Caren Johnson Agency Pitch Contest

I certainly admire the moxie of Caren and Elana (Roth) to read through a few hundred pitch paragraphs.

Given the rush to read a paragraph, get an impression, then write a comment, I won't blame the agent for mistaking my genre. That's the fault of my pitch. She said it was "traditional fantasy." Seems to me that traditional fantasy pretty much has to be set in a fantasy world, usually of the medieval variety, and that magic is prevalent.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

My setting is the real earth, which I think my mentioning the Arctic and Siberia more or less implies.

Yes, I have a witch, but the world is not filled with magical creatures; just the odd insane Shaman, and a few others not mentioned in the pitch at all.

My timeframe is modern. Alas, I really should have mentioned some of the items that show that this book is more an urban fantasy (but not set in urban environments).

So, watch your pitch. Be overly basic and they probably won't get what your book is about.

Traditional fantasy? I'll take the blame by not saying "Contemporary MG/YA fantasy set in the real world" right at the top of the pitch. Maybe the misunderstanding wouldn't have occurred.