The #PitchWars hashtag is starting to get a bit busier now, so if you're interested in taking part it's worth keeping an eye on that if only to watch us mentors throwing stupid gifs at each other 
Pitch Wars 2017
- Thread starter BreeC
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The #PitchWars hashtag is starting to get a bit busier now, so if you're interested in taking part it's worth keeping an eye on that if only to watch us mentors throwing stupid gifs at each other
That's exciting! I can't wait to see who all the mentors are this year. I'm almost done with the two troublesome new scenes, a little later than planned, but they've been fighting with me. I think I'll be ready for August. No, I WILL be ready for August.
Alright y'all, we're getting much closer! A bump to see if anyone else is interested in joining in.
Editing my first post to include this, but all the Pitch Wars 2017 deets are here: http://www.brenda-drake.com/2017/06/pitch-wars-2017-details/
Editing my first post to include this, but all the Pitch Wars 2017 deets are here: http://www.brenda-drake.com/2017/06/pitch-wars-2017-details/
Mentor wishlists are now live!
This is mine, if anyone's interested: https://talonwraith.com/2017/07/19/pitch-wars-2017-peter-mclean/
This is mine, if anyone's interested: https://talonwraith.com/2017/07/19/pitch-wars-2017-peter-mclean/
I thought I recognized your bio, Pete!
Not a ton looking for adult fantasy, which is what I've got to offer this time around, but I think there are 4 that would probably not toss mine immediately. I got the scavenger entries done as well, although I think the blue one was kind of unfair. Now just got to finish these edits before August!!
Not a ton looking for adult fantasy, which is what I've got to offer this time around, but I think there are 4 that would probably not toss mine immediately. I got the scavenger entries done as well, although I think the blue one was kind of unfair. Now just got to finish these edits before August!!
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I am flat out astounded at the number of mentors looking for YA paranormal. Narrowing down four from all of them is going to be hard.
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Good luck to everyone giving Pitch Wars a try. Also, don't get too demoralized if you don't get picked, it's just one contest, there will be other opportunities. I tried entering last year and the year before, and each time, got asked to submit a full with a chosen mentor, but ultimately didn't get selected. But just because your story isn't picked for mentorship, doesn't mean your story is necessarily bad or unpublishable. Don't give up on it if you think there's something worthwhile there, you may be right.
I love how reading the mentor's wishlist gives you insight into how an agent who seems perfect for you might have auto-reject things on their list you'd never considered. Every time I see a mentor who seems to want my book, they seem to have something on their do-not-want list that makes me take them from the maybe pile. This one doesn't want male MCs and that one doesn't want dual POVs and a bunch don't want any abuse (I assume even off screen) and this one wants diverse authors and characters, but they must match-up exactly and that one wants romance but no love triangles... Anyway, it's amazing how many are getting rejected from my maybe pile, even as I make notes about all the things they'd love about my novel.
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OMG! I've NEVER heard of Pitch Wars before today! Had I not become a member here, I may have never found out about this. And I just got finished polishing my final edit!!!!! Now to check out what is the dealio. lol
I'll hopefully know by then whether both my fulls have been rejected or not. If they have, pitchwars it is (and have got my four narrowed down--easy enough when I'm so niche).
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Someone at AW encouraged me to enter Pitch Wars this year. I'm so close to done my revisions and think I'll make it. The beta project first got my procrastinating butt moving, now Pitch Wars is.
Thank you, Shoeless. I appreciate your encouragement to us because this is a fear of mine: that I'll submit to the wrong 4 mentors, none of these 4 will be at all interested (as in not request a full or anything), and I'll think my MS is completely wrong. But with hundreds submitting, I know the chances are small and I need to remind myself it doesn't mean no one else will like it.
I'm having the exact same experience with the YA mentors, Sage, because, heh, I also have a male MC, multiple POVs, abuse (off screen), and a love triangle (or maybe it's a love pentagon, lol). I'd get excited to see what the mentors want, and then bummed at what they don't. But yeah, it does show the importance of carefully doing our research when querying agents.
