Success Story: Lauren T. Davila

We’re excited to share Lauren T. Davila’s #LatinxPitch success story! Lauren answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing work, with which Lauren signed with an agent after the #LatinxPitch 2021 event. Congratulations, Lauren!

1. Tell us a little bit about your experience with #LatinxPitch – where did you hear about the pitch event from, how did you feel the day of the event in terms of expectations, and how did the event lead you to sign with your agent?

I sent out my #LatinxPitch tweets sporadically throughout the day in between classes and work! So I probably wasn’t as nervous as I could’ve been considering I wasn’t super online. I had heard about it through my Latinx writer friends network and just on my timeline on Twitter. I have always loved pitch contests and think they are amazing! So I loved being able to try my hand at one specifically for the Latinx/Latine community! I had some really great responses to my pitches for my YA Latina supervillain book, which my agent ended up liking. I had eight agent likes and one editor like for my pitch, which was seriously amazing!

2. What was your recipe for the perfect pitch?

Here’s my tweet just for posterity’s sake!

I had quite a bit of engagement on this tweet and I think it boils down to the comps and the high concept. When this was tweeted WandaVision had just come out and it was allllll over social media with commentary and edits and theories. Great time for the superhero genre honestly. It was kismet I was able to focus in on a story which was about female trauma and relationships and expectations in an authentic way. My biggest advice would be to find comps that work but don’t be so stressed about finding the perfect ones! You can also pick and choose elements from certain things too: “the trauma exploration from X with the found family from X” or “the slow burn romance from X with the political dystopia elements from X.” Don’t be afraid to be inventive!

3. What would you say to writers who aren’t sure if they should pitch?

My advice is always to go for it! Often, we are our own worst critics so don’t count yourself out. Even if the agent or editor engagement is low, these are great opportunities to find beta readers or CPs for future projects. And most importantly., to find friends in the industry! I have made some life-long friends just by simply interacting through pitch contests.

4. What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

At the end of the day, it’s about celebrating us and our stories and our lives. It’s representation at the base level. These diverse pitch contests are opportunities to finally close the gap in the querying process. It’s an opportunity to find “our people,” so to speak. With something as wide and vibrant as these pitch contests, we have the ability to get our stories in front of the masses and start drumming up support even before finding agent rep! #LatinxPitch is one of the best ways I have found to widen and deepen my personal writing community! And I found my amazing, wonderful, supportive agent through this process!

5. Finally, tell us about the project(s) you signed your agent with!

It’s a bit nontraditional! So while Susan liked my YA supervillain manuscript, that isn’t what she signed me with. Right now, I am in the process of a rewrite for a novel titled AT THE STILL POINTE. It is an adult standalone gothic/speculative MS that follows three professional ballerinas at a cutthroat dance academy with nothing in common but competition. When soloists start turning up dead, they decide to try to uncover the killer before they become the next victims. It just so happens they have a little help with the addition of some unexpected mythical powers – furious, vengeful powers.

Other than this MS, I am also working on a short story collection, the YA supervillain series, and multiple YA and Adult anthologies. I have been an anthologist in the indie sphere for a bit but I may be cooking up a few projects for the more traditional publishing world as well!

Lauren T. Davila is a Pushcart-nominated, Latina author, anthologist, and editor. She has edited multiple short story anthologies. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared online at Granada Magazine, The Paragon Journal, Ghost Heart Literary Magazine, Peach Velvet Mag, Voyage Journ Lauren is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English at Claremont Graduate University. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from George Mason University. After completing her studies, she plans to teach at the collegiate level while working in publishing.al, Second Chance Magazine, Headcanon Magazine, In Parentheses, and Poets Reading the News.

She lives in the greater Los Angeles area where you can find her swimming, walking her golden retriever, and drinking one too many rose lattes.

Lauren T. Davila is represented by Susan Velazquez Colmant at JABberwocky Literary Agency

You can find Lauren on:

Twitter

Instagram

Website

Success Story: Carolina J. Gómez

We’re excited to share Carolina J. Gómez’s #LatinxPitch success story! The middle grade and young adult author answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing work, with which Carolina signed with an agent shortly after the #LatinxPitch 2021 event. Congratulations, Carolina!

