Well that was a fun experiment, wasn't it? Big thanks a million times over to everyone to brave the agent-shark-infested waters. Seriously. For those of you who participated, we appreciate your pitches and effort and willingness to take a chance, regardless of outcome. 

So now that it's all over, I wanted to put together some thoughts and stats. Caren received 216 pitches. I received 164. I'm not doing stats for Caren's stuff, and mine are not scientific, nor to they really all add up, so just look at them as trends. Out of my 164...

• 2 - were requested as full manuscripts
• 4 - invited to query with full letter and writing sample
• 17 - were flat out categories I don't represent

Now, a loose breakdown by genre (I may have doubled up here and there):

• 66 - Fantasy/Sci-Fi (I grouped dystopian in here too) 
• 43 - Contemporary fiction
• 11 - Historical (3 of these were prehistoric!)
• 12 - Paranormal (ghosts or physics)
• 6 - Mystery of some kind
• 3 - Picture Book
• 14 - Adult books
• 15 - Couldn't tell

There were also 3 that came in after the deadline passed, where people created fresh threads because I had locked the forums. I did not read those. I thought about it, but then realized it just wasn't fair to everyone else who paid attention. I also saw a few pitches that I've definitely seen as queries before. (Yes, I do remember almost everything.) 

Here's what I learned:

1. Most people get it right (thank you!), but there are always people who can't follow instructions. Either they don't bother to read the instructions, or just can't understand the instructions. I know this is just part of the game, but it's still infinitely frustrating. I got categories I didn't ask for, and people who posted twice. Or have taken up bombarding our comments sections with "Did you pick me yet?" type notes.
2. The two biggest reasons I rejected things were the same as usual: A) it just wasn't the right fit for me personally and B) the premise was derivative in some way and just wouldn't differentiate itself at all.
3. Argue all you want, but 100 words was plenty of words, but most people need more practice in tightening and including the right information. 

I would like to elaborate on Point #3 the most. In feedback I've gotten from people here and on Twitter, I noticed that some people felt more words (like maybe 250) would have allowed for better request rates. That with more words people could fit the right information in. Caren and I asked so many "What is this about?" questions because we didn't give you enough real estate. To this I say: Bah!

This is a pitch of 100 words:

In Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The town-founder’s son, Oscar earns straight As, is student-body president, and is in demand for every club. But Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor to make them perfect–-all through subliminal Messages that control them. Oscar's built a business sabotaging his father's scheme with Messages of his own, getting kids out before they're turned. Then he meets Nia, the girl he can't stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever. But keeping her in Candor, Oscar risks exposure...and more.

This one is only 87 words:

When best friends Doug-Dennis and Ben-Bobby go to the circus, something terrible happens. Doug- Dennis eats all of his friend’s popcorn, and then tells a fib (It wasn’t me!), which grows and grows (Maybe monsters ate it!), carrying Doug-Dennis away. As the lie gets bigger, Doug-Dennis flies higher, until he’s floating in a land of lies—some of them big, some small, and some just downright weird. Doug-Dennis misses his best friend, and realizes there’s only one way to come back down: by finally telling the truth.

Do you know what they do right? They use the right words. They get right to the point, don't get bogged down in subplots or too many details. And yet they have enough details to give me a framework. Plus they are well written. (And no, I actually didn't write either of them. These were the editors' versions. But I wrote equally good versions when I pitched it.)

Several people suggested that a full-page query would have been easier. But I often find that with longer formats, people find more ways to waste the space. Most people still don't know where their story is, or what information is important. And you know what? The paragraph in your query letter telling me about your book should only be this long anyway. (I can do another blog post on the preferred anatomy of a query letter if you're interested. But speak up in the comments.)

And one final thought: I do expect a direct correlation between quality of writing in pitches/queries and in the manuscripts. Even if the pitch doesn't include all the right data, it should still be well-written. In the cases where I said the writing wasn't strong enough, I had good reason not to want to see more. This is something you learn from experience.

So, in a nutshell, I still think shorter IS better, and the pitchfest showed me that people need much more practice with this. Get going. You have the examples. Go forth. 

I also would love to do some more contests and events like this in the future, but I'll definitely be tinkering the format and formula and trying some new things. So stay tuned!