Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Squee! An actual TEEN likes my pitch!

I'm crushing on Drama Girl right now. Not that I've met her, or even know her real name, but I gotta say: having a real-live teenager read 11 YA pitches and first pages and pick MINE to "buy" is a thrill. A THRILL!  Especially since I'm poised on the brink of the scary query plunge.

As soon as I knew there was a Drama Girl, I hoped she'd pick mine--my book has a play in it! Thank you Drama Girl! You give me hope!

If you're writing YA--even if you didn't enter the "teen judges" contest-- you're gonna want to head over to Brenda Drake's blog and read the finals posts. (Drama Girl was the second finalists post. Choir Girl was the first. We're still waiting for Book Girl and Sports Girl tonight or tomorrow. UPDATE: Book Girl's post is now up! UPDATE2: And so is Sports Girl's post!) Brenda has been running a super-cool teen book club for a while now and got the four teens to agree to judge a pitch-and-first-page contest. After the entries were in, the girls read the pitches and divvied them up by who liked which pitch best. Then they read the first pages of the pitches they chose and commented on each one, picking only two to "buy." Their comments are a priceless insight into our target audience.

And, obviously, Drama Girl has very, very good taste. :)

Now, if everyone will just send happy thoughts my way for the announcement of the overall winners tomorrow night, that'd be great. :)

UPDATE: I didn't win, but I still loved reading all the comments. Such a fun contest. Thanks Brenda!
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26 comments:

  1. Kristin Lynn ThetfordAugust 2, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    CONGRATS, ROBIN! That is so exciting! I'll be rooting for you to win tomorrow night! :)

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  2. Robin WeeksAugust 2, 2011 at 10:40 PM

    Thanks, Kristin! *fingers crossed*

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  3. Small Town Shelly BrownAugust 2, 2011 at 11:15 PM

    Robin that is awesome. Big congrats!

    I have some WONDERFUL things to say about your WIP but I better finish those last 100 pages before I do.

    BUT you have me HOOKED!

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  4. Robin WeeksAugust 2, 2011 at 11:21 PM

    Yay!! I can't wait! :D

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  5. Donna K. WeaverAugust 3, 2011 at 4:43 AM

    How exciting! *heads over*

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  6. JDAugust 3, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    Congratulations. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

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  7. Cynthia Chapman WillisAugust 3, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    Congratulations and good luck! : )

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  8. Jenna Blake MorrisAugust 3, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    Good luck, and congrats!

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  9. Robin WeeksAugust 3, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    Thanks, everyone!

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  10. unikornaAugust 3, 2011 at 10:42 AM

    Congratulations, I am glad I discovered you :)>

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  11. Robin WeeksAugust 3, 2011 at 10:56 AM

    Unikorna--so happy to be discovered! Welcome!

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  12. K.V. BriarAugust 3, 2011 at 10:57 AM

    Oooh totally have my fingers crossed for you! I loved your first 200 words (and Brina), you totally deserve to win this.

    By the way I left you an award on my blog stop by if you get a chance :) Oops, just realized you'd already gotten the Liebster, Miss Popular!

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  13. Robin WeeksAugust 3, 2011 at 11:13 AM

    Thanks, KV--for the support and for the award! Maybe I'll give it to 5 more deserving bloggers.... :)

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  14. Jessie HumphriesAugust 3, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    I gotta check this out. I didnt hear about this contest until now. Oops.

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  15. Jennifer M. EatonAugust 3, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    Congratulations on being a finalist! I'm jealous... I didn't even make the cut. This was a great learning experience, though. Like you mentioned, I need to take another look at my opening. I realize now it gets gripping at around 300 words. That's not soon enough. Back to the drawing board! Congratulations again for at least being in the top picks! You must be stoked!

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  16. Robin WeeksAugust 3, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    Jessie--just reading their reactions is amazing. Too bad you didn't get to play!

    Jennifer--Openings are so hard! Mine has been rewritten 10 times more than the rest of the book (except, perhaps, the ending).

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  17. tamarapaulinAugust 4, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    Hi Robin! I clicked your comment from another blog and the first word I saw was "Squee!" which made me laugh, but then worry that I'd inadvertently put my large foot in my mouth, because I'd just commented about how I don't Squee so much, but mainly it's because I think I'm old.

    Anyways, you have a very nice blog and I'm enjoying reading through some of your posts right now. :-)

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  18. Nancy ThompsonAugust 4, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Yay! Good for you, Robin! Got my fingers crossed & my toes, too.

    And as far as scary query goes, seeing what you did for MY query, I have every faith you'll get instant requests. You're a query goddess.

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  19. Robin WeeksAugust 4, 2011 at 6:59 PM

    Tamara--glad to have you! And you're only as old as you feel. :)

    Nancy--Thanks! I didn't win this contest, but I'll take the finger/toe crossings and delusional optimism for my upcoming query process. :)

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  20. jennifermeatonAugust 4, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    You know what? I didn't even realize it, but a friend of mine pointed out that I made the first cut because Choir Girl liked my Pitch! That's half a squee from me!

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  21. Robin WeeksAugust 4, 2011 at 11:00 PM

    Jennifer-Isn't it cool to have the teen feedback? Win or lose, that's an awesome prize.

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  22. Kathi Oram PetersonAugust 5, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    Congrats! Success is always very sweet. Now take the plunge and query.

    Kathi

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  23. Robin WeeksAugust 5, 2011 at 5:32 PM

    Kathi--I will, I will! Just one more edit....

    (Can you be addicted to editing, I wonder?)

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  24. DavidAugust 7, 2011 at 6:21 PM

    Big congo rats and best of luck with the upcoming query. I'll be asking for your help when I reach that stage.

    Also, I'm stoked that David Farland will be on the August 31 Advisory Call. Will you be hosting?

    -- david j.

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  25. Robin WeeksAugust 7, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    Thanks, David! I'd be happy to help, if I can. :)

    Mike is hosting David Farland's call. I've been hogging the guests lately. :)

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  26. jennifermeatonAugust 10, 2011 at 8:45 PM

    Robin, would you mind doing me a huge favor? You were the only one from the Auntie B contest that took the time to make comments on my original post (other than my regulars who've all finished my novel) Would you mind taking a look at my revised first 250 words that I just posted on my blog? I spruced them up after reading their comments from the contest that it wasn't "exciting enough"

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