Wednesday, August 1, 2012

August Mystery Agent Contest

It's time for our August Mystery Agent contest. *Muppet flail* 


CONTEST CLOSED!! THANKS AND GOOD LUCK!
Here's a quick reminder of what our fabulous Mystery Agent is looking for this month:


Any sub genre of MG and YA fiction only (though our M.A rarely takes on high fantasy). 

The rules:


1) Entries must be left in the comments section of today's post (please don't email us your entries!) - don't pay attention to the comment numbers. We'll close the contest when we've reached our limit. 
 

2) You must have a completed manuscript that's ready to send upon request.

3) You can only pitch once today (only one project). If you participated in previous MA contests, you can enter this one as well.

4) Please include TITLE and GENRE along with your pitch.

5) Your pitch must be one sentence longThe exact word count is up to you, but please remember: stick to the point!

6) The contest will close when we receive 50 entries. 

7) The winner will receive a FULL manuscript request! Our Mystery Agent may or may not choose runners up as well, but it's totally up to them.

8) If the rules aren't followed, your pitch will be disqualified. Please read the guidelines and follow them. 

Good luck to all who enter! 

52 comments:

Emily said...

Title: RACE TO BUTCH CASSIDY’S GOLD
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery

Racing across Utah in a beat-up motorhome, two cousins and their quirky grandpa Jim must outsmart a dangerous thief to find Butch Cassidy’s hidden gold and save a camp for troubled youth from closing its doors forever.

Michelle Smith said...

Name:Michelle Smith
Title: ONLY HUMAN
Genre: YA Thriller

After witnessing the brutal murder of a mutual friend, and nearly becoming victims themselves, Elaina and Cole mend a broken friendship while two serial killers wait for that oh-so-perfect moment to finish what they started.

Teresa said...

Title: BLACK HEART, RED RUBY
Genre: YA gothic horror

When 17-year-old Ava's hunt for an occult ruby pits her against her ambitious boyfriend and supposedly dead mother, she discovers the path to immortality is paved with backstabbing—not to mention literal stabbing.

Ellen Rozek said...

Title: THE RECRUITED
Genre: YA thriller

Pitch: Recruited by the government to help fight Renegade terrorists, Naomi must keep her growing friendship with a gang member a secret from her employers—and the Renegades themselves—if both of them are to survive.

Kaitlin Adams said...

NAME: Kaitlin Adams
TITLE: THE SHOW MUST NOT GO ON
GENRE: YA Fantasy

If sixteen-year-old Lori Gibbs fails to impress judges in the Talent Show, she will hang.

gailecn said...

Title: Ex-Drama Queen
Genre: MG Contemporary

Pitch:

When thirteen-year-old Casey Fitzgerald loses the lead role in the middle school musical to her best friend Amanda, Casey throws herself into everything from karate to pottery in an effort to find a new passion - but the only sure way to reinvent herself could cost her Amanda's friendship.

Ryan said...

Title: AN UNCOMMON BLUE
Genre: YA Fantasy with Sci-fi elements

In a world where children are segregated by the color of their glowing palm, sixteen-year-old Bruno Nazaire must either become someone else to earn his freedom, or confess his murder and save an innocent boy.

Anonymous said...

Title: DUET WITH THE DEVIL’S VIOLIN
Genre: MG magical realism

When 13-year-old violin prodigy Miranda Harper aspired to get inside the music, she didn’t mean literally inside “Ride of the Valkyries” or “Psycho”—and she definitely didn’t mean forever.

Meredith said...

Title: Southern Gypsy
Genre: YA Paranormal
Author: Meredith Johnson

After rejecting her Gypsy culture to try and fit in with the oh-so-proper southern belles in her small North Carolina town, 16-year-old Rawnie Stevens is forced to rediscover her secretive roots in an effort to save her boyfriend after witnessing his future murder during their first kiss.

Kate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeanmarie Anaya said...

Name: Jeanmarie Anaya
Title: OPERATION BREAKUP
Genre: Contemporary YA

Crushing on the hottest senior in school whose already got the perfect girlfriend leaves sixteen-year-old artist Abby Wheeler a card-carrying member of the Losers In Love Club, until a shady frenemy with similar woes proposes a foolproof plan for attaining the unattainable, but it’s got social suicide written all over it.

Lisa said...

Name: Lisa Rosenman
Genre: YA Contemporary
Word Count: 52,000

Super-brain Alexis will get kicked out of boarding school if she can't stop cutting.

Alexis Bass said...

GIRLS EVOLVED
YA Contemporary

Seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing follows a flawless set of rules designed to ensure she never gets her heart broken, but when a transfer student makes sticking to the rules a challenge, Aubrey questions everything that was keeping her safe from heartbreak.

Beth Smith said...

