10th Birthday Blogpitch: Critique Guidelines

Welcome to our TENTH BIRTHDAY BLOGPITCH with SNEAKY AGENTS!

KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THE SNEAKY AGENTS! We've got 16 agents who are planning to stop by over the next day or two, and if they see anything they like, THEY WILL MAKE REQUESTS IN THE COMMENT BOXES. Jot down your favorites, then pop back to see if any of them garnered agent interest!

When leaving critique on the pitches, focus first and foremost on whether or not the pitch hooked you. That's the main thing! Then you can go on to say why or why not. Ask questions that will prompt the writers to clarify things in their next drafts of the pitches. Or simply point out what you feel may be missing from the pitch (e.g. "But what is his goal here?" or "I'm not seeing clear conflict--what will get in the way of her accomplishing this?)).

HAVE FUN! There are quite a few of these I'd love to read; bet you'll think so, too!

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ENTRANTS: If you receive a request from an agent, please put AUTHORESS BIRTHDAY BLOG PITCH REQUEST in your subject line, unless instructed otherwise by the agent.

Guidelines for Critique on MSFV:

Please leave your critique for each entry in the comment box for that entry.

Please choose a screen name to sign your comments. The screen name DOES NOT have to be your real name; however, it needs to be an identifiable name. ("Anonymous" is not a name.)

Critiques should be honest but kind, helpful but sensitive.

Critiques that attack the writer or are couched in unkind words will be deleted.*

ENTRANTS: As your way of "giving back", please critique a minimum of 5 other entries.

*I can't possibly read every comment. If you ever see a comment that is truly snarky, please email me. I count on your help.