I’ll never forget how #LatinxPitch got me my first ever full manuscript request. Before then, I felt as if my voice was drowning in a sea full of so many creative books and wonderful pitches. But #LatinxPitch created this space only for us, for Latinos! And that was perfect for agents who love our stories and wish to raise our voices as they have never been before. I like to say that Tricia (my agent) found ME. She fell in love with Milo (my character) and his culture and background before I even hit that send button to the query.

2. What was your recipe for the perfect pitch?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I LOVE WRITING PITCHES. (So, if you are a querying writer, feel free to hit me up! I always love to help other writers with their pitches/queries! @seriouslywrite on Twitter!)

It’s all about the ✨hook✨ For my math people out there, think of it this way: WHO + WHY + HOW. If you cover these questions, you’ve got yourself a good structure. Keep it simple and clear, gente. Also, use comps if you can! They are very eye-catching and give a sense of your story right away.

For reference, here’s my pitch:
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON x Avatar: LoA Finding missing pets is easy, right? 12yo Mexican Milo Martínez would say otherwise, especially when a girl from another world asks for help. An evil wizard is turning animals into monsters and only Milo can save them #LatinxPitch #MG #F #OWN

3. What would you say to Latinx writers who are querying?

Well, to start, please be my friend! I want to support your journey and lift your voices!

¡Amigxs! ¡Sigan luchando! The perfect agent for you is out there. It will take time, mental and emotional breakdowns, and a whole bunch of self-doubting, but it’s all going to be worth it when Latinx kiddos all around the world see your book at bookstores and find themselves represented on the pages. You WILL get there. Don’t be afraid to shelve a project, write the next thing, read more books. And reach out! You’ll find lots of help in the community! (Again, @seriouslywrite pa’ la banda.)

4. What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

Is “everything” too obvious an answer? Because it honestly means that, everything! Whenever [I tell] someone I was born and raised in México and English is my second language, [it] puts me at a HUGE disadvantage with so many intelligent and eloquent writers out there. So, when I found out about #LatinxPitch I wanted to cry (of happiness). I felt like my voice might not be so small after all and that I am surrounded by an amazing Latino community. I am so thankful for this movement! And I can’t wait to share my stories with the world.

5. Finally, tell us what you can about your manuscript and the stories that you write!

I mostly write picture books right now. I write either really funny and adventurous MG books or very dark and deep YA books. The book that I got my agent with is called MILO MARTÍNEZ AND THE MISSING PETS, and as you read on the pitch above, it’s about a Mexican boy who searches for missing pets and accidentally gets caught up in an evil wizard’s plans to turn animals into monsters. It’s very voice-y, funny, and whimsical. Right now I’m also working on a YA Horror based in México that’s very spooky. My saying is that I write serious books. Because I do. Or do I?

Carolina J. Gómez is an author, Computer Science and Business student, and artist. She was born and raised in Monterrey, México but is currently lost in fictional worlds and novels, living vicariously through her characters and wondering the “What-if’s” of the real world.

When not writing, reading; and when reading, living.

Carolina J. Gómez is represented by Tricia Lawrence at EMLA

You can find Carolina on:

Twitter

Instagram

Success Story: Jackie Morera

We’re excited to share Jackie Morera’s #LatinxPitch success story! The PB author answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing picture books, with which Jackie signed with an agent shortly after the #LatinxPitch 2021 event. Congratulations, Jackie!

I follow many Latinx writers on Instagram and Twitter, so in the weeks leading up to the event, it felt like #LatinxPitch was everywhere! I believe the first I heard of it, though, was on the Las Musas Podcast (Ask A Musa, Ep. 10: LatinxPitch). I listened to the episode in the car and then immediately ran to my computer once I got home to research as much as I could about the event. I spent a lot of time on this very blog!

