Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Name: Juliana Brandt
Mentee Name: Lacee Little
Title: AN IMPOSSIBLE MAGIC
Category/Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fantasy
Word Count: 62,000
Pitch:
Already an expert at manipulating illusions, 13-year-old Verity Ravenwood helps her father’s blackmarket business by stealing a book of impossible spells for a notorious outlaw. But when the book gets stolen from her, she must track it down before the outlaw makes her entire family pay.
Excerpt:
When Verity Ravenwood pressed her palm against the oak door, it rippled like an aspen leaf in the wind. A harder push and the door disappeared completely, turning back into the white plaster of a wall. She smiled faintly. No one went to the trouble of creating an illusion unless it was a distraction.
Verity leaned closer to the wall, but no magic remained on its surface. She crouched, nudging the woven rug out of the way, and ran her hand along the floorboards. At first all her fingers disturbed was dust, a constant companion thanks to the refining smelters dotting Denver’s skyline. However, when she pushed against the closest floorboard, it shimmered and turned into a five-foot square of metal with a brass ring in the middle. A trap door.
“Good job, Ver,” a voice whispered behind her.
She almost jumped, but caught herself before her feet left the ground. Her older brother, Garrett, stood a hairbreadth away.
“Did you have to sneak up on me?” Verity demanded.
He shrugged. Their father might joke Verity was the cat burglar of the family, but Garrett was the most cat-like. Although they shared the same green eyes, his were brighter, as if he could see in the dark. His black hair even lay against his head like a cat’s well-groomed fur, while Verity’s never lay anywhere.
“You should go first.” Garrett leaned over the door, but didn’t touch it. “There might be traps.”
27 Comments
Lauren Spieller · November 3, 2016 at 9:50 pm
What a fantastic first page! 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
Suzie Townsend · November 3, 2016 at 11:55 pm
I love this! Please send it as a Microsoft word document with “Pitch Wars manuscript” in the subject line, including your query letter in the first page of the document. Suzie at newleafliterary dot com.
Heather Flaherty · November 4, 2016 at 12:00 am
Would love to see the full! Can you please send the full ms, along with the query + 10 pages pasted in the body of the email, with subject line: PITCH WARS + Title.
Thank you! 🙂 So excited!
Pam Howell · November 4, 2016 at 12:29 am
*grabby hands* Give it to meeee! Full please :D. Also query and synopsis. pam@d4eo.com
Jim McCarthy · November 4, 2016 at 9:16 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 9:43 am
Oh, yes please! 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 10:43 am
How fun! Please send the full MS and a query to laura@redsofaliterary.com!
Caitie Flum · November 4, 2016 at 11:23 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 Edwards · November 4, 2016 at 11:37 am
I’d love to take a look! Please email the first 50 pp to as a double-spaced .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Please put the title and PitchWars in the subject. Thank you!
Christa Heschke (@ChristaHeschke) · November 4, 2016 at 12:22 pm
This sounds totally up my alley! 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 12:33 pm
Hi Lacee,
WOW – this looks amazing. 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 12:42 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!
Melissa Nasson · November 4, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Hi, Lacee—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
Hillary Jacobson · November 4, 2016 at 2:03 pm
This sounds so cool! Please send the full manuscript to hjacobson@icmpartners.com. Thanks!
Renee Nyen · November 4, 2016 at 2:06 pm
I love this opening! I would love to see the full manuscript! Would you please send a Word doc to reneequery@ktliterary.com.
Victoria Marini · November 4, 2016 at 2:55 pm
Hi Lacee,
I loved this! 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
Patricia Nelson · November 4, 2016 at 5:17 pm
I would love to see more of this! Please send a query (in the body of the email) plus the first 50 pages 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 5:29 pm
I love so much about this concept! Please send the full manuscript + query + synopsis to LBiagi (at) jvnla (dot) com, with Pitch Wars in the subject line. Can’t wait to read!
Susan Hawk · November 4, 2016 at 6:01 pm
Totally sucked into this! Please send the complete manuscript and query to: kidsqueries@thebentagency.com; include PITCH WARS in the title. Can’t wait to read!
Jennifer Laughran · November 4, 2016 at 8:09 pm
I’d love to take a look. Please send the query and full manuscript (as a word doc) to JennL@andreabrownlit.com — with PITCH WARS in the subject line.
Roseanne Wells · November 5, 2016 at 8:01 pm
Hi Lacee–This first page looks great, and it sounds perfect for me! Please send the full manuscript and a synopsis as Word doc attachments to queryroseanne@gmail.com. Thanks!
Roseanne Wells
The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Pete Knapp · November 5, 2016 at 8:02 pm
This sounds excellent! 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
Andrea Somberg · November 8, 2016 at 3:57 pm
I really enjoyed 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.
Amanda Jain · November 10, 2016 at 4:03 pm
Ninja request! This sounds very intriguing and I loved your opening. Please send the query, synopsis, and first 50 pages to amanda@inklingsliterary.com. I look forward to reading it!
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