CJ
Thank you, Shoeless. I appreciate your encouragement to us because this is a fear of mine: that I'll submit to the wrong 4 mentors, none of these 4 will be at all interested (as in not request a full or anything), and I'll think my MS is completely wrong. But with hundreds submitting, I know the chances are small and I need to remind myself it doesn't mean no one else will like it.
I'm having the exact same experience with the YA mentors, Sage, because, heh, I also have a male MC, multiple POVs, abuse (off screen), and a love triangle (or maybe it's a love pentagon, lol). I'd get excited to see what the mentors want, and then bummed at what they don't. But yeah, it does show the importance of carefully doing our research when querying agents.
CJ
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Less than a week until submissions open. How's it going for everyone? What's left for you to do?
I have:
1) Picked my top four mentors, with two extras for if I donate.
2) Cleaned my first ten pages
3) Cleaned my query
I still need to:
1) Double and triple check my first ten pages and query, scrub-a-dub-dub
2) Write the synopsis
3) Write the 35-word pitch
4) Finish as many edits as possible.
I'm gonna be busy this weekend, scrubbing everything short of my house until it shine
I have:
1) Picked my top four mentors, with two extras for if I donate.
2) Cleaned my first ten pages
3) Cleaned my query
I still need to:
1) Double and triple check my first ten pages and query, scrub-a-dub-dub
2) Write the synopsis
3) Write the 35-word pitch
4) Finish as many edits as possible.
I'm gonna be busy this weekend, scrubbing everything short of my house until it shine
What's the 35-word pitch for? I don't remember that part.
I'm confident in my query, and my 10 pages would require an overhaul if I were going to change them, so I'll just keep as is. My synopsis is done, and I never stress about anything but length for those
I have a shortlist of 20 mentors (2 "Yes!"s, 5 "Looks good!"s, 12 "maybe"s, and 1 "hmm"), so I'll have to narrow it down.
I'm focusing on chorus for the next 2 weeks, over writing, so minimal edits, though I guess I'll check out that 35-word pitch thing.
ETA: Still not seeing it on the Pitch Wars instruction page. Help?
I'm confident in my query, and my 10 pages would require an overhaul if I were going to change them, so I'll just keep as is. My synopsis is done, and I never stress about anything but length for those
I have a shortlist of 20 mentors (2 "Yes!"s, 5 "Looks good!"s, 12 "maybe"s, and 1 "hmm"), so I'll have to narrow it down.
I'm focusing on chorus for the next 2 weeks, over writing, so minimal edits, though I guess I'll check out that 35-word pitch thing.
ETA: Still not seeing it on the Pitch Wars instruction page. Help?
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What's the 35-word pitch for? I don't remember that part.
I'm confident in my query, and my 10 pages would require an overhaul if I were going to change them, so I'll just keep as is. My synopsis is done, and I never stress about anything but length for those
I have a shortlist of 20 mentors (2 "Yes!"s, 5 "Looks good!"s, 12 "maybe"s, and 1 "hmm"), so I'll have to narrow it down.
I'm focusing on chorus for the next 2 weeks, over writing, so minimal edits, though I guess I'll check out that 35-word pitch thing.
It's #4 on the To Get Ready For Pitch Wars list. It's not important for submission, but something to have ready.
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So many YA SFF mentors want:
- unreliable narrators
- kick-ass heroines
- villain POVs
and I have to keep reminding myself that there would be NO POINT in entering with my superhero novel. None. I did this already with Pitch to Publication, and it resulted in nothing because agents don't want debut superhero novels, and it would be a waste of my mentor's time if I got one for that novel.
But current novel is so hard to figure out where on the fantasy line it belongs because it's not GoT high-fantasy, and it's set in today's world, but not on Earth (most of the time), but Earth is a big focus of the characters, but they don't interact with humans once, and they aren't human.... Contemporary fantasy or no? It's basically as if Harry Potter entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament knowing the winner would be doing magic to help Muggles for the rest of their life. Anyway, every time a mentor asks not to include a certain type of fantasy, I don't know whether it counts or not.
