Monday, July 16, 2012

Sign Up Time for the Gearing Up to Get an Agent Blogfest/Pitch Contest

Wow! That title is a mouthful! But it is true. Today's the day sign ups begin for GUTGAA!

UPDATE: For the GUTGAA SCHEDULE go HERE:
For the AGENTS participating in the Pitch Contest go HERE:
For the 1ST ROUND JUDGES for the AGENT Pitch Contest go HERE:

And if you're here for the Hookers and Hangers Blogfest go HERE ...but you should sign up for GUTGAA too:)

What is GUTGAA?
GUTGAA stands for Gearing Up to Get an Agent. It is a blogfest I started last year in the hopes that those of us striving to reach "agented" status could come together, polish those pitches and have fun at the same time. It ended with agent Kathleen Rushall judging a pitch contest. Quite a few of us who joined in the fun did get an agent (including me) and as I've said over the last few weeks I want to take my victory and pay it forward.

GUTGAA will be bigger this year!
I have put together a team of volunteers who I've been bouncing ideas off of in hopes of making this year's blogfest even better and I think everyone entering will be excited about what we have in store. Of course I am still working out the kinks, but so far this is what I've got for you. (Yes, I am about to break out the bullet points again.)

-The blogfest/pitch contest will take place in the month of September. Just like last year you will sign up below for admission to any part of the fun, but every week during the blogfest will also have separate sign ups. Meaning if you are too busy to make a full month commitment in Sept, that's okay. 

- There will be a meet and greet. Last year tons of friendships were kindled and connections made and I hope to do the same this year.

- There will be random drawings for prizes throughout the month.

-Our agent pitch contest will be so much fun. We are up to 8 agents who will accept ADULT, YA and MG. I'm shooting for 10 agents to join in!  And I can't wait to reveal the them to you when the time comes. 

-But wait! The agent pitch contest isn't where it ends. I realize that getting an agent isn't the only avenue for authors these days. Being traditionally published may not be the route you want to take and I sure don't want to exclude you. So this year I am also throwing in a small publishing house pitch contest! I have been back and forth over this decision. After all, the blogfest is called Gearing Up to Get an Agent, but in the end, I've got some small press editors on board so I had to go with my gut and welcome them into the fun too. So far we have four ready to get their pitch reading on!

-This years pitch contests will be open to YA, Adult and MG (possibly chapter book and picture books from one agent) so get those entries polished! And yes they need to be finished manuscripts please. 

-Blog Buttons. I will have them out to you by the end of the week. We had some great designers put them together and they were all so good I thought I would let you pick the one you wanted for your blog!
UPDATE: Blog Badges are ready!! Go HERE to pick out your favorite and display it on your blog:)

-Twitter Hashtag. Yes, we will be using Twitter and the hashtag will be #GUTGAA

Sound like fun? Do you want to jump on board? If so just sign up in the linky below, spread the word and we'll see you at GUTGAA!

ATTENTION: If the linky list is giving you problems just leave your NAME, BLOG ADDRESS and EMAIL in the comments section below and I will get you added:) Thanks!

103 comments:

Loralie Hall said...

Yay! This was so much fun last year, and such a great experience. I'm looking forward to it again, and thank you and everyone for putting it together :-D

Lyla said...

This sounds very cool! Can't wait! :)

Katie Dunn said...

Wahoo! Signed up and ready to go=) This is going to be so much fun!

Emily R. King said...

8 agents! HOLY COW! Awesome!!!!!!!

David P. King said...

Sweet! I'll have to bookmark this, just in case. Thanks for organizing this, Deana! :)

Jennie Bennett said...

Wow! I can't wait to join in :)

Kimberly Gabriel said...

I've been hearing such great things about this contest for the last several months. I look forward to participating this year!

Unknown said...

I'll dig around a bit for more information on this. If I can't find answers, I'll be back to plague you with my questions. :)) So far, it sounds wonderful!!

Unknown said...

Oh, almost forgot! I gave you several awards this morning. Some you may have. I know you're busy, so feel free to pass on participating. I myself put the post off for a month, and ended up accumulating more. O_O

Rachel said...

Signed up! Looking forward to this. I have some questions, but I'll look around for the answers. :)

Stephanie said...

