Thursday, December 1, 2011

December Mystery Agent Contest!!

CONTEST CLOSED!!!
Good luck!

Welcome to 2011's last Mystery Agent Contest!!! 

This month our agent is taking ONE SENTENCE PITCHES. 

Genres Awesome Mystery Agent would like to see:

Fiction: all kinds of commercial fiction, especially:

  • science fiction and fantasy (and all subgenres) 
  • high-concept women’s fiction
  • contemporary and historical romances 
  • cozy mysteries
  • young adult books, including sci-fi and fantasy

No MG or picture books.

Non-fiction: particularly interested in books on popular mathematics, popular science (especially anything about particle physics), and spirituality, especially church history and philosophy (but not for the Christian market).

We'll accept the first 50 entries (pay no attention to the number of comments you see - when we've reached 50 eligible entries we will close the contest).

The prizes will be: First Place - a FULL manuscript request; Second Place - a partial manuscript request; Third place - a query critique.

What a fun way to end our year!!

And now...Le Rules:

1) Entries must be left in the comment section of today's post. (Please do not email us your entry.)

2) You must have a completed manuscript and be ready to send it upon request.

3) You can only pitch once per contest. If you participated in any of our previous M.A. contests, no worries--you can submit your pitch today, too.

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

5) Pitches are to be one sentence and one sentence only. We spent a lot of time during the last contest trying to contact people whose entries weren't eligible so they could fix them. We aren't going to do that this time. Please be sure your pitch is only one sentence long or it will be disqualified.

Good luck everyone!!!

56 comments:

Gina Ciocca said...

As always, thanks for the opportunity!

TITLE: LIFE BEFORE DEATH
GENRE: PARANORMAL ROMANCE

PITCH: When newly deceased Rebecca learns she must find another girl's true love in order to gain entrance to Heaven, she assumes her task will be fun and easy - until she finds the perfect guy, and falls for him herself.

Tamara Felsinger said...

TITLE: PRINCE OF CITY NIGHTS
GENRE: YA
PITCH: In the maze-like streets of Shadowglen City, shy teenager Tabby Green has less than a week to track a beast and bring down a corrupt government unit in order to save her sister, all while battling a curse that has her burning with the urge to kill.

Tamara said...

Um, oops, mine was YA Urban Fantasy. Sorry for missing it out! It's late here >.<

-Tamara

katherineamabel said...

TITLE: THE HOURGLASS BRIDGE
GENRE: YA HISTORICAL FANTASY

When an ancient ritual hauls Diamond away from her history books and into a hidden magical civilization in the 16th century, an immortal witch threatens to destroy her ancestors, forcing her to fight for her past to save her family's future.

katherineamabel said...

Thanks for this opportunity, can't wait to see more entries!

Ann Braden said...

Title: SWIMMING WITH TCHAIKOVSKY
Genre: YA Suspense/Magical Realism

When consummate rule-follower and cello prodigy Sally Hotchkiss realizes her Russian host father has been kidnapped, playing music triggers visions – scenes from a hundred years ago with clues about how to rescue him – but when the clues lead Sally to the upper echelons of the police department, following the rules is no longer an option.

Thank you!

Juliana said...

Title: DESTINY GIFT
Genre: older YA Paranormal Romance

In a dark world, Nadine has daytime visions about eerie fates, gods she's never heard of, and demons with sharp claws they won’t hesitate to use, until she meets the guy who haunts her dreams and everything starts to change—-her visions and even the world.

Thanks for this opportunity!

juliana.haygert(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

TITLE: Entwined
GENRE: Urban Fantasy

Making decisions has never been Daciana’s strength, but when her human boyfriend is abducted, the pack falls apart, and a newcomer in town is making a smorgasbord of humans, her choices may just end up deciding everyone’s fate.

Thanks for the awesome contest☺

David P. King said...

Title: WOVEN
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy

The only way Princess Tyra can stop a ghost from haunting her is to find a magic needle that can sew him back to life.


This is an awesome opportunity. All best!

Heather Hawke said...

