Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor: Jessica Vitalis/Amanda Hill/Cindy Baldwin
Mentee: Kit Rosewater
Title: DOPPELGÄNGER
Category: Middle Grade
Genre: Magical Realism
Word Count: 48,000
Pitch:
The vitiligo on Tami’s skin has always made her lonely. When her new classmates mistake her for their missing friend Renee, Tami’s strange connection to her doppelgänger grants instant popularity—along with access to Renee’s dark secret. If Tami sets things straight, she’ll lose her newfound friends. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose herself.
Excerpt:
The blots on my skin are moving.
They inch down my arm, shimmy around my elbow, and creep up my shoulder.
Danger, they say.
Hush, I say back.
We step into the sizzling afternoon. Book in hand, I duck away from the sun, hiding underneath the canopy of our cottonwood tree. Its roots surge from the ground and ripple through the grass like ocean waves cresting on shore. I settle into the spot where the gnarled wood bends into a perfect reading chair.
Today’s book is The Princess Bride. I first heard it when I was little, when Dad read me all the classics. Together we slipped through the closet to Narnia and opened the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron. The best books are places, Dad says. Since I’m eleven now, I get to explore my favorite “places” whenever I want. Too bad Mom and Dad won’t count that as Geography.
My thumbs pin down the pages as the words pull me inside. I race along a ravine with the Man in Black, a disguised pirate who’s stolen Princess Buttercup. The high wind screams in my ears. The prince’s horsemen gallop behind us. I hold my breath and grin. Tonight, when the sun sinks into the horizon and the sidewalks fill with trick-or-treaters, I’ll hide my blots behind a mask and become the Man in Black.
A ray of tangerine sunlight peeks through the branches and pinches my skin. The blots shrink behind my sleeves.
Danger.
27 Comments
Lauren Spieller · November 3, 2016 at 10:12 pm
I *love* this voice. Please send the full manuscript (as well as a synopsis if you have one) to lauren@triadaus.com with “Pitch Wars: [YOUR TITLE]” as the subject line. Please also include your query in the body of the email. I look forward to reading!
-Lauren Spieller, TriadaUS
Uwe Stender · November 3, 2016 at 10:25 pm
Please, send the full as an MSWord attachment to uwe@triadaus.com You had me at the correct spelling of DOPPELGÄNGER.
Saba Sulaiman · November 3, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Hi Kit,
This looks fantastic—I’d love to read more! Please send a query, synopsis, and full manuscript (Word documents will suffice) to ssulaiman@talcottnotch.net — and don’t forget to mention #PitchWars in your subject line. Thanks—looking forward to my read!
Good luck,
–Saba
Alex Slater · November 4, 2016 at 7:29 am
Hi Kit,
I’d love to see the full manuscript. Please send it to aslater@tridentmediagroup.com. Thanks!
Alex
Jim McCarthy · November 4, 2016 at 9:14 am
I’d love to have a look! Please send the full along for my review. A Word attachment is most preferable if possible. jmccarthy@dystel.com. Thanks!
Caitlin · November 4, 2016 at 9:41 am
This voice is incredible! I’d love to see the full manuscript. Please send it along to cmcdonald@maassagency.com, along with the query letter and synopsis, and include “Pitch Wars” in the subject line. Thanks!
Caitlin McDonald
Donald Maass Literary Agency
Laura Zats · November 4, 2016 at 10:39 am
I am in LOVE with this. Please send the full MS and a query to laura@redsofaliterary.com!
Caitie Flum · November 4, 2016 at 11:22 am
I’d love to take a look at the full manuscript. Please send it as a word attachment to querycaitie (at) lizadawson (dot) com with your query in the email, with the PitchWars request in the subject.
Caitie
Melissa Nasson · November 4, 2016 at 11:31 am
Hi, Kit—I would love to see more of this. Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc or PDF to melissa@rpcontent.com, and be sure to include “Pitch Wars” in the subject line. Please also include your query in the body of the email.
Thank you!
Melissa Nasson
Rubin Pfeffer Content
Christa Heschke (@ChristaHeschke) · November 4, 2016 at 12:18 pm
This sounds so great. I’d love to take a look! Please send a query, synopsis and full manuscript to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com. Please mark “Pitch Wars request: in the subject line. –Christa Heschke
Brianne Johnson · November 4, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Hi Kit!