On the day of the event, I felt anxious! I was new to all things publishing, querying, and pitching and only recently rejoined Twitter about two months before. Thankfully, I had one round of Twitter pitch events under my belt (#PitMad) and had help from some friends in the writing community to refine my pitches by the time #LatinxPitch rolled around. I went into that day planning to make new connections with other writers, read great pitches, and have fun. I never expected the incredible response from agents, editors, and publishers alike! Tara Gonzalez liked the pitch for my picture book, THE MAGIC ISLAND, one of four projects I was pitching, and then later that day asked me to send her my other stories. I signed on with her in early December!

2. What was your recipe for the perfect pitch?

There’s a lot of excellent advice out there about how to craft a strong pitch, and I tried to apply as many of those tips as I could, but what it came down to for me was asking myself two questions: 1. Is this clear? 2. Is this compelling? No small feat when you only have 280 characters, I know! But, what I found worked best, was to write multiple pitches for each of my projects, ask myself these questions, tweak them, and then ask someone else to read my pitches and answer these questions. I also played with formatting, white space, emojis, comps, and delivery, so I had a lot of variety in my pitches by the time the event rolled around.

The pitch that Tara liked was the least traditional of the group:

WHERE ARE YOU FROM x VIVO 🇨🇺
A magic island 🏝️An Abuela’s sacrifice ❤️An enchanted painting 🖼️
When Abuela’s grandchildren ask about THE MAGIC ISLAND, she must decide if she wants to share the whole story–the sol y sombras of her magic home.
#LatinxPitch #PB

3. What would you say to Latinx writers who are querying?

Well, to start, please be my friend! I want to support your journeys and lift your voices!

But the honest advice is not too far off: lean into the Latinx community! Find other Latinx writers, join groups like the Kidlit Latinx Facebook Group, listen to podcasts like Las Musas, attend events like Latinx Kidlit Book Festival, try to find CPs who also identify as Latinx, and then engage with the people you meet in a meaningful way. All of this will take your mind off the emotional roller coaster that is querying while also establishing the foundation for beautiful friendships!

4. What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

Is “everything” too obvious an answer? Because it honestly means that, everything! Whenever someone asks about what led me to finally pursue publication, I often tell people that I was content to write for “an audience of one” for the rest of my life. While true, there’s a deeper layer there that I only recently unveiled. And that’s: is there even an audience? If I put myself out there, and I tried, would people care to read about Cuba, or about an Abuelo who sells flowers on the side of the road, or about Latinx princesses in space? Is there too much Spanish in my books? Does that Vivaporu reference make sense? And on, and on! So when I eased my way into putting myself out there, I was pleasantly surprised to find a community ready to embrace me and even more relieved to learn about events like this one! There is hope yet for the bookshelves of the future.

5. Finally, tell us what you can about your manuscript and the stories that you write!

I mostly write picture books right now, but I enjoy writing YA and some adult fiction. The pitch that connected me to Tara, THE MAGIC ISLAND, is for a picture book inspired by my experience as a girl listening to my grandparents talk about their lives in Cuba and describing this special, seemingly mythical place with a heavy sadness. It’s very near and dear to my heart, as one might imagine!

The first story Tara and I are working on, ABUELO’S FLOWER CART, is a picture book that gently explores grief and death. It was also inspired by my time with Abuelo visiting his flower cart in Miami. His home, his flower cart, the colorful Miami street where he lived—they all felt like an extension of “the sad place,” a beautiful gated garden across the way. The story is about understanding that these places, where we go to remember and miss our loved ones, can be beautiful too.

Jackie Morera is a second-generation Cuban-American writer who was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She lives with her husband, their son, and their two neurotic pups in Central Florida. Jackie writes picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. When she’s not writing or spending time with family, she works as a Career Advisor for an online Business Apprenticeship Bootcamp where she helps young people take their first steps in their career journey.

Website

Twitter

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Success Story: Anna Orenstein-Cardona

We’re excited to share Anna Orenstein-Cardona’s success story today on the #LatinxPitch Blog. Anna answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing PB debut, THE TREE OF HOPE, which was acquired by Beaming Books after the 2020 pitch event, and will be published in summer 2022. Congratulations, Anna!

1) Tell us a little bit about your experience with #LatinxPitch – where did you hear about the pitch event from, how did you feel the day of the event in terms of expectations, and how did the event lead you to sign with your agent?