- unreliable narrators
- kick-ass heroines
- villain POVs
and I have to keep reminding myself that there would be NO POINT in entering with my superhero novel. None. I did this already with Pitch to Publication, and it resulted in nothing because agents don't want debut superhero novels, and it would be a waste of my mentor's time if I got one for that novel.
But current novel is so hard to figure out where on the fantasy line it belongs because it's not GoT high-fantasy, and it's set in today's world, but not on Earth (most of the time), but Earth is a big focus of the characters, but they don't interact with humans once, and they aren't human.... Contemporary fantasy or no? It's basically as if Harry Potter entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament knowing the winner would be doing magic to help Muggles for the rest of their life. Anyway, every time a mentor asks not to include a certain type of fantasy, I don't know whether it counts or not.
Science fantasy! My favorite genre.
I've narrowed down to four... From five. I'm quite niche though.
I've narrowed down to four... From five. I'm quite niche though.
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That's interesting to see that both unreliable narrators and villain POVs are popular with mentors. I wonder how closely that aligns with agent/publisher tastes? If so, it sounds like there's a new trend in YA stories.
Unreliable narrators were big in YA two years ago with agents.
Readers'/authors' desires don't always match up with agents, who might be burned out on something in the slush. I always get a lot of author and reader attention with pitches for my superhero novel, but rarely from legit agents. When I did Pitch to Publication, multiple of the freelance editors involved were interested in that novel, and one took it all the way to the end...but agents have a slushpile of superhero novels and believe they don't sell, so they'll rarely try to sell one that isn't from an already repped author. And this is why I'm not bothering with it in PW. If we could submit multiple novels, I might submit with it, but even then it'd probably be a waste of the mentor's time if it was accepted.
I mean, it's totally possible agents are still hungry for unreliable narrators, but my impression was that they wanted them before I started with P2P in 2015, and by the time that process was over, they were no longer the trend.
Readers'/authors' desires don't always match up with agents, who might be burned out on something in the slush. I always get a lot of author and reader attention with pitches for my superhero novel, but rarely from legit agents. When I did Pitch to Publication, multiple of the freelance editors involved were interested in that novel, and one took it all the way to the end...but agents have a slushpile of superhero novels and believe they don't sell, so they'll rarely try to sell one that isn't from an already repped author. And this is why I'm not bothering with it in PW. If we could submit multiple novels, I might submit with it, but even then it'd probably be a waste of the mentor's time if it was accepted.
I mean, it's totally possible agents are still hungry for unreliable narrators, but my impression was that they wanted them before I started with P2P in 2015, and by the time that process was over, they were no longer the trend.
I don't know that I can pin an exact genre for you....but I think you just found the beginnings of a fabulous pitch. That sentence caught my attention immediately.
I've been really debating the virtues of using TGoF as a comp. It's a pretty good one, coupled with the right 2nd comp (which I think I have), but using HP is such a comp no-no
---
ETA: Down to 3 "Yes"s, 4 "Looks good!"s, 3 "maybe"s
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My special Pitch Wars edition of my query is ready, and with it, I've decided who my 4th mentor will be (a bit of personalization that still works in general, since we're entering via form to all 4 at once). I still could change my mind to one of the other two Looks Good! mentors, who maybe won't be as popular because they aren't on the forums and their wishlists are more general--I narrowed them down using comments on twitter or their critting styles--but for now I have four.
I'm still deciding whether to comp or not. There is such a push against using a Harry Potter, but Goblet of Fire is so perfect, and when every fantasy mentor says they love Harry Potter.... It's been suggested I use a specific book with a similar plot, but I haven't read it yet, and the one that I'm reading now is a little too close for comfort, and I'm not sure how popular it is.
I'm still deciding whether to comp or not. There is such a push against using a Harry Potter, but Goblet of Fire is so perfect, and when every fantasy mentor says they love Harry Potter.... It's been suggested I use a specific book with a similar plot, but I haven't read it yet, and the one that I'm reading now is a little too close for comfort, and I'm not sure how popular it is.
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