box that most mom-and-pop bakeries used, and inside it nestled a cake that looked like a plain old cake covered in plain old cream, topped with plain old strawberries. But it wasn’t a plain old cake. My grandmother baked it for our farewell gift.
“You’ll have so much fun there,” Ah-po had said as she leaned through the taxi window and placed the box on my lap.
A shadow fell over the cake. I looked up to see a stewardess.
It was the first time someone had directly spoken English to me. It sounded like Martian.
29 Comments
Brent Taylor · November 1, 2017 at 9:20 pm
I’d love to read this! Please send as a PDF to brent(@)triadaus(.)com. Looking forward!
Saba Sulaiman · November 1, 2017 at 11:30 pm
Dear Remy,
This is so up my alley!! I’d love to read more! Please send a query, synopsis, and the full manuscript (Word documents or PDFs will suffice) to ssulaiman@talcottnotch.net—don’t forget to mention #PitchWars in your subject line. Thanks—looking forward to my read!
Good luck,
–Saba
Rena Rossner · November 2, 2017 at 2:19 am
I’d love to read this! Please send the full manuscript attached as a word document to: rena (at) thedeborahharrisagency (dot) com.
Thanks!
– Rena
Rena Rossner · November 2, 2017 at 2:19 am
Addendum to above – PDF is fine too!
– Rena
Erica Bauman · November 2, 2017 at 4:56 am
This looks fantastic–I’d love to see more! Please send a query and the full manuscript to ebauman@aevitascreative.com, and put “Pitch Wars” in the subject line.
Thanks!
-Erica
Maria Vicente · November 2, 2017 at 8:04 am
Remy, I would love to take a look at the full manuscript! Please email a query letter to maria@psliterary.com with the subject line “Pitch Wars Request: Rules for Making Cakes” and include the manuscript (+ a synopsis) as an attachment.
Marie Lamba · November 2, 2017 at 8:48 am
Lovely point of view! Please submit your query to me at marie.jdlit@gmail.com with your query letter and the first 20 pages pasted into the email. Please put PITCH WARS REQUEST and your title in the message line. Also, attach the complete manuscript in whatever form works for this (Word or PDF). Thanks!
Marie
Jim McCarthy · November 2, 2017 at 8:56 am
I would love to see this! Please send the full manuscript to me at jmccarthy@dystel.com. Best, Jim
Elana Roth Parker · November 2, 2017 at 9:20 am
Hi! I’d love to read more! Please email me at eparker [at] ldlainc [dot] com:
* Subject line: PitchWars Submission: YOUR BOOK TITLE
* Your query letter in the body of the email
* The full manuscript attached as a Word document (or PDF if that’s what you have for this project)
Thanks!
Elana (Laura Dail Literary Agency)
Jenny Bent · November 2, 2017 at 10:07 am
Hi can you send full ms with Pitch Wars in the subject line to info@thebentagency.com. Thanks!
Alex Slater · November 2, 2017 at 11:47 am
Remy,
The discolored puke bag is a revelation.
Please send me the full manuscript. Please!
ASlater@tridentmediagroup.com
Many thanks,
Alex
Alexander Slater
Trident Media Group
Hillary Jacobson · November 2, 2017 at 12:01 pm
This looks absolutely incredible! Can you please send the full manuscript to hjacobson@icmpartners.com in the format that is best for you? Thank you!
Jennifer Kim · November 2, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Remy,
This is so up my alley. I’d love to see the whole manuscript! Could you send it to me at jennifer@dijkstraagency.com as an attachment? Also include “PITCH WARS” in your subject line.
I’m so looking forward to reading!
Jennifer (SDLA)
Justin Wells · November 2, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Hi Remy — I’d love to see your full manuscript! Please submit it (along with other material requested in form) to my Pitch Wars QM page here: https://querymanager.com/query/Justin_Wells/Pitch_Wars
Peter Knapp · November 2, 2017 at 3:30 pm
Remy, I’d love to keep reading! Please send the full manuscript as a PDF with the query included in your email to queries@parkliterary.com with “PETER KNAPP – PITCH WARS REQUEST” in the subject. Thank you, and I look forward to reading!
