Pitch Slam! Introducing Team Sweeter!

It's time to meet another of the awesome pairs here at R&R Management who'll be diving into the slush to find more rocking writers. They draw their inspiration from the smooth, some say soulful sound of Pop Rocker Gavin Degraw. Introducing Team Sweeter!

Manager Michelle Hauck has handled her share of talent in label performances such as Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow. She writes all types of speculative fiction from epic fantasy to dystopian, and knows her middle grade from her YA. You can find her latest spin, Kindar’s Cure, on all the big labels like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She has fun on twitter under the handle @Michelle4Laughs and talks about industry stuff on her blog Michelle4Laughs.

Michelle's scout Carla Rehse has used her talent scout skills in places like AQC Speculative Fiction marathons. Though she tends to write NA spec fic, any story with interesting characters and amazing world building will be added to her playlist. Carla can be found on twitter @CRehse.

#TeamSweeter is sure to bring the heat during the blazing battle round, so keep an eye on their tastes and the #PitchSlam twitter tag. Stay tuned rockers, cause we have another awesome team lined up to take the limelight on Monday.

See! I told you there would be more great teams! And next week you'll meet more teams! Don't be afraid to tweet us if you have questions about our likes. We promise we won't bite you. 

Catch us on the #PitchSlam tag for new updates. We're always happy to hear from you!

Until next time, happy reading and writing everyone!

Pitch Slam! Introducing Team Magenta!

If you've been paying attention, you know the Pitch Slam hosts have each chosen one awesome individual to help them tackle the slush. Over the next handful of posts we'll be introducing those fabulous teams from R&R Management who'll be selecting their bands from the talented entrants!
This pair draws their inspiration from the Pop Rock powerhouse P!nk. Here's Team Magenta!

Manager Jamie Corrigan knows what she likes when she sees it. Be it MG to Adult, if it hits her right in the feels or has an edge that keeps her hanging on until the last page, you're playing her jam. She writes YA urban fantasy to contemporary filled with wit, action, grit, with a touch of her Southern roots. Hit her up at her twitter handle @saphirablue84 and her Tumblr to learn more about what this manger likes to rock out to. Now, are you ready to rock?

Jamie's scout Brandi M Lynch is ready to scope out the talent! While she leans toward fantasy and paranormal in her own writing, she’s got a taste for anything that rocks. She is eager to get her hands on something that hits her like a good bass line, something that lingers long after that last note. Check out her Twitter handle @branwrites to see what gets her dancing.
#TeamMagenta will be a tough act to follow, but best believe we've got more great pairs lined up. Stay tuned for the other great teams!

Be sure to stick around to meet the other teams and find out what they want. But honestly, #TeamMagenta's going to win this thing!

So, are you entering Pitch Slam? Are you excited and ready to rock? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And as always, until next time, happy reading and writing everyone!

Pitch Slam! Round Rundown

It's not even April yet, but as everyone knows you can blink and the contest will be tomorrow. Plus we wanna give everyone a chance to familiarize themselves with how things are gonna work once the crazy fun begins in a few weeks. That and any questions or concerns folks might have can be addressed beforehand. There's a lot of info here, but it's pretty straightforward. Still, if there's anything you're not clear on or a detail you're wondering about that isn't mentioned, don't hesitate to let us know.

Everyone ready? I'm so excited!

4/20/2014: Auditions! - The submission round will open Sunday at 12:00 am EST and will stay open until 11:59 pm EST. Any entries sent before or after those indicated times will be deleted without being read. 30 seconds early or late is still early or late. The auditions are open for 24 hours, so no need to rush, but don't wait too late, y'dig? At this point only your 35 word pitch will be submitted. You read that right, and there's a good reason for it, just hang tight.

Once the Auditions are over, the Managers and their Talent Scouts (hosts and slush partner) will comb through the pitches offering feedback* on things like vagueness, no stakes, all of those things mentioned in Pitch Madness teaser tweets that had folks going "man, I wish I could revise and resubmit!" well, now you can! No fooling.

