Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Limerick Pitch Contest

Announcing the first annual

Limerick Pitch Contest

What better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! All you have to do is come up with a pitch for your book in the form of a limerick.

What is a limerick? It's a short poem (usually funny and nonsensical but it doesn't have to be) consisting of 5 lines with the rhyming pattern AABBA and with a definite rhythm of 33223 beats per line, respectively.

Example:

Here's a quick one for Harry Potter:

The Death Eaters seek Harry's demise,
With his wand Harry fights and he tries
To avoid getting hurt,
But then **spoiler alert**
The evil Lord Voldemort dies.

Get the idea? 

Here is your task:

Write a limerick pitch for your book--OR--a limerick for a popular book you've read. (That way you can play even if your not a novelist.)

Email me your limerick--julie[at]juliedaines[dot]com--with the word limerick in the subject line. 

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, I will post them anonymously for voting. Don't forget to come back and vote!!

The winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Amazon. YEAH!! That's a free book, people!

Here are a few more examples. On the internet I found this. Recognize it?

A mountain man, steadfast and true,
Was shooting his gun at some food.
He hit oil instead
And moved his homestead
To Beverly Hills, 902'.

And this:

Won't you join me in non-PC fun?
We shall count little male Indians
We will count them to ten
And then count down again
Until we are left with just one.

And does anyone recognize this one?

"Poor Mariner, ruined and wrecked
Are you wiser for taking your trek?"
"Yes, I learned not to cross
Any old albatross
That happens to poop on my deck."

Rules: I don't have a lot, I want this to be fun. It would be nice if you followed me, and it would be awesome if you spread the word since I probably should have started this on Monday. But those are optional.

The cutoff for limerick entries is Friday, March 16 at midnight. I'll leave the voting open over the weekend and announce a winner on Monday, March 19.

14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks! Like most good ideas, it came to me in the shower.

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  2. I really love this idea. Good way to procrastinate writing. But also a fun way to get silly with pitching, and that's always a good thing.

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    1. Thanks Nichole. I love limericks, once you get started on them, you tend to think in limerick all day. They are addictive.

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  3. This idea is so funny. My 6th graders just barely had a lesson on limericks today! They came up with some really weird ones haha.

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    1. Brooke, I expect to see something awesome from you!

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  4. Okay, just because I enjoy limericks, I am going to remit you one based on my soon to be published book (May) entitled, 'White Lies.'

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    1. Ohh, sounds awesome! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

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  5. Thanks for a different way of thinking of my story, Julie!

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  6. What a fun idea! I'll have to think about this and see if I can come up with anything. lol

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  7. What a cute idea!! If only I was good at writing limericks :/ I may give it shot, but I highly doubt I'll share, lol!

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  8. Last St. Patty's day I came up with limericks on the spot for each member of my immediate family, including the dog. They all rolled their eyes, but we laughed a lot about them. In response to your last comment on my blog, I have a copy of Olivia you can borrow if I can get it to you somehow. You can email with with your address if you're interested. alicebeesley at hotmail.com!

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