Title: RESTLESS
Genre: YA Ghost Story

When siblings Reuben and Imogen Hall return to the town they once summered in, they find themselves haunted by the little girl ghost of their childhood friend and must face their guilt for her death if they ever hope to leave.

Vicki Tremper said...

Title: THE TRANSPARENTS
Genre: Magical MG Mystery

When eleven-year-old Daniel sneezes during math class and temporarily turns invisible, he must overcome his fear of the spotlight—and his jealousy of his older brother—in order to solve the string of burglaries he knows his brother didn’t commit.

Jenni said...

Title: PINK FORTUNE
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
After the Dauphin is turned into a pot of pinks, a 16 year old peasant journeys to Versailles to challenge the man who cursed the Dauphin and imprisoned her father in the Bastille.

A.J. Cattapan said...

Title: Seven Riddles to Nowhere
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery

Pitch: In this “39 Clues Meets The DaVinci Code,” seventh grader Kam must solve seven riddles tied to religious artwork in order to become heir to a fortune and save his financially-distressed Catholic school from closing.

Robin said...

LOVESENSE
YA Magical Realism

For seventeen-year-old Rae and her unusual gift of “lovesense,” love literally stinks, that is, until she smells her own match in an unidentified baby picture.

Anonymous said...

Title: Joshua's Tree
Genre: YA Science Fiction

When smart but timid 17-year-old Joshua Tyler becomes the secret weapon in a losing war against cannibalistic mutants, he must accept the help of an overbearing warrior princess and unravel the reason he has been chosen to assassinate the enemy’s leader, if he ever hopes to get home.

Laurisa White Reyes said...

CONTACT (YA Suspense – 55,000 words) Mira knows the truth that her mother’s coma was no accident, but proving it just might get her killed.

Anonymous said...

Name: Julie True Kingsley
Genre: Gothic YA
Word Count: 65,000

Banished to Pemberton Academy in Western Massachusetts, Eli quickly finds herself embroiled in a four hundred year old love triangle that leads her to lost secrets about America's earliest beginnings and a destiny that is hers alone.

Ashley Turcotte said...

Title: Diamond Tears
Genre: YA Fantasy

In this modern day Wizard of Oz, Emma journeys through other worlds with a crew of magical misfits—but home may not be the right destination.

Jess said...

Title: The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher
Genre: MG Retelling (of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)

Mark Twain probably didn’t mean to be a big fat liar, but eleven-year-old Becky Thatcher is about to set the record straight on facing outlaws in the cemetery, stealing from Witchy Widow Douglas, and clearing an innocent name…all while ditching the biggest tattle-tale that ever lived—Tom Sawyer.

Gabe (Ava Jae) said...

Title: REAPER
Genre: YA Paranormal

When a terrible accident leads seventeen-year-old Cade to discover he's the next Reaper, he must protect his loved ones not only from himself, but from an obsessed assassin who has sworn to kill him.



Thanks for this fantastic opportunity! ^_^

Tracey Joseph said...

Title: NEVER A HAPPY ENDING
Genre: YA Contemporary

When her father suddenly goes missing, sixteen-year-old Amelia Taylor is forced to pick up the pieces, and take care of her sick, pitiless, and cigarette addicted momma who blames her for her failing health and wrinkled skin, while she also struggles with matters of the heart, her boyfriend or childhood sweetheart.

John Hansen said...

Title: INEVITABLE
Genre: YA Thriller

Pitch: For sixteen-year-old Alex Tanner, finding a webpage of himself five years into the future is totally cool and all until he logs on one morning and his status reads: DECEASED.

Anonymous said...

Title: Mom Wars
Genre: MG Contemporary


Throwing globs of invisible food is the only thing that gets twelve year-old Jennifer Lauren Michaels through her grueling Mom Wars…especially when she discovers the truth about Dad’s silence, the $10,000 check she found, and that kisses can have secrets behind them.

Stephanie Cardel said...

Title: THE WILD
Genre: YA SCI-FI/ Post Pandemic

To avoid having his childhood memories wiped sixteen-year-old Lucas Dawson escapes from South-Three township into the unknown Wild and vows to fight the totalitarian Regime, but when he finds Cara, who ran away to avoid the harvest, things become complicated.

Jenn Brisendine said...

Title: MIRROR OF SAND AND FLAME
Genre: Upper MG adventure with fantasy elements

Through an abandoned coal mine tunnel in the smoldering ruins of the hometown he destroyed, twelve-year-old Zeb Reardon enters the eerie setting of his father's bestselling fantasy novel to save his cousin and mend his own guilty heart.

Thanks!

Liz Penney said...

Flinch
YA contemporary thriller

Four troubled teens and a twisted cop on a collision course: you'd better...FLINCH!

Elizabeth Penney

Unknown said...

Title: The Star Bright Sky of Privilege and Thirst
Genre: Science Fiction YA

In a time when water is scarce and only the rich drink well, a high society girl traveling to Mars falls for a member of the crew who is falsely accused of murdering a water tycoon.

