Pitch Contest – Got Pitch?
**OFFICIAL CONTEST PAGE**
Welcome to the 2nd Passionate Reads Pitch Contest! Yes, the last one was so successful, we’re doing it all again!! And once again we have the wonderful and talented, Grace Bradley from Ellora’s Cave (EC) on deck to review and judge the entries. The last pitch contest proved to be a huge success. In fact, Grace ended up requesting full manuscripts from all the Round 3 finalists and one of them is now an official, published EC author!! Anya Richard’s first book, Beyond Prudence, was published by EC on September 9th. Anya talked to KJ Reed in a blog post here about the contest and her own experience. Grace also blogged about what she was specifically looking for in round 1 of the contest here. Also, Grace has found several of the authors in her ‘stable’ through these types of pitch contests. These include our very own Lauren Fraser and Sasha Devlin. See? These things really do work. So come on, polish up those entries, take a deep breath, and get your pitch on!
Prize
So, what can you win if you enter? The winner will receive a line-by-line critique of their first 3 chapters by Grace Bradley, editor at Ellora’s Cave. Trust me when I tell you this will be thorough, extremely enlightening and valuable beyond words. I should know. Grace is my editor at Ellora’s Cave 
.
There’s also a chance that Grace may request to see more of your work if there’s something there that piques her interest, even if you’re not selected as THE winner. There is absolutely no guarantee of that, but it’s happened in the past, so I’m just sayin’.
Guidelines
The following are some things to keep in mind:
- The manuscript does not have to be complete to enter, however, if you’re selected as a finalist for any round you must be
prepared to then provide the next round’s requirements (chapter 1 or first 3 chapters/synopsis) by the designated due date/time to move on, otherwise you will be disqualified. - Entrants must adhere to the specific word count requirements for each round, otherwise you may be disqualified.
- A maximum of 2 entries ONLY per person is permitted. Even if you use multiple pen names, you may only have 2 entries
total. - You may only vote ONCE for any one particular entry during each voting cycle, whether you’re an entrant or interested bystander. We’ll do the very best we can to ensure there’s no violation of this, but ask for people to adhere to this rule out of fairness. It’s okay to vote for more than one entry in each round.
How it Works
There will be 3 rounds of judging during this contest—Pitches, First Chapters and then Partial Manuscripts/Synopsis.
Round 1 – Pitches
- A pitch should be the brief one to two paragraph summary of your book that you would include in a query letter. The pitch itself must be 250 words or less.
- The pitches should be posted in the comments section of the official “call for pitches” post, once the contest goes live from October 3rd. I’ll include the link here once it’s up.
- At the beginning of your entry please include:
- Pen Name:
- Title:
- Ellora’s Cave Genre:
- Heat Level (sweet, suggestive, sensual) if for EC’s Blush Line:
- Please visit www.ellorascave.com and click on “Submissions” to view the EC genres. Knowing where your book fits will assist Grace with the judging.
- 10 pitches will be selected by Grace to proceed to Round 2.
- Blog visitors will also have an opportunity to vote on the pitches. The pitch with the most reader votes will also proceed through to Round 2 (if not already included in the 10 selected by Grace).
Round 2 – First Chapters
- The 10 (or 11) finalists from Round 1 will be required to submit their first chapters for consideration during Round 2. These
must be submitted by the posted cut-off date/time or the entry will be disqualified. - A first chapter should be no more than 5,000 words and will be required to be sent into the Passionate Reads email account in .doc format.
- 3 first chapters will be selected by Grace to proceed to Round 3.
- Blog visitors will also have an opportunity to vote on these first chapters. The chapter with the most reader votes will also
proceed through to Round 3 (if not already included in the 3 selected by Grace).
Round 3 – Partial Manuscripts (First 3 Chapters/Synopsis)
- The 3 (or 4) finalists from Round 2 will be required to submit partial manuscripts, including a synopsis, for consideration during Round 3. These must be submitted by the posted cut-off date/time or the entry will be disqualified.
- A partial manuscript is the first 3 chapters of your book as well as the synopsis and should be no more than 15,000 words. It will be required to be sent into the Passionate Reads email account in .doc format.
- 1 final winner will be selected by Grace.
- There will be no blog visitor voting for this round. Grace alone will select the winner.
Schedule
Details will be provided for specific date/time cut-offs throughout the contest. The following is the high level contest schedule:
October 3 – The pitch contest opens and we accept pitch submissions through End of Day (EOD) October 7
October 8 – Voting/judging commences for round 1 pitches through EOD October 11
October 12 – Winning pitches announced and call for 1st chapters posted. Must submit by EOD October 15
October 16 – Voting/judging commences for round 21st chapters through EOD October 28
October 29 – Finalists announced and call for partials, including synopsis, posted. Must submit by EOD November 1
November 2 – Judging commences for round 3 partials
November 23 – Winner announced!!