WOW – this sounds so good so far. I’d love to read more! Could you send the first 50 pages to bjohnson@WritersHouse.com? Make sure to include Pitch Wars in the subject line!
All the best,
Brianne Johnson
Stefanie Lieberman · November 4, 2016 at 12:43 pm
I’d like to see more! Please send a query and the first 50 pages as a Word attachment to submissions@janklow.com and please put “Pitch Wars – Stefanie Lieberman” in the subject line. Thank you!
Renee Nyen · November 4, 2016 at 1:58 pm
I also love the voice on this one! I would love to read more. Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc to reneequery@ktliterary.com. Thank you!
Hillary Jacobson · November 4, 2016 at 2:03 pm
I love this idea! Please send the full manuscript to hjacobson@icmpartners.com. Thank you!
Logan Garrison Savits · November 4, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Hi! I’d love to take a closer look at your work. Please send your query letter in the body of an email and attach the full manuscript as a word or pdf doc. You can reach me at lgarrison (at) thegernertco (dot) com. Thank you!
~Logan Garrison Savits
The Gernert Company
Victoria Marini · November 4, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Dear Kit,
What an captivating idea and opening! I’d love to see where it goes! Can you please send the full manuscript to victoria.queries@irenegoodman.com with “query” and “pitchwars” somewhere in the subject line?
Thank you so much!
All my best,
Victoria
Ammi-Joan Paquette · November 4, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Absolutely love the voice here and would definitely read on – pls send your query + first 3 chapters to me at joan at emliterary dot com!
Patricia Nelson · November 4, 2016 at 5:15 pm
I would love to see more of this! Please send a query (in the body of the email) plus the full manuscript as a Word doc attachment to patricia@marsallyonliteraryagency.com, and make sure to put “Pitch Wars Request” and the title in the subject line.
Looking forward to reading!
Laura Biagi, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency · November 4, 2016 at 5:27 pm
What a fantastic premise and voice! I’d love to see the full manuscript. Please send it + query + synopsis to LBiagi (at) jvnla (dot) com, with Pitch Wars in the subject line. Excited to read!
Susan Hawk · November 4, 2016 at 5:57 pm
Absolutely loved this opening! Please send me the complete manuscript and your query, to kidsqueries@thebentagency.com; include PITCH WARS in the subject line. Excited to see more!
Roseanne Wells · November 4, 2016 at 8:50 pm
Hi Kit–What a great start! Please send a full manuscript and a synopsis as Word doc attachments to queryroseanne@gmail.com. I can’t wait to read!
Roseanne Wells
The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Pete Knapp · November 5, 2016 at 8:01 pm
Wow this opening is GREAT! I’d love to keep reading. Please send the full manuscript attached as a Word document to queries@parkliterary.com with “Pitch Wars – Pete Knapp” in the subject. Looking forward to reading! – Pete Knapp
Sarah LaPolla · November 7, 2016 at 5:42 pm
This sounds excellent! I’d love to keep reading. Please send me the full query (pasted in the email) and attach the 1st 3 chapters. Send to sarah@bradfordlit.com with the subject line “Pitch Wars: Doppleganger.” Thank you!
Taylor Haggerty · November 8, 2016 at 2:47 pm
I’d love to read as well! Please feel free to send the query + full ms (as a word doc) to taylorsubmit@waxmanleavell.com w/PitchWars in the subject line. Thank you!
Andrea Somberg · November 8, 2016 at 4:00 pm
I absolutely loved these opening pages and would love to take a look at the full manuscript! Please feel free to send it along as a word document to andrea [at] harveyklinger.com with “PitchWars Requested Manuscript” in the subject line. Thanks! I’m looking forward to reading.
best,
Andrea Somberg
Harvey Klinger Inc.
Whitley Abell (@whitleyabell) · November 10, 2016 at 2:38 pm
I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript to whitley@inklingsliterary.com with “Pitch Wars: [TITLE]” as the subject line. And if you wouldn’t mind, could you please include your query on the first page of the word doc?. I look forward to reading!
Andrew Buckley (@abuckley23) · November 10, 2016 at 4:32 pm
We’re intrigued and would love to read more! Please send a query with the first 3 chapters to acquisitions@curiosityquills.com with ‘Pitch Wars’ in the subject line.
Comments are closed.