I'm signed up. Thanks again for doing this Deana. I sent you a response from my lizziebennet email address. Let me know what I can do to help.

Leigh Covington said...

OOH! I will be crossing my fingers that I can get my WIP finished and some polishing done. I'd love to be a part of it.

You're amazing Deana! What a great opportunity to share!

Carrie-Anne said...

Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun! I'm seriously considering taking the indie route for at least some of my books, so I'm looking forward to the pitching to a small publishing house. And I ended up as lucky #18 on the list!

Lara Schiffbauer said...

This sounds like so much networking fun! I'm in! Thanks for all your hard work. :)

Suzi said...

Very excited about this. The timing is great. Gotta get my WIP off to my last betas soon.

Jenny S. Morris said...

Sounds like tons of fun. Thanks for doing this lady!

Cortney Pearson said...

Sounds fabulous!!! Sounds like you've got some great things lined up, and eight agents, wow!! :D

Unknown said...

I read about you on Candilynn Fite's page. Congrats on getting an agent and good luck with the submission process! :-)

Connie B. Dowell said...

Sounds awesome! I would sign up for the whole thing, but as my manuscript is MG, I can't participate in the pitch contests. If there are some weeks in which I can participate, I'd love to join in then. Either way, I'll be following the blogfest to see what develops. :)

Jessie Humphries said...

This is freaking awesome! Thanks Deanna.

Andrea Mack said...

So cool that you're doing this again!!! So there are no pitch contests for MG? Bummer. But I'll try to join in on the other events as they come up.

Ink in the Book said...

Woo hoo! Looking forward to September!
Thanks Deana:)

RAD - Dot Painter said...

This was so much fun last year! I'm glad you are doing it again. - Rachel Dillon

Deana said...

Hey guys! I'm so excited that so many of you have already shown an interest:)

I just wanted to address two questions that have come up so far...
1) For the pitch contests your manuscript should be finished.

2) MG can absolutely enter! I'm sorry I forgot to mention that. Through the agent contest they are accepting: Adult, YA, MG and one agent is open to pic books and chap books but I will have to find out if she wants to accept those in the contest. Stay tuned for that:)

I hope this helps. Keep the questions coming.

Connie B. Dowell said...

Awesome! I'm signing up and then back to my manuscript to polish-polish-polish!

Alleged Author said...

Awww! Cannot wait to meet some more bloggers through this blogfest!

Trisha said...

This is very cool! I've signed up. Now I need to polish a novel up :)

Leslie S. Rose said...

First, I squealed. Second, I jumped up and down. Third, I clapped my hands, and then I signed up. Thanks soooooooo much.

Katie Slivensky said...

This sounds like so much fun! I'm definitely joining.

Lauren M. Barrett said...

I signed up, this looks really fun.

Unfortunately the linky site was acting wonky so it looks like I accidentally signed up three times (although the website kept saying error). Is there any way to remove myself? Sorry!

Tracy MacDonald said...

I'm about to sign up. This sounds amazing- thank you for putting it all together. Hoping for an early reader/chapter/kidlit agent as that's what my finished MS is. If only I was better with Twitter hashtags. LOL!
A2Z Mommy and What’s In Between

Unknown said...

This looks excellent! I definitely signed up for it! :)

Meredith said...

Ok, found you on writeoncon. I signed up, but I hope it's ok I haven't technically blogeed yet :( I have a blog, just getting it started. Looking forward to this!

Lyndsey said...

This looks so exciting. Can't wait!

Unknown said...

I got here from WriteOnCon and I'd love to sign up!

Kristina Perez
kristina@kristinaperez.com
www.kristinaperez.com

Thanks so much for organizing!

Think Positive, Be Positive said...

Hi!

I just added my blog ON THE WRITE TRACK to the linky list and for some reason it added it twice! Just wanted to give you a heads up and to apologize...

I'm hopping over here from the WriteOnCon site and can't wait until next month!

Donna L Martin
www.donnalmartin.com
www.donasdays.blogspot.com

Brinda said...

I'm on board. Or on Linky list at least.

Brigid Gorry-Hines said...

Ahhh, why didn't I know about this earlier? I'm super psyched ... sounds fantastic! I've been trying on and off to get an agent for the past couple of years, and hopefully this will help. ;)

csoontornvat said...