Whitley Abell · November 2, 2017 at 4:04 pm
I’d love to see more! Please submit your query, synopsis, and first 50 pages to https://querymanager.com/query/inklings_whitley/PitchWars. I can’t wait to dive in!
Ammi-Joan Paquette · November 2, 2017 at 4:23 pm
I LOVE this and would love to see whatever you’ve got – please be in touch to: joan at emliterary dot com!
Tracey Adams · November 2, 2017 at 4:26 pm
I would LOVE to see this! Please send the full to tracey@adamsliterary.com with your query letter and “Pitch Wars – Middle Grade” in the subject line. Thank you!
Blair Wilson · November 2, 2017 at 11:06 pm
This sounds so amazing–I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc or PDF with the query pasted into the first page of the document to queries@parkliterary.com with “BLAIR WILSON – PITCH WARS REQUEST” in the subject. Thanks so much–looking forward to reading!
Jennifer Azantian · November 3, 2017 at 2:57 am
Hi Remy,
I would love to read more!
Please send your query, 1-2 page synopsis, and full manuscript (in word or pdf is fine, too) to queries at azantianlitagency dot com with “PitchWars: TITLE by Name” in the subject line. Thanks!
I look forward to reading!
Jennifer Azantian
Azantian Literary Agency
Andrea Cascardi · November 3, 2017 at 12:01 pm
Hi Remy, I would LOVE to read this! Can you send the query and a pdf to me at andrea@transatlanticagency.com? I’m very excited about this!
Thank you,
Andrea
Adriann Ranta Zurhellen · November 3, 2017 at 1:29 pm
I can’t wait to read more!! Please send the full to aranta@foundrymedia.com. Thanks!!
Adriann
Thao Le · November 3, 2017 at 2:48 pm
Love the voice and accompanying comic art. Please send a query, bio and the first 25 pages to thao@dijkstraagency.com, using subject line: Pitch Wars Req – RULES FOR MAKING CAKES.
Roseanne Wells · November 3, 2017 at 6:12 pm
I want to read this right now! Please use the guidelines on jdlit.com to send the manuscript attached, and include #Pitchwars in the subject line. If it’s easier to send a link to Dropbox or a website for formatting, please include the full URL. I can’t wait to dive in!
Roseanne Wells
The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Sarah Davies · November 4, 2017 at 2:32 pm
Hello! I’d love to read more of this. I really like what you’re doing here. Please send me the query with full manuscript (PDF or whatever works best to see the art too) at submissions@greenhouseliterary.com, with PitchWars/Sarah Davies in the email title line. Thanks!
Sarah
Christa Heschke · November 6, 2017 at 11:35 pm
I’d love, love to take a look at this! I’ve eagerly been looking for a graphic novel and this looks amazing! Please send a query and the full manuscript to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com. Look forward to reading!
-Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis
Jennifer Rofé · November 7, 2017 at 1:38 am
Hi Remy,
I would be delighted to read this. Please send a query and full materials — in whichever format is easiest — to jennifer@andreabrownlit.com. In the subject line, write QUERY: RULES FOR MAKING CAKES Pitch Wars.
Best,
Jennifer.
Kari · November 7, 2017 at 6:43 pm
Hi Remy,
I LOVE this concept, your drawings, and the prose! Could you please send me (kari@bradfordlit.com) the full as a pdf or Word doc, whichever format is best along with a query in the email and REQUESTED: PITCHWARS in the subject line?
Many thanks,
Kari
Bradford Literary Agency
Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel · November 14, 2017 at 4:17 am
Hello Remy,
I am late to the party yet would love to meet Jingwen! Can you please share the complete manuscript or materials available? I’d also love to hear about your other projects in the works, and would love to be in touch. Please send to my attention at info (at) fullcircleliterary (dot) (com).
Look forward to reading!
Stefanie
Full Circle Literary
http://www.fullcircleliterary.com
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