‘Agent Shop’ « MUSETRACKS

‘Agent Shop’

INTRODUCING ‘AGENT SHOP’

What’s ‘Agent Shop’ you ask?

Well, it’s our spin on a great idea I have tentatively borrowed – with permission – from Scott Eagan. (Thanks Scott!)

How many of us wish we could pitch to an agent? That is, without the frills? No parties, no travel, no conference costs, no hectic schedules? Don’t get me wrong, the conferences, promos, signings and parties have their place and time, but what about in between?

Here’s what we’re going to do.

This isn’t a contest… there aren’t any winners… just a chance to put your pitch in front of agent(s) who are interested in shopping a bit. They’ll read them and request more - IF – your pitch grabs their attention. What they request is up to them. We do not guarantee anything.

From time to time, we will hold contests. These could include anything from promotional contests for the MuseTracks writers to just for fun. Placement contests will happen from time to time as well.

It’s that simple – well maybe. I’m sure you’re wondering… ‘What’s the catch’?

Agent Shop will only be ‘open’ one day, per month, and I’m only taking the first thirty pitches that I receive. But don’t worry, if you don’t get in the top thirty this time, you can try again the next month. Hopefully, enough great pitches come in to keep these agents coming back for more.

After the pitches go up, the agent(s) have one week to read and decide. They will then contact me and I will forward on information to the author(s) who received requests. I will also be posting results after the week is up. Just the total number of requests made – no specifics or names.

Here are the rules:

Pitches accepted in: Romance – All genres, subgenres, elements and Women’s fiction. (At this time we are not offering any other areas of writing, but you can always check back. If more agents become interested – we might expand.)

Agent(s) attending will be posted approx one week before the start day.

I’ll post the word “GO”on the HOME PAGE of the blog the day you can send your pitches in. Do not send until you see the word “GO” – if you do, I’ll delete your e-mail – no questions. I’ll put up the date and time as well shortly before starting, just as a reminder. The first date will be May 30th, 2009 at 10:00am EST.

Once the word “GO” is up, you are welcome to send your pitch to Candi_Agent_Shop@yahoo.com (Please note that is Candi_Agent_Shop. Don’t forget the underscores or you won’t get through.)

I’ll post the word “STOP” when I’ve received thirty pitches. Any e-mails after that will be deleted without being read. (If I do not post STOP for any reason – computer issues, family issues, because I’m having a numb moment, the session will still close the following morning. This is when I sit down for the day and do the weeding.)

If your pitch is one of the first thirty to reach my inbox, you’ll see it posted the next day, on the main page of the Musetracks blog, for the shopping agent(s) to peruse.

(1) Only one pitch per e-mail. (You can pitch as many times as you’d like but each one MUST be in its own e-mail.)

(2) Please put “Pitch – Agent Shop” in the subject line of your e-mail. (If you need information or have questions, please put INFO in your subject line.)

(3) YOU MUST INCLUDE - Your name, contact e-mail, genre/subgenre, title and word count (of your ms) in your e-mail BEFORE the pitch. ALL INFO SHOULD BE PASTED INTO THE E-MAIL. NO ATTACHMENTS WILL BE OPENED. Only the pitch, genre, title and word count will be posted on the blog, but I need a way to contact you if an agent chooses your pitch. If you do not include all of the requested information – you guessed it, delete. I love my delete button, so don’t give me a reason to use it more than I already do.

(4) The pitch must be 200 words or less. No exceptions. Word count WILL be verified before your pitch is accepted.

I won’t contact people if they do not adhere to these rules, so check, check, and double check before you hit send. Can you here my ruler striking the desk? But seriously, this is a great opprotunity to get in front of an agent, so most important of all – polish that pitch until it shines!

So there it is. Get those pitches sharpened and ready to go on the Agent Shop shelves.

I’d love to contact you and tell you your pitch is in a basket and on its way to the check-out.

Thanks for visiting us at Musetracks.

Pass the word, and good luck.

Candi

Click HERE for tenative furture ‘Agent Shop’ dates.

Click HERE for Agent attendance dates.

This page has the following sub pages.

32 Comments »

32 Responses

on May 10, 2009 at 8:39 am Deborah Blake

What a great idea! Thanks for doing this
on May 10, 2009 at 7:14 pm Candi Wall

Thanks Deborah.

We’re very excited. If we can get enough agents lined up, we’ll do it for as many months as possible.

Feel free to spread the word.
on May 11, 2009 at 6:50 pm Lainey Bancroft

What a fun new angle!

Exciting…and scary.

I predict a lot of traffic here.
on May 11, 2009 at 7:01 pm Candi Wall

Hi Lainey,

I hope you’re right! I think most will be excited to have a chance to put their pitch in front of agents.

We’ve had a good response so far from agents, so the line-ups each month should be great.

Thanks for stopping by.

Candi
on May 15, 2009 at 8:00 am Erin O'Riordan

Sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to give it a shot!
on May 15, 2009 at 8:10 am Candi Wall

Hi Erin!

I hope you do. It’ll be fun and we have three great agents booked so far. I’ll list them next friday.

Have a great day.
on May 18, 2009 at 2:14 am ackattkissesandhisses

I’d love to do this.

ackatt.com
mlhansel@gmail.com
on May 18, 2009 at 4:47 am JM Griffin

This is the best idea I have seen yet! Thanks!
on May 18, 2009 at 4:58 am INTRODUCING ‘AGENT SHOP’ from Musetracks « Everybody Needs A Little Romance

[...] http://musetracks.wordpress.com/agent-shop/ [...]
on May 18, 2009 at 6:25 am Candi Wall

Kisses and Hugs,

Make sure you come backon the 30th and watch for the ‘GO’.