Wow, thanks for hosting this! From the folks who did it last time, it sounds like it was fun. I signed up, but can I change my link? I'm Christina Soontornvat. http://www.soontornvat.com/childrens-fiction/

This page allows comments, while my home page doesn't. Thanks a million!

Misha Gerrick said...

This competition sounds AWESOME! Already entered. Hope my book is polished enough by then that I can take part. :-D

Traci VW said...

Okay, I'm diving in! Thanks for the heads up at WriteOnCon. This sounds like fun.

Mara Valderran said...

The perfect thing to get me over the sadness of WriteOnCon ending!

Julia Byers said...

This looks like so much fun! I'm looking forward to September now. :)

Sandra said...

Looks fun. I'll play!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for organizing this! I'd love to participate...I'm concentrating on picture books right now...and I will be out of town from Sept.6-10 (and probably unable to blog much as I will be watching my 4 year old grandson...lots of material for new stories)...does it make sense for me to sign up...I'd love to have your input on this question. :)
Vivian Kirkfield
http://www.viviankirkfield.wordpress.com
vivian@positiveparentalparticipation.com

VikLit said...

Have signed up, thanks for organising! Not sure how much Sep time I will have but hopefully time for some fun here ;)

Katie Dunn said...

Hey, I've moved my blog from the one linked here. How can we go about changing to the new address? The new place is writingreadingandlife.wordpress.com

Eliza Tilton said...

This sounds great!

Deana said...

Hey guys,

I think I've answered all your questions so far, but if for some reason I've missed yours, please ask again and I will be happy to answer. My computer crashed and it's thrown me off a bit with my emails which is how I get these comments:)

Becky Fyfe said...

Looking forward to participating!

Laura Barnes said...

How exciting, Deana. This was my favorite event last year. I met a ton of new peeps. Looking forward to this year!

Charlie N. Holmberg said...

I think it's incredible that you're hosting this, and I'm so glad I found your blog! Can't wait for September. ;)

Jeanmarie Anaya said...

SO excited that I stumbled upon your blog! Counting the days until September--this blogfest is going to be great!

Mia Celeste said...

Thanks for organizing this. I'm looking forward to September.

Mark Koopmans said...

Aloha Deana,

I wasn't blogging yet last year, so looking forward to this :)

Thanks from a new follower :)

Mark Koopmans said...

Deana,

One question:

When you say "pitch," do you mean "query?"

Thanks,

Mark

Unknown said...

Happy to be on board, Deana.

Kathleea said...

I signed up a while ago but don't see my name.
gaelicfairie(dot) webs (dot) com

Anonymous said...

So glad I heard about this. I'm excited to play!

Samantha May said...

I finally gave in and signed up! I probably won't be able to participate in everything with school and all, but I'm looking forward to the experience!! Thanks for doing this.

Sam

Mere Joyce said...

Just discovered this awesome event, and have signed-up! Looking forward to it, =)

Anonymous said...

I'm really sorry - I accidentally signed up twice! Looking forward to this :)

Rachel said...

I don't see the linky sign up! I think I might be late, but here's my information just in case. Excited for the event!

Rachel Horwitz
www.rachelhorwitz.com/blog
rachel.horwitz7@gmail.com

Brittany Pate said...

Same here, hopefully it's not too late!

Brittany Pate
www.adventuresinretailblog.wordpress.com
brittanympate@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

And for those of us who do not yet have a blog? (Older writer here. I plan to get a blog going soon, but I guess I'm out of luck for this contest for now. :-(

LucidDreamer

Jenny Herrera said...

Thanks for doing this! Here is my info:

Jenny Herrera
www.jennymherrera.com

jenny.c.herrera (at) gmail.com

Erica Victoria Yingling said...

please sign me up
missyingling@yahoo.com
erica yingling

Amanda S. Gardner said...

This sounds like a blast! Thanks for hosting this contest!

Stacey Trombley said...

HEY! question, I signed up but since changed the web adress to my blog (was Shadows_of_Destiny.blogspot.com and is now hopelessYA.blogspot.com) and it's showing a dead link on the posting above.

Can you fix that or should I reenter? (the name that's showing above is "Hopelessly Hopeful" number 33)

Rebecca C said...

I strictly write PBs so I'll only be able to participate if the one agent you mentioned is,in fact, looking for PBs. Regardless of whether or not I'm able to participate, I think this is a wonderful, generous thing you're doing for the kidlit community. Thanks, Deana!

