Hey dear friends. Are you an author? Do you have an unpublished novel you’d like agents or editors to read?

I want to do a bonus episode in a few weeks’ time where I do a pitch rush for a bunch of listeners’ books. So basically, you lot send me in the title, a paragraph of blurb, and a paragraph extract of the actual story. And your name, of course. Then I will read out as many as I’ve got time to read out in an hour. I already know several agents and editors who listen to the show, and I’ll drop a line to a bunch more letting them know it’s happening. So this is a chance for you to potentially get your work heard by a passel of publishing industry professionals, and of course a load of your fellow writers. Also, from your perspective as a listener, it’ll be a chance for you to hear a range of different novel pitches, and ask yourself: which of these hook my interest? Which of these do I actually want to read more of? The best way to learn how to write them and frame your thoughts about your own work is to listen to a bunch of people pitch theirs and develop an ear for the stuff that makes you sit up and think: ‘Ooh!’

I’m quite aware that this will only happen if people are interested and actually submit. If not, no worries. It’s just an idea I had to do something positive and give folks a leg-up, but if it’s not what you’re all after, that’s fine. I haven’t actually asked anyone yet.

If you’d like to submit, please click the ‘Contact Me’ link on the right, and add the heading ‘PITCH RUSH’. Here’s what I want, in the body of the message:

Your NAME

Your novel’s TITLE

A max 100 words BLURB/PITCH telling us what the book’s about. Don’t get too neurotic about getting this exactly right. The stakes are not that high, my friend. Best format is probably like the blurbs you read on the back of books. I’m not asking for a full synopsis. Just a taster of what it’s about. Remember: MAX 100 WORDS.

A max 100 words EXTRACT from anywhere in the novel. Just a bit that you think is cool or interesting or representative that I can read out WITHOUT CONTEXT. So don’t add a preface explaining where this moment comes in the book. I just want a short snippet that gives a flavour. Could be the beginning if you’re stuck. Remember, people will have heard your pitch, so they’ll have some context, but it’s ok if not everything is explained. MAX 100 WORDS.

AN EMAIL ADDRESS I CAN PASS ON IF THERE’S INTEREST (I won’t read this out on air)

That’s it. That’s all I want. No apologies, lengthy explanatory glosses. When sending me a message via the Contact box, don’t send multiple times if you get an error message. It throws up one every so often then I get like 10 copies of the same email as the person sends and resends over and over.

Ok. So please share this post with your fellow authors. I would love to support as many of you as possible, and I hope we can have some fun doing it. PS: I won’t be critiquing the pitches I read out or anything. I feel like that might not be fair. Better to let them stand for themselves.

DEADLINE: Friday 28th September