* EOD will be midnight US Eastern time (EDT/EST) on the designated date Note, daylight savings time ends during this contest and returns to standard time. For international entrants, please be sure to check your times!
Message from Grace Bradley
I’m very excited about the opportunity to participate in this contest again. I’m so pleased with the outcome from last year, and have high hopes for a repeat performance I acquire and edit across all of our subgenres, and would struggle to choose a favorite. So pitch the story you’re passionate about. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got!
Questions? We’ll be blogging leading up to the contest and throughout the event which should address any questions you may have. Grace will also be doing a post to talk about what she’s specifically looking for and answer questions, but if there’s something pressing before then, feel free to send an email to me at kaily at kailyhart dot com. If there are consistency across these, I’ll compile a FAQ section or do a post about it!
From Kaily and the entire Passionate Reads bunch we wish you the very best and can’t wait to read your entries!! GOOD LUCK!
Hi, what a great opportunity! I did have a question about identifying genre – do you mean genre as in contemporary, historical or genre as in romantica, erotika, etc? Thanks for the clarification!
Hi, Margo, thanks for your question! Certainly you can indicate if you feel your entry is Exotika, but genre for the purpose of the contest refers to those categories as defined by EC. That will assist Grace with her judging if she knows where it fits. Everyone should check the most recent submission information on the EC site, but as of today, the following was out there:
Romantica®: (Erotic Romance)
Aeon (Futuristic/SciFi)
Branded (Marital Heat: Steamy Sex within Marriage)
Breathless (Romantic Suspense)
Fusion (Interracial/Multicultural)
Gen-Edge (For the Modern Young Woman)
Kink (Fetish)
Lawless (Western–Contemporary and Historical)
Legend (Historical)
Moderne (Contemporary)
Shivers (Erotic horror)
Sophisticate (Older Woman–Younger Man)
Spectrum (Gay/Lesbian)
Taboo (BDSM)
Twilight (Paranormal, Vampire, Shapeshifter)
Voyager (Time Travel)
Xanadu (Fantasy)
Exotika: Erotica
Blush
Mainstream (non-erotic) romance; all settings and genres
(contemporary, historical, futuristic/scifi, paranormal/fantasy, romantic suspense)
Cotillion: Traditional Regency Romances
Hope this helps!
I have a question re the pitch content. In many query letters I’ve sent in. A snapshot synopsis has been asked for or a blurb. Is a blurb considered for this pitch or is that too open ended? Thanks.
Hi, mahalia2010,
Yes, your pitch could be considered a ‘blurb’. It should be a brief one to two paragraph summary of your book that you would normally include with a query letter. Just make sure you kee[p the pitch part itself to a maximum of 250 words. In the words of our judge, Grace Bradley – “The best pitches are short. You want to make maximum impact with the least amount of words. Be sure to include the characters, the conflict, and the hook that will make me want to read more. The best pitches don’t end with a question with an obvious answer, such as, “Will the couple be able to make it work?”. That they will is a given.”
Hope that helps!
Thanks Kaily! I thought you wanted a blurb! I had one of those panic moments of I hope I did this right. I did have an alternate summary just in case prepared
Glad it helped!
I have a question. Here it says you’re taking entries through end of day October 7. But on the post to actually post pitches it says you’re taking them through midnight October 7. Which means I have to get my entry in tonight. Did you mean you were taking posts through to 11:59 PM on October 7?
Hi, Paige! Per the official guidelines it states:
“…we accept pitch submissions through End of Day (EOD) October 7″ where EOD is defined as:
“* EOD will be midnight US Eastern time (EDT/EST) on the designated date Note, daylight savings time ends during this contest and returns to standard time. For international entrants, please be sure to check your times!”
SO…I’m not sure what timezone you’re in, but you have until midnight FRIDAY night Eastern time. Hope that answers your question?
Okay thanks!
This part – but you have until midnight FRIDAY night Eastern time. – answers my question.
This part – EOD will be midnight US Eastern time (EDT/EST) on the designated date – to me still means midnight tonight because the designated date is October 7. At midnight it is October 7, which is the desginated date.
Sorry to be a pain but I take things literally and at face value. And midnight Oct. 7 means about 8 hours from now.
Quick question before I pitch tonight. How many are we allowed to pitch?
Cindy, a maximum of 2 entries ONLY per person is permitted. Even if you use multiple pen names, you may only have 2 entries total. Thanks!