Title: RAVEN’S WING
Genre: YA fantasy w/ SF elements

When a corrupt king tries to force noble-born Raven to bear his heir, she risks her life leading a coup to restore her family to power, but the real price of failure is slavery for everyone she loves.

Lyla said...

Thank you for this opportunity!

TITLE: HOW TO KILL YOUR DEMON
GENRE: YA Urban Fantasy

PITCH: Seventeen-year-old Gabriel Durante teams up with the Angel of Death and a girl that hates his guts in order to kill the demon he serves so he can save the girl he loves--and prevent himself from becoming a demon in the meantime.

Francesca Zappia said...

Title: THE NOCTURNIAN
Genre: YA Science Fiction

Pitch:
Seventeen-year-old Amity Hager knows aliens don’t exist, the Sky Pirates killed the people she loves, and the Government is doing everything it can to keep her and the other Nocturnians safe—and soon, she’ll know that all these things are lies.

MarcyKate said...

Love the contests! Thanks so much for the opportunity!

TITLE: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE CYBORG
GENRE: YA Science Fiction

PITCH: When Maggie learns she's a cyborg, she runs away, accidentally kidnaps her nerdy neighbor, and hunts for her Maker - the only one who can make her human again.

ilima said...

Thanks for the great contest!

Title: A SINGLE FEATHER
Genre: YA Fantasy

When Chief Mamo meets carefree commoner Kila, he is tempted to abandon his island’s caste system to be with her—but when a power hungry foreigner revives the ancient practice of human sacrifice, Mamo must decide between protecting his people and being with the girl he loves.

Darcy Drake said...

TITLE: Mind Games
GENRE: Science Fiction Romance
PITCH: A freed prisoner of war with missing memories agrees to help the alien stowaway aboard her space freighter on his secret mission of mercy – for a price.

beck nicholas said...

Title: LIFER
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

A sixteen year old servant girl who believes she’s on a spaceship and a seventeen year old boy everyone believes is dead need to find the truth and each other, because if they don’t two rebel causes will be doomed and there’ll be no one left to fight the Company except the aliens no one believes are real.

CF Winn said...

Title: THE COFFEE BREAK SERIES
Genre: Humorous Short Fiction

In three humorous short stories, one hot mess is trapped in a Danish dentist's chair, one hot model's bad luck causes her to collide with an unlikely kindred spirit, one hot day, PGB lures Samantha outside of her obsessive compulsive comfort zone, and signs that my imagination has come undone are running rampant in The Coffee Break Series.

Leigh Ann said...

Thank you so much, what a great opportunity!

Title: THE TRAVELERS
Genre: YA Science Fiction

Eighteen year old Nik has barely learned to control her time traveling ability when she discovers she's the only one who can stop a powerful Traveler from going back in time to reverse a personal tragedy - or risk hundreds of future lives, including her own.

Ryann Kerekes said...

TITLE: DEFECT
GENRE: YA SCi FI

In a society where government mandated mindscans predict future crimes, sixteen-year-old Eve’s result is unlike anything they’ve ever seen and she’s taken to the mental ward where she must figure out what’s so different about her, who she can trust, and how to win back her freedom.

Caroline Burnette said...

TITLE: Mystique
GENRE: Historical Romance

PITCH: It’s 1240 BC and Klytemnestra (Klytie) Atreides, the overshadowed sister of Helen of Troy, is sure that she’s finally found somebody who’ll love her because she’s Klytie, not just Helen’s sister.

Elizabeth Michels said...

THIEF OF HEARTS
Historical Romance (Regency)

A straight-laced old maid is hiding a secret life of crime and the Duke she stole from wants to steal her heart.

Mandie Baxter said...

Title: DREAM MAKER
Genre: YA SF

After finding out she can bring her dreams to life, Seventeen-year-old Megan Carmichael is on the run, ready to fight for her life to protect others like her and help save the world from a never-ending nightmare.

Ellen Rozek said...