Michelle L. Brown said...

Title: FRIED LIVER
Genre: MG Contemporary

Wichita is just one more place to land for twelve-year-old Mike McTavish until the friendless Air Force brat rescues a mysterious mutt and butts heads with a bizarre, chess-obsessed girl who’s determined to hijack the dog and everything else Mike loves.

Dee Almond said...

Title: BELOW
Genre: YA-SF/fantasy

When twelve-year-old Eli Nichols is snatched away in a UFO and finds himself stranded in a beautiful, yet troubled world, hidden within the depths of the sea, his only care is home, but how will he get there with miles of ocean (not to mention sea monsters, mermaids and pirates) between him and the Earth’s surface?

Robbin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KatieC said...

Title: ENSLAVED
Genre: YA dystopian

Seventeen-year-old Middle Citizen Hana Norfolk is enthusiastic about taking her spot in society, but when she overhears the doctors denying her mom the only known cure for the mutation, Hana defies her leaders and embarks on a dangerous journey looking for answers.

Janice Sperry said...

Title: She Came From The Hill
Genre: YA Gothic Fantasy

When the shadows of Strawberry Hill follow Clay home, he has to find a way to ditch them before they kill him.

NW Harris said...

Anonymous = NW Harris

Writer Tessa said...

Title: UNDERCOVER
Genre: YA Thriller

Sixteen-year-old P.I. agency intern, Jayna Kumar, pisses off the wrong people as she investigates her best friend's murder, a death the police ruled a suicide, and Jayna needs to catch the killer before the killer catches her.

kiwing said...

Title: Weaving a Net is Better than Praying for Fish at the Edge of the Water
Genre: multicultural middle grade mystery (think Millicent Min meets Sammy Keyes)

Allen Mak is enrolled at school legally this year, so even though a thief pursues her, her grandmother suspects her, and a bully targets her, Allen is determined to quit hiding.

Sarah G said...

Title: RECLAIMED Genre: Contemporary YA

Micah falls in love with twin brothers whose secret, once discovered, is worse than anything she could have imagined, because how can she love both boys when one of them is dead?

TL Sumner said...

Title: FORBIDDEN SECRETS
Genre: YA Fantasy

In this Romeo & Juliet meets Highlander, when seventeen-year old Kyra becomes the pawn for one rogue immortal pursuing a sacred artifact and another seeking to settle a centuries-old blood feud; eighteen-year old Aidan, the son of Celtic immortals, must choose between loyalty to his family or protecting the girl who’s claimed his heart.

SStokes said...

Title: WHEN THE STAIRCASE ENDS
Genre: YA Magical Realism

After an accident, Taylor must climb a seemingly endless stairway into the sky; a journey that reveals the surprising truth about her best friend’s betrayal and the life Taylor thought she wanted to leave behind.

Traci VW said...

Title: Thunderbird Dreams
Genre: MG Historical Fantasy

Tomboy Christine Miller wants to save the last Thunderbird who is trapped inside the mountain, but it's a race against the greedy mine owner who wants to steal the Thunderbird's power, keeping him trapped here forever.

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

GRETEL
MG fantasy

Gretel needs to save her brother from a witch, but it may mean becoming a wicked witch herself.

Don McFatridge said...

Title: PLANTED (I CAN WATER MYSELF)
Genre: YA Science Fiction

A humanlike girl with a strange affinity to plants arrives on earth to save our garden from invasion, but her airborne immunization plan to protect us from alien infestation requires mating with a teenage human male within five days before she grows eighteen-days-old and her spore sack explodes.

Michelle McLean said...

5 spots left!!

Manju Howard said...

Title: TRIPLE B
Genre: Upper MG contemporary

Samantha learns survival skills from her older brother to avoid her functioning alcoholic father, but no one warns the eighth grader that flirting with her best friend’s brother (a star high school football player) could lead to trouble.

Rachel said...

Title: Daemarkin
Genre: YA Fantasy

After saving a village girl from the demon Lord, sixteen-year-old Zade’s problems only grow worse; monstrous wolves try to kill him, the demon Lord sends an army to find the gate back into hell, and the fire spirit locked inside Zade’s own body breaks free endangering the very people he’s trying to protect.

Diana Gallagher said...

Title: WHAT HAPPENS IN WATER
Genre: YA Contemporary

When her best friend attempts suicide, Savannah must learn what it means to be fearless on her own.

Triona said...

Title: THE LONG-TIMERS
Genre: YA sci-fi/thriller

When a privileged teenage boy learns the horrific truth behind a miracle drug that prolongs the life of the rich, he must try to bring down his parents' company from the inside.

Alexandra said...

Title: Minotaur
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Banished to the Labyrinth for a crime she didn't commit, Ikki's one hope of escape is a young man known as The Minotaur.

Michelle McLean said...

contest closed!!