Thanks for stopping by.
on May 18, 2009 at 6:26 am Candi Wall

JM,

Thanks! We’re pretty excited.

So far we’ve had a good agent response as well.

Hope to see you at one of our sessions.
on May 18, 2009 at 8:34 am Stacey Purcell

I’m so excited by this, I’m breaking a rule I set for myself this month. I had vowed to not enter any contests, join any classes or do any extraneous stuff other then WRITE. My self imposed isolation has just been busted! I’ll be waiting for the GO button to be pressed. How fun!! Stacey
on May 18, 2009 at 8:48 am Candi Wall

Hi Stacey,

Oops. Didn’t mean to yank you from your writing! LOL.

We’re pretty excited as well. And I hope you manage to get in the top 30. Actually, I hate to have to limit it, but where in the world would I get agents who would be willing to look at HUNDREDS of pitches…

Good luck!
on May 18, 2009 at 3:00 pm Robyn Wren

This sounds great. Can’t wait to join in!
on May 18, 2009 at 3:10 pm Joan Powell/Joyce Kennedy

WOW Exciting idea! Since my twin sister co-writer and I have just finished an adventure romance we’re breathing heavy to get on the band wagon. Polish! Polish! Polish. We have 6 books publlished–looking to make that #7.
on May 18, 2009 at 3:43 pm ackattkissesandhisses

Hi,

I had a question, by word count do you mean the word count of the finished novel, or the word count of the pitch.

I was thinking the novel because the pitch has to be 200 or less.

AC Katt
mlhansel@gmail.com
on May 18, 2009 at 4:29 pm Candi Wall

Hi Robyn,

Looking forward to seeing you here on the 30th!

Good luck!
on May 18, 2009 at 4:30 pm Candi Wall

Joan & Joyce,

SIX! Good for you! Hope we can help make it number seven.

God luck!
on May 18, 2009 at 4:33 pm Candi Wall

AC Katt,

I’m not going to apologize for calling you kisses and hugs above, it’s just too funny how the mind sees what it wants at times. I’m just a overly-nice person I guess. LOL.

As to word count. Yes, for the novel. Agents requested word count of the novel so they can better understand what kind of work they are looking at.

;o)
on May 18, 2009 at 7:08 pm Trinity Blacio

This is a great Idea and can’t wait to see what happens.
Trinity Blacio
on May 18, 2009 at 7:36 pm Candi Wall

Thanks for stopping by Trinity.

It should be fun.

Good luck.
on May 18, 2009 at 7:44 pm Jamie AnneMarie Howard

Wow! This sounds like a great idea. I would be trilled to be apart of this adventure. Just to participate would be great. Please add my name to your list. Thanks!
on May 19, 2009 at 8:08 am Victoria Dixon

By Romance Genre, do you mean in the way Fantasy is sometimes considered a Romance genre? Mine’s a Historical Fantasy with hardly an announce of romance in it, but plenty of romanticism.

Sincerely,

Victoria Dixon
on May 19, 2009 at 11:28 am Minnette Meador

Oops, meant to put a comment here and not on the Agent List…too early here on the coast, I guess. This is a wonderful idea, Candi and what a great opportunity. I know you have put a lot of work into this and hope this will be very successful for you. I’ll be putting in my pitch on the 30th…best of luck to everyone!
on May 19, 2009 at 11:30 am Candi Wall

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for stopping by.

There is no list however. You’ll have to check back for updates. Our first date for accepting pitches is the 30th, but I’ll be listing the three agents on this firday.

Best,
Candi
on May 19, 2009 at 11:34 am Candi Wall

Victoria,

The agents we are lining up may accept works in other areas, however, so feel free to follow thei website or contact info when I link it on Friday.

However, we are strictly keeping ‘Agent Shop’ as Romance and Womens Fiction – for now.

Thanks for stopping by.
on May 19, 2009 at 11:35 am Candi Wall

Minnette,

You’re very kind. Everyone seems to be excited – as are we. I honestly wish we didn’t have to cap this at thirty.

Wishing you luck!
on May 19, 2009 at 1:04 pm Denise Golinowski

I’m sorry if I missed it, but are we putting the pitch IN the e-mail or attaching it?

Also, do you want the name/contact e-mail/genre/subgenre/title and word count ALL in the e-mail before the pitch if it is embedded in the e-mail.

I just don’t want you to slap that delete key on me because I didn’t ask. You know what they say about when you ASSUME anything…
on May 19, 2009 at 1:49 pm Candi Wall

LOL – Denise!

You didn’t miss it. Great catch as a matter of fact.

Please paste your pitch into an e-mail. No attachments.

And please add the other info before the pitch – yes, even if you have a sig line with all that info in it anyway.

Thanks for asking—I’m updating the page as we speak!

Good luck!
on May 24, 2009 at 8:01 pm Heather Boyd

Im considering entering but Im going to need a little help doing the time conversion. Im in Australia and trying to work out what time it will be for me at your 10am.

Can you please tell me where you are?

Im trying to use the World Clock webside but your location has me stumped. Help!
on May 25, 2009 at 6:32 am Candi Wall

Hi Heather,

I’m located in Maine so we would fall under Eastern Standard Time – E.S.T.

Good luck.
on October 18, 2009 at 11:28 pm Meet Writer Candi Wall « Romance Writers on the Journey

[...] and historical romance. Her name might be familiar to you if you visit her successful group blog, MuseTracks, or if you’ve been following Dorchester/Text Novel’s Next Big Celler contest in which Candi is [...]