The summer of 2020 was very difficult because I lost my beloved Mamá, after a brave fight against cancer. It was a period of deep mourning, but also a time of reflection. A period of renewed appreciation that we must live each day to the maximum, follow our dreams, and consider the legacy we wish to leave in this world.

My mother’s legacy was her love of familia, culture, and having the courage to live our values. I was blessed to have a successful career in finance for more than two decades, but the cost of it was silencing my creativity. I had put my writing in the back burner for a long time. My soul was telling me that it was time to give it another go.

That’s why when I heard about #LatinxPitch via a group of writers on Twitter, I immediately penciled in the date of September 15^th2020 in my calendar. I didn’t want to miss it!

I also applied via #LatinxPitch & won a critique from the lovely Rene Beauregard Lute for my MG manuscript, which ended up being super helpful for both projects that I wanted to pitch that day – my picture book THE TREE OF HOPE and my middle grade novel BORICUACATS.

On the day, I was both nervous but also hopeful. My picture book received various likes from a mix of editors and agents.

Naomi Krueger, who is the acquisitions editor from Beaming Books, was amazing. She really loved the story from the start but suggested a few edits. So, I did an R&R (revise and resubmit). The process took almost a full year, but I am excited to share that my debut picture book will be published in August 2022. Wepa!

It’s been such an incredible experience and I am full of gratitude to Naomi and all those that championed this story. I am also hopeful to find an agent in the future who can represent my other work.

2) What is your recipe for the perfect pitch?

I really think there is no such thing as a recipe for the perfect pitch because at the end of the day it is very personal. However, my advice would be to get to the heart of the story in the simplest way possible.

The way to achieve this is by letting your creativity flow. Write numerous pitches without giving it too much thought. I even recommend using Post-it notes and placing them up on a wall. Then choose the ones that you believe stand out the best, read them aloud, and go with your gut.

I also understand that using book comparables (comps) is helpful, however I did not use them for my picture book pitch because my story is inspired by true events.

3)What would you say to writers who aren’t sure if they should pitch?

This reminds me of when I was 21 years old and received a job offer to move from New York City to London. I was excited and petrified at the same time. You see, I didn’t know a soul in the UK and the job was demanding.

My mother said to me, “echa pa’ lante”, which means just go for it. It was the best decision of my life, both professionally and personally. I’ve come to realize that by setting our fears aside and moving forward boldly that we can accomplish great things, for ourselves and for others.

So, that’s my advice for all those writers who may be hesitant, echa pa’ lante!

4) What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

I have dreamed of not only becoming a published author, but also representing my beautiful Puerto Rican heritage through my writing. Thanks to #LatinxPitch my dream has come true.

I am deeply grateful to all the hard work that the #LatinxPitch team does. I am also thankful to the numerous agents and editors who participate and the writers who support other writers with their critiques and advice. Together, a more equitable world is being created. One in which children will find a reflection of themselves and their culturas. This is not only beautiful, but much needed in a world where demographics are rapidly changing. ¡GRACIAS!

5) Finally, tell us all about your PB, THE TREE OF HOPE!

When Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, jagüey blanco, the banyan tree that had stood guard by the historic San Juan Gate was uprooted and fell into the sea. For locals, the ancient tree, which weighed over 30,000 pounds and measured over 50 feet in height, symbolized the indomitable spirit of the Puerto Rican people and its fall was a shattering blow.

The TREE OF HOPE is inspired by the tree’s miraculous rescue and regrowth; a reminder of the power of community and the importance of never giving up.

Anna Orenstein-Cardona was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is an alum of Faber Academy (Writing a Novel and Writing for Children). She is active in the Society of Children Book Writer’s and Illustrators (SCBWI).

She is an NFEC-certified financial educator (CFEI) and coach with over 22 years of experience working in global financial markets. In 2020, she founded Wear Your Money Crown® to help close the gap in financial literacy.

Currently, Anna is working on developing various projects, including more children books. She lives in London with her two very special furbabies and her Southern Gentleman husband, although spends as much time as she can in Puerto Rico, where she regularly gets involved in rescuing abandoned animals and supporting local charities.