Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Name: Alexandra Ott
Mentee Name: Sofiya Pasternack
Title: ANYA KOZLOVA AND THE DRAGON
Category: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Word Count: 59,000
Pitch:
A 12-year-old Jewish girl must go up against a bloodthirsty Viking and vengeful Tsar to protect the lonely dragon who saved her life.
Excerpt:
Anya was not a good goatherd.
For the third time, she pulled Zvezda back to the barn by his horns. The stupid goat had broken his leg four days earlier, and Anya’s grandfather wanted him to stay in the barn and rest for at least a week. But the goat had chewed off his cast and, apparently bored with the comfort of the barn, followed Anya to the onion fields and climbed onto her handcart.
She slammed the wooden barn doors shut and held them closed. Nothing happened. Maybe Zvezda was finally going to stay—
Thump! The door shuddered as the goat rammed it with his head.
Anya rolled her eyes. Maybe not.
As she held the door shut, she looked down and caught sight of the tear Zvezda had ripped in the hem of her dress. Not only was he wasting her time with the onions, she was going to have to waste even more mending the dress that night.
“Stay there!” Anya shouted.
Her father would have known how to make the goat listen. But Papa was gone, fighting in Tartary, so Anya had to take his place with the goats. She didn’t have any of the Kozlov animal magic yet—her grandfather insisted it would come to her any time, though—and the goats would scatter in every direction. Rounding them up took hours, so Anya was relieved of herding responsibilities. Dyedushka took them grazing instead, even though her grandfather had lost both his legs at the knee, plus one of his eyes, when he had fought the tree people before Anya had been born.
Zvezda bleated and bumped the door with his head.
23 Comments
Brent Taylor · November 1, 2017 at 9:23 pm
I’d love to read this! Please send as a Microsoft Word document to brent(@)triadaus(.)com. So excited!
Lauren Spieller · November 1, 2017 at 10:14 pm
I loved this! Please send your query in the body of an email, along with the full manuscript and a synopsis (both attached). Please also include a link to this entry. You can send your materials to lauren@triadaus.com. I look forward to reading!!!
~Lauren
Hilary Harwell · November 1, 2017 at 10:25 pm
This sounds amazing! Please kindly send the full manuscript to hilary@ktliterary.com with “PitchWars” in the subject so I may continue reading!!
Cheers!
Hilary
Laura Crockett · November 1, 2017 at 10:45 pm
I’m interested in reading more! Please send the query in the body of the email, attach the full manuscript in a Word doc, subject line “Pitch Wars: [MS title],” to laura(at)triadaus(dot)com. Thanks! –Laura
Natascha Morris · November 1, 2017 at 11:44 pm
I LOVE THIS! Please query me at QueryMe.online/1067/PitchWars2017. Thank you!
Best,
Natascha
Rena Rossner · November 2, 2017 at 2:13 am
This sounds amazing and right up my alley! I’d love to take a closer look! Please send the full manuscript attached as a word document to: rena (at) thedeborahharrisagency (dot) com.
Thanks!
– Rena
Justin Wells · November 2, 2017 at 3:56 am
I would really love to see your full manuscript! If you could please submit it along with the other required material (in form) to my Query Manager here: https://querymanager.com/query/Justin_Wells/Pitch_Wars
Jim McCarthy · November 2, 2017 at 9:05 am
I would love to see this! Please send the full manuscript to me at jmccarthy@dystel.com. A Word attachment is most preferable if possible. Best, Jim
Elana Roth Parker · November 2, 2017 at 9:25 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
Thanks!
Elana (Laura Dail Literary Agency)
Danielle Burby · November 2, 2017 at 9:39 am
I’d love to take a look at this! Please email me at querydanielle@nelsonagency.com and include the first twenty pages of your manuscript in the body of the email along with a one-page query letter. In the subject line, write REQUESTED QUERY (PitchWars) and the title of your project. This will help ensure that your query isn’t accidentally deleted or caught in our spam filter. I look forward to reading!
Jenny Bent · November 2, 2017 at 10:18 am
Please send full ms and query to info@thebentagency.com with Pitch Wars in subject line. Thanks!
Melissa Edwards · November 2, 2017 at 10:54 am
I’d love to see more! Please email the first 50 pp as a .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thank you!
Leon Husock · November 2, 2017 at 10:56 am
I’d love to read more of this! Please send a query and the full manuscript along with a single-sentence description of your premise to leon@lperkinsagency.com
Hillary Jacobson · November 2, 2017 at 12:18 pm
I am in love with your voice. Please do send the full manuscript as a word document to hjacobson@icmpartners.com. Thank you!!
Brooks Sherman · November 2, 2017 at 12:25 pm
A story with vikings, tsars, AND dragons? I’ve got to see more! Please send the full manuscript, query, and a synopsis (if you have one) to bsherman@janklow.com. Thanks!
Penelope Burns · November 2, 2017 at 1:24 pm
Hi Sofiya,
I would LOVE to see this. Can you please send the full manuscript to penelope@gelfmanschneider.com, with your query in the body of the email and #PitchWars and title in the subject line? Thanks so much!
Penelope
Peter Knapp · November 2, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Hi Sofiya, so excited to see Anya again here, and I’d love to take a look! Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc with the query pasted into the first page of the document to queries@parkliterary.com with “PETER KNAPP – PITCH WARS REQUEST” in the subject. Thank you, and I look forward to reading!
Jessie Devine · November 2, 2017 at 5:51 pm
Ah! This is so great! Please query me and upload the full manuscript at QueryMe.online/devinequeries/PitchWars. Thanks so much!
Beth Buck · November 2, 2017 at 8:49 pm
Hi, Sophiya! I already love your setting. I would love to read more! I’m an Acquisitions Editor for Immortal Works Press. Please send your full manuscript to beth.buck@immortal-works.com.
Blair Wilson · November 2, 2017 at 11:11 pm
This is great–I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc 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!
Thao Le · November 3, 2017 at 2:46 pm
I would love to read more of this! Please send query letter, bio, and first 15 pages to thao@dijkstraagency.com, using the subject line: Pitch Wars Req – ANYA KOZLOVA AND THE DRAGON.
Melissa Nasson · November 6, 2017 at 12:42 pm
Sofiya, I can’t wait to read more of this! Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc or PDF attachment to melissa@rpcontent.com. Please also include your query letter in the body of the email, and Pitch Wars in the subject line.
I look forward to reading!
Thanks,
Melissa Nasson
Rubin Pfeffer Content
Christa Heschke · November 7, 2017 at 4:00 pm
I am really intrigued! Please send a query, first 100 pages and synopsis to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com. I look forward to reading!
-Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis
Comments are closed.