4/23/2014: Call Backs! - This is where you'll submit the first 250 words of your completed and polished manuscripts, without the pitch. Just like the audition round, it'll be open for 24 hours, from 12:00 am EST and will stay open until 11:59 pm EST. And like before, feedback* will be given on things like showing vs telling, info dumping (not the good kind), back story, etc.

4/26/2014: VEGAS! - You know how on SYTYCD or American Idol or whatever they tell people auditioning "YOU'RE GOING TO VEGAS!" and there's screaming and tears and such. That's what this is. Armed with feedback* that helped you craft a better pitch and stronger first page, it's time to send in those shiny new words. 12:00 am EST  until 11:59 pm EST on that day, the mail will be open again to take on your best! THIS is the pool the Managers and their Talent Scouts will be buildings their teams from.

4/29/2014: THE BATTLE! - This is it! The big show, where those chosen by the Managers will be posted to their blogs for the executives at Literary Records (the agents) will swoop in and make their requests. Each band will be comprised of TEN entries for a total of 50 finalists. The band with the most requests wins bragging rights and the coveted title of Rockingest! That's totally a word.

The Execs will make requests based on the music recording sales thresholds:

Demo Tape - Query and first 5 pages
Silver Record - Query and first 10 pages
Gold Record - Query and first 50 page
Platinum Record - Query and first 100 pages
Diamond Record- Query and full

Each Exec gets an infinite number of tapes to use, but certain records will be limited. And if we have more than one Exec toss out a Diamond Record, whomever tosses theirs first wins and the other Exec is bumped back to gold. We don't call this a Battle for nothing, heh.

That's the gist of it dudes and dudettes. A reminder post along with submission details and formatting, including what email address to submit to, will be posted closer to the 20th, so stay tuned.

Also, because we here at R&R Management are a group of fun loving people, we've also come up with a week's worth of awesome hashtag shenanigans to get up to on the #PitchSlam tag between rounds, to stay in your groove~. Check it:

Monday 4/21/2014 – #FirstLines. Where you post a first line from your book along with the tag. This can be for chapters, too.

Tuesday 4/23/2014 – #LastLines. Same rules from First Lines applies.

Wednesday 4/24/2014 – #ManuscriptMusic. Post your playlist for the manuscript on your blog and link it on Twitter so we can check out your jams! This playlist should include the music you listened to while writing.

Thursday 4/25/2014 – #ThemeSong. Songs for not only the book itself but characters, scenes, chapters, etc.

Friday 4/26/2014 – #CoolParts. You all know what this one's about, oh yeah.

Saturday 4/27/2014 – #PlaysMyMC. Tell us who would play your protagonist. Heck, go crazy, secondary characters, villains, comedic relief, give'em all!

Sunday 4/28/2014 – #CharacterMusic. Your protagonist have a favorite band or singer? How about a favorite song? Same with antagonist or secondary characters, the more the merrier.

Monday 4/29/2014 – #MyMusic. Who's your favorite singer or band?

Remember, these tags go along with the #PitchSlam one, otherwise we can't see what you're posting, and we wanna! So get ready for a week of awesome music, writing, and fun! While you're polishing up those pitches, be sure to check back for spotlight posts on the Managers and their Talent Scouts, as well as the ridicu-cool Execs who'll be waiting to get their hands on your work.

The season of Rock fast approaches, and we can't wait to get started. Questions? Concerns? That's what comments are for.

Hasta~!

***Feedback provided will be general but still helpful. In other words, no line-edits. 

READ THIS! - It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Anything sent before or after the entry windows of the second and third rounds will be discarded. Any entrant who fails to supply their work for said subsequent rounds will be disqualified from the contest as a whole, and no submissions will be accepted for ANY round unless the entrant participated in the previous ones. What this means is, in order to make it to VEGAS, an entrant needs to have participated in both the Audition and Call Backs rounds. No trying to squeeze an entry in at the last minute. Also, no switching up manuscripts in the middle of the game. You pick a story, that's the one you carry through with.

So there you have everybody! Tell me, are YOU ready to ROCK?! Let me know in the comments and feel free to ask questions or voice concerns.

Until next time, happy reading and writing everyone!