UCLA student’s novel idea crowned fan favorite in Pitchapalooza

Katie Neipris did not start crying when she initially found out the pitch for her novel was one of the 25 selected for a literary contest.

But she did start crying shortly afterward when she realized her selection in The Book Doctors’ Third Annual National Novel Writing Month Pitchapalooza gave her the opportunity to get closer to her goal of getting her book published.

Neipris, a third-year English student, read the email containing the news of her selection while at her job at the UCLA Alumni Association.

“All of the women in my office gave me a hug and converged on me with chocolate and tissues,” Neipris said.

On March 15, Neipris was crowned the fan-favorite winner of the Pitchapalooza after receiving more than 1,000 votes from the public. To enter the contest, Neipris briefly pitched her currently untitled and unfinished novel about a group of seven close friends who go through major changes in the year after high school. She started writing the novel during NaNoWriMo last November.

As her prize, Neipris will receive a one-hour consultation with The Book Doctors, two authors who are experts in the publishing industry.

The contest also helps authors gain exposure in the literary world. All of NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza’s past winners have signed book deals for their pitched novels. Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi were the contest’s first winners, and their book, “Love, InshAllah” is now in its fifth printing.

Neipris said after she won the contest, many publishing houses started following her on Twitter even though she said she barely posts anything on her Twitter besides retweets.

“Every time one of them follows me on Twitter, I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is real, this is happening,’” Neipris said.

Neipris said she wanted to be a writer ever since she understood the concept.

Even in kindergarten, Neipris said she spent a lot of her time at the writing station of her classroom. When she was very young, Neipris said she remembers getting very excited about a story she wrote – and even drew pictures for – about a talking cheetah.

Neipris recently received an honorable mention in a science fiction short story contest for her story, “The Last Room,” about a girl who is trapped in an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

A few of Neipris’ stories were also published in her high school newspaper, but the pitch that won the fan-favorite contest is her first serious attempt at novel writing.

“In college I realized I could actually, seriously (be a writer), whereas in high school it was more of a hobby,” Neipris said.

Neipris’ novel is inspired by a camping trip her group of friends took the summer after graduating from high school and again the following summer. She said framing the same experience a year apart helped her notice that she and her friends had changed a lot in a single year.

Many of the situations the characters in Neipris’ novel experience, such as struggling to be academically successful while still maintaining a social life and dealing with the loss of a close family member, are inspired by the experiences of Neipris and her close friends.

“I thought of situations that I went through or my friends went through and I thought, what kind of person would have an intense reaction to that situation?” Neipris said. “What kind of person would do really well and what kind of person would do really badly? Then I made the characters off of that.”

Despite her recent recognition, Neipris said she does not want to show her book to anyone yet.

Jen Donn, a third-year French and world arts and cultures student, is Neipris’ roommate and friend of three years.

She said Neipris will sometimes sit down with her to discuss her book, but will not let her read it.

“Katie’s a perfectionist, so she won’t let us look at it until it’s done,” Donn said. “(But) we all love to read what she lets us read.”

Lauren Rogers, a second-year communication studies and psychology student, became friends with Neipris in high school, and said Neipris has always been extremely passionate about writing.

“I wish you could see how excited she gets when she talks about an author, about a paper she’s written. She just lights up,” Rogers said.

Neipris said she is thrilled and extremely surprised to be recognized for her literary work while in college.

“This is a big opportunity. I wasn’t expecting to have this opportunity so early,” Neipris said. “I was thinking, OK, maybe at 25 I’ll start seriously considering being a writer, but this is sort of putting my name out there now.”