Title: THE RECRUITED
Genre: YA thriller

Recruited by the government to help fight terrorists, eighteen-year-old Naomi must keep her growing friendship with a dangerous gang member a secret from her employers—and her enemies—if both of them are to survive.

Relle said...

Title: Travelers - The Lightning God
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy

A homeless boy from Brooklyn is chosen to explore new and fantastic universes with a mysterious and bizarre woman, while a mad god bent on revenge hunts them.

Unknown said...

Title: ZACH'S FIGHT
Genre: Contemporary YA

Pitch: Broken, beaten, and bloodied; Zach's determined to get up from this fight against his stepfather so he can protect his mom, but his own aggression and frustration will prove to be a more difficult battle to overcome than the physical fights.

KimberlyFDR said...

Title: THE FORCES OF HEAVEN AND HELL ALIKE

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Pitch: When God goes AWOL, the righteous demon Liam and his angelic lover Mikael are used as pawns in the ensuing battle for the Heavenly throne, and victory may mean losing everything they've built together.

greta garbo said...

Title: DISAPPEARED
Genre: suspense

After Julie’s best friend disappears while they are on vacation together in Morocco, clues to her whereabouts lead Julie to the edge of civilization – and beyond, into the Sahara Desert.

Toni Kerr said...

Title: Descendant
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Tristan, a teenager driven to suicide by his ability to hear others’ thoughts, is saved by an old woman who dies in his arms, a victim of murder that spurs him to believe in destiny, sending him on a quest to find and protect a mystical gem containing the memories of an ancient race while a secret society and the woman's murderer track his every move to discover the key to immortality.

B.J. Anderson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bluestocking said...

English-born but Norman-blooded, Isabel Dumont struggles to keep her home and heart intact when William the Conqueror sends his knights to her father's holding after the Battle of Hastings—a task made more difficult when she learns of her father’s death.

Siege of the Heart
Historical Romance complete at 93k

Kathleea said...

Gentically enhanced sixteen year old Vidden Devonny trains as a soldier but when she discovers the recruits have been given a memory loss drug in order to forget the attacks by the Awders, she has to save the recruits and warn the humans before it's too late.
GENRE: YA Dystopian
TITLE: THE VIDDEN

Rob Haines said...

Title: Coquus ex Machina
Genre: Fantasy

Pitch: Capucine Vaucher - chef, royalist, misogynist, murderer - is forced to cut a deal with an agent of His Majesty to save his restaurant from demolition; but in a city torn apart by warring chefs and murderous revolutionaries, can Vaucher bring himself to betray his King to protect everything he holds dear?

Nicole Settle said...

Title: The Reluctant Assassin
Genre: YA fantasy

When the boy she loves gets injected with a poison, sixteen-year-old Kella decides to attack the hundreds of soldiers guarding the only antidote, including her father--the commander of the army.

Laura Lam said...

TITLE: PANTOMIME
GENRE: YA Fantasy

PITCH: Gene, an intersex daughter of a noble family, runs away from everything she knows and joins the circus as a male aerialist's apprentice; but the authorities and a private investigator are looking for Gene, and when the ringmaster realizes who the newest member of his circus could be, Gene might lose everything.

Charity Bradford said...

Title: Sendek--The Magic Wakes
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Beneath the double suns of Sendek, a female scientist with hidden magical abilities must stop a dragon-human hybrid from wiping out all the humans.

Kathryn Purdie said...

Thank you! I appreciate the opportunity!

Title: The Rowaness of Shalott
Genre: YA Fantasy

When a 17-year-old dryad falls in love with the young knight Lancelot, he names her Guinevere and awakens her dormant ability to feel touch, but her growing mortality severs the bond to her rowan tree and she must flee to Camelot to convince the sorcerer Merlin to bind her to another to another tree, though it will cost her freedom, her mortal sensations, and Lancelot’s love.

Lori M. Lee said...

Title: HARBINGER
Genre: YA cyberpunk fantasy

To save her brother from becoming a cybernetically enhanced Golem, 17-yr-old Kai must uncover the secrets of her dying city and defy its supernatural rulers.