Melissa Sugar said...

I'm on board and am super excited. I started blogging in the middle of September last year and I was so bummed that I missed out on your blogfest. I have been looking forward to it for nearly a year. I was away from my blog for a while and I am so glad I did not miss it this year.

We are about to lose power in Louisiana, but hopefully it won't be nearly as bad as when Katrina hit. Most of the state is without power and ours is about to go, but I have a back up battery for my laptop ready to go.

Thanks for hosting this blogfest and paying it forward (your good fortune and finding an agent).

Kristy Shen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

First time I'll be doing GUTGAA! (I hope I signed up correctly!) Very curious and excited about it. :-)

Kristy Shen said...

Thanks for hosting this, Deana!

I'm not sure what happened with the Linky list but I got posted twice. Once as "kristy Shen" at 259and another at 260.

Can you delete the entry ("Kristy shen") at 259? It's a duplicate of 260.

Thanks,
Kristy

Anonymous said...

This sounds amazing!!

Could you sign me up pretty please (if it's not too late) :)

kyle.grubb@hotmail.com

Kyle Grubb

Thanks!!

Jodelle55 said...

Please sign me up. This looks like an absolutely great event!
Jodelle Brohard
(No Blog)
Jabrohard@aol.com

Stephanie said...

Tried to sign-up twice but it gave me an error. Could you add me?
Stephanie Ingram
ingramsl@gmail.com
http://stephanieingram.com/
Thanks so much! I'm really looking forward to participating in the event. Thanks for organizing it. :-)

Craig Schmidt said...

I'm jumping in last minute, but this looks fantastic! Thank you to Deana and everyone else who has dedicated his or her time!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Like Craig, I am joining in at the last minute -- after being batted about by a runaway car and Hurricane Isaac! Am I a glutton for punishment or what?

I wish great luck and success for all those who yearn for an agent and publication. Roland

Virginia Boecker said...

Hi! Hope it's not too late to sign up!

Virginia Boecker
virginia@boecker.tv
http://www.virginiaboecker.com

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hey, hope there's still time to sign up.

Daniel Baker
daniel.lawrence.baker@gmail.com
Don't have a blog yet

Thanks!

Krista McLaughlin said...

I can't see the linky list - but I hope I can still participate! :)

Krista McLaughlin
www.kjmclaughlin.com
kjmclaugh@gmail.com

Joyful Sparrow said...

A Sparrow's Flight

http://thejoyfulsparrow.blogspot.com

Joyfulsparrow@gmail.com

Kathleea said...

I clicked on my number #71 Writing Down the Sky and it wouldn't go through. There is an "i" missing on the link.
Here's the correct one: http://gaelicfairie.webs.com/

Thanks,
Kathleen S. Allen

Neil Davies said...

Hi,

Great work getting 8 agents on board!!

I hope this will give me the final push to get my story completed!! Very exciting!!

Thanks,

Neil.
http://pinpoint77.blogspot.com

Mystic Wyngarden said...

I just come back to the same page when I click the link.

Mystic Wyngarden here.

My blog address is http://mysticwyngarden.blogspot.com/

Email is susanvineyard@gmail.com
Twitter: @mysticwyngarden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mystic-Writes/195438770586721

Rosie Pova said...

I don't have a blog, can I still enter? Where can I send my answers?
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'm there at number 372. A bit late for this week though, so I will publish my answers on Monday.

Anonymous said...

I'm there at number 372. A bit late for this week though, so I will publish my answers on Monday.

Wendy said...

Linky List doesn't let me join! Boo-hoo.
Email is wgreenley (at) comcast (dot) net.
Thanks.
Wendy Greenley

Brianna Shrum said...

I'd love to sign up! Having problems with linky since I have no blog as of yet, so I'll just let you know here!

Brianna R. Shrum
brianna.shrum@yahoo.com
No blog yet

Deana said...

For those of you having problems with the linky, I'll get you added:)You're good to enter the pitch contest:)

Catherine Mesick said...

Thanks so much for this, Deanna! Linky List is not letting me join. My info is: Catherine Mesick, http://catherinemesick.blogspot.com/, sadie44442002atyahoo.com

Thanks again :)

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