Pitch Perfect

As many of you know, I'm in the process of finding an agent for my YA Fantasy novel, a.k.a. "That Thing Lisa Won't Shut Up About."

 (Because I love you so much, I'm not even going to yell at you for ending a sentence with a preposition!)

Anyhow, this part of the process involves a lot of "pitching." Sometimes I get a letter and a few sample chapters in which to impress a literary agent, sometimes less. Whatever I get, I labor to make it as close to perfect as possible before sending to said agent. Then I sit back and wonder what I could have or should have done better.

With a Twitter Pitch Party on January 25, and Writer’s Digest’s Dear Lucky Agent Contest both fast approaching (and both of which may be worth looking into if you happen to have a manuscript ready to go), it’s time for me to put my 71,000 or so word novel into 140 characters. For the math nerds out there, if I’ve calculated correctly, that amounts to reducing my novel to four ten-thousandths its original length. I’m going to need some help here.

Please tell me which of the following lines would make you most likely to want to read more. Any constructive criticism – “combine this,” “that sounds dumb,” “what about…” –  is welcome! 

1. Cast out of her village, an aspiring warrior joins a stranger’s army, little knowing how much is at stake or how great her role will be.
2. By stranger betrayed and village shunned, young Grit, once a promising warrior, fights to trust the only one who can bring peace to her land.
3. In a stranger’s castle, a disillusioned warrior finds courage, hope, and a reason to fight for the village she swore to forget.
4. After building a new life in a stranger’s palace, a young warrior learns she must return home to fight for the village that scorned her.
5. Betrayed, shunned, and finally welcomed into a stranger’s palace, young warrior Grit finds courage, honor, and a reason to fight for the village she swore to forget.

Watch for a short “back cover blurb” to be posted later this week, giving more information about this project. For now, since this is all I get to tweet, it’s all you get to read. Please, please, please let me know if you find any of them particularly intriguing! I suppose you should let me know if they all stink, too, though I'm not nearly as eager for that sort of feedback.

Thanks, and best of luck to you if you decide to give either contest a go!

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