A.J. Locke said...

Title: Ravishing Midnight
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

When Demon Control officer Rieve discovers that her transplanted heart is a demon’s, she has to stop the witches from using hybrids like her to eradicate the magic sabotaging demons, because the witches don’t realize that they will destroy themselves, and Rieve’s new heart, in the process.

Wesley Chu said...

Title: The Lives of Tao
Genre: Science Fiction

When Roen, an overweight, depressed man in a dead-end job, is accidentally inhabited by an alien named Tao, he is thrust into an ancient war over the control of human evolution; he needs to survive long enough to lose weight, learn a stiff jab, and not be distracted by possibly falling in love.

Danielle DeVor said...

Title: Sorrow's Point
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Jimmy Holiday never really believed in demons, not even before he was defrocked; now that his collar is a thing of the past, the last thing he expects is an old friend begging for his help with an alleged case of possession.

Kelley Lynn said...

Title: All She Needs is Love
Genre: Contemporary YA

Pitch: When Emma Francis, a recent graduate of the foster care program, befriends eight year old Gigi to enhance her college applications, she never expects to have to choose between the future she desires and the one that is best for Gigi.

Cortney Pearson said...

Title: Tears
Genre: YA Fantasy

A wizard's spell has blocked emotions so people can't cry, and stubborn sixteen year old Kiana must find a rare jar of enchanted tears that can help her reverse the spell, but she has to do it before the Arcaiac soldiers steal her people's magic--including her brother's.

Mara Rae said...

Title: Forever Friday
Genre: YA Paranormal

When seventeen-year-old Friday Anderson returns to her tiny hometown of Lone Pine, Montana, she learns that the hipster musicians she's working for are actually immortals, and she's one of them.

Alexandra said...

Title: CRY HAVOC

Genre: Young Adult Sci Fi

Pitch: Bred for aerial combat in one of Rem's finest Kennels, Akita was best pilot to fly in ages: until the death of his co-pilot lead him to question all he was made for.

Michelle McLean said...

Eight more spots!

Kendall said...

Title: WANDERING STAR
Genre: YA sci-fi

Pitch: A teenage girl becomes the prize in a war for galactic control when secrets to the universe’s deadliest weapon are discovered inside her genetic code.

Mindy said...

TITLE: UNVISIBLE
GENRE: YA paranormal

Owen, a high school senior in hiding from the organization that made him invisible, risks his safety for a chance at the one thing he never
thought he could have--a friend.

Deren Hansen said...

Title: THE ALYSCRAI
Genre: YA Steampunk

In an alternate 1898, sixteen-year-old Alysseren navigates a land infested with towering steam-powered war machines to stop a rebellion when she learns the tochtin, lemur-like familiars, are preparing to use their human hosts as weapons.

The Writer said...

Title: SURVIVING LILAH
Genre: YA contemporary

Lost in China without their belongings, the always cautious Joe and his wild crush, Lilah, must trek 200 miles to the closest embassy.

Michelle McLean said...

4 more!

Kim said...

Title: Triangles
Genre: YA fantasy
Pitch: When a seventeen year old girl cruises into the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, she suffers through several alternate realities--any of which could become permanent.

Rebecca said...

Title: Transmigration
Genre: YA mystery

With her chronic nightmares filling in pieces of a life she doesn't recall living, a 17 y.o. loner must solve a past murder in her current life, with an eerie feeling that the murderer will do anything to protect his identity.

Michelle McLean said...

2 more!

Loralie Hall said...

(I hope I make it in under the wire ^_^)
Title: Elysium's Conspiracy
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

Elle has to figure out who she can trust when the voices in her head are the only place she can find the truth.

Janice Sperry said...

Title: So You Don't Want To Be an Evil Sorceress
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Mysty dreams of dating Eric, her high school’s basketball star; instead, she accidentally turns him into a frog and she can’t kiss away his amphibious problem because happily ever after isn’t for evil sorceresses.

Michelle McLean said...

Contest Closed! Good luck everyone!