Pitch Wars 2017

Maggie Maxwell · Aug 4, 2017

Dang, Pete, and I thought narrowing down four mentors was hard. Narrowing down 100 subs to one? Best of luck.

I am SO CLOSE TO DONE. Giving the novel one last read-through for things I missed, then gonna sub so I can just send it off and be done.

Edit: It's done. Submission is in. Godspeed to us all.

Netz · Aug 4, 2017

Out of curiosity, PeteMC, did you receive the majority of your submissions in the first couple of hours of the contest opening, or has there been a pretty even flow? (Yeah, I figured the radio silence was probably because mentors were swamped. I had a pretty slow day at work today, so kept stalking the thread, hoping for some more teasers to keep me from going stir-crazy, lol).

CJSimone · Aug 4, 2017

borogove said:
I'm not submitting but just wanted to pop in to wish you guys good luck! I've been watching the PW madness unfold on Twitter, and I'm super excited for everyone.

Super nice of you, borogove, thank you!

CJSimone · Aug 4, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Dang, Pete, and I thought narrowing down four mentors was hard. Narrowing down 100 subs to one? Best of luck.

I am SO CLOSE TO DONE. Giving the novel one last read-through for things I missed, then gonna sub so I can just send it off and be done.

Edit: It's done. Submission is in. Godspeed to us all.

Congrats!

Me: So, so close. But probably tomorrow.

CJSimone · Aug 4, 2017

BreeC said:
OMG the #PWTeaser hashtag is driving me mad! I haven't even subbed yet, but I'm reading about how the mentors I like LOVE this concept and love that concept. It's so nerve-wracking! Haha.

Gah, same! Two of my four mentor picks are fighting over a sub they love, and I don't know which mentor will win. So now I'm wondering if they already love something so much, do I just move on from both of them, or is it typical that mentors have subs they love and are "fighting" over? I'm overthinking and stressing (as usual).

BreeC · Aug 4, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Edit: It's done. Submission is in. Godspeed to us all.

Congratulations!!!!

BreeC · Aug 4, 2017

CJSimone said:
Gah, same! Two of my four mentor picks are fighting over a sub they love, and I don't know which mentor will win. So now I'm wondering if they already love something so much, do I just move on from both of them, or is it typical that mentors have subs they love and are "fighting" over? I'm overthinking and stressing (as usual).

Exactly! If they already have something they love so much they're willing to fight over it, should you move on? Such a confusing dilemma!

Shoeless · Aug 4, 2017

CJSimone said:
Gah, same! Two of my four mentor picks are fighting over a sub they love, and I don't know which mentor will win. So now I'm wondering if they already love something so much, do I just move on from both of them, or is it typical that mentors have subs they love and are "fighting" over? I'm overthinking and stressing (as usual).

It seems to be a fairly regular occurrence, from what I've seen. There will usually be a few submissions that get mentors within a particular genre all excited, and while they can all request, there will definitely be some fighting going on behind the scenes if the time for final selections draws near, and mentors still want a particular submission.

Sage · Aug 4, 2017

But only one mentor or team can have that sub, so there's no reason to lose hope, even if this were a stage where those teams would actually know what their #1 submission is. It's unlikely they've all read the fulls of that one, and they don't know what else will be submitted to them or what other fulls they'll adore, so it's pretty early to worry about losing.

CJSimone · Aug 4, 2017

Shoeless said:
It seems to be a fairly regular occurrence, from what I've seen. There will usually be a few submissions that get mentors within a particular genre all excited, and while they can all request, there will definitely be some fighting going on behind the scenes if the time for final selections draws near, and mentors still want a particular submission.

Sage said:
But only one mentor or team can have that sub, so there's no reason to lose hope, even if this were a stage where those teams would actually know what their #1 submission is. It's unlikely they've all read the fulls of that one, and they don't know what else will be submitted to them or what other fulls they'll adore, so it's pretty early to worry about losing.

Thanks, Shoeless and Sage!

Shoeless · Aug 4, 2017

I'm also not sure whether they're allowed to do it anymore (maybe Pete can clear this up) but I know in the past, they would actually get "stealth submissions" passed among each other. This meant that if one mentor received a submission, got excited and raved about it to the others, they would pass that submission around among themselves. So it was a way for a poor mentee to think only one person was interested in their manuscript, when in reality 3-5 mentors could be reading it and fighting over who got that mentee, without that person ever knowing about it.

Sage · Aug 4, 2017

They are talking about sharing or passing along subs in the #pitchwars tag, so I'm sure it will happen this year too.

BreeC · Aug 5, 2017

So much speculation! I can't decide if the PWTeaser hashtag is a blessing or a curse. LOL

BreeC · Aug 5, 2017

Well... I've submitted! That was nerve-wracking.

Shoeless · Aug 5, 2017

BreeC said:
Well... I've submitted! That was nerve-wracking.

It gets even worse when you check the PWTeasers and begin to suspect a mentor may actually be talking about your submission...

BreeC · Aug 5, 2017

Shoeless said:
It gets even worse when you check the PWTeasers and begin to suspect a mentor may actually be talking about your submission...

I can imagine! Maybe I'll avoid the teasers for a while...

Sage · Aug 5, 2017

Teasers during the sub period are an interesting thing. For people that haven't subbed when they start rolling in, do they take that into account? Between two mentors, one teasing and one who isn't, do you choose the one who's teasing because you want to be teased? Do you choose them because they seem to like a lot of things? Maybe you're discouraged by them liking so many things, such as the discussion above, and worrying that yours won't compare. If they say they love something specific in a novel and yours has that, does that encourage you or worry you about the competition? Does name recognition play into it (I actually follow many mentors, but subbed to none of them, not even the one who ended up on my shortlist)? Does not having seen them all over make you think fewer people will sub to them, so you'll have better odds?

Harlequin · Aug 5, 2017

I'm not much of a twitter user, and quite like that my (hopeful, applied to) mentors are quiet on twitter >.> The pitch teases don't do anythign for me either good or bad; I just assume none of them are relevant to me. It may make a difference to some, but then, with hundreds of submissions (possibly) per mentor I don't think they'll mind maybe losing a few lol!

Maggie Maxwell · Aug 5, 2017

Way to go, Bree! I knew you'd make it!

BreeC · Aug 5, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Way to go, Bree! I knew you'd make it!

Thank you!!

CJSimone · Aug 5, 2017

BreeC said:
Well... I've submitted! That was nerve-wracking.

Congrats!

CJSimone · Aug 5, 2017

Sage said:
Teasers during the sub period are an interesting thing. For people that haven't subbed when they start rolling in, do they take that into account? Between two mentors, one teasing and one who isn't, do you choose the one who's teasing because you want to be teased? Do you choose them because they seem to like a lot of things? Maybe you're discouraged by them liking so many things, such as the discussion above, and worrying that yours won't compare. If they say they love something specific in a novel and yours has that, does that encourage you or worry you about the competition? Does name recognition play into it (I actually follow many mentors, but subbed to none of them, not even the one who ended up on my shortlist)? Does not having seen them all over make you think fewer people will sub to them, so you'll have better odds?

I don't so much care if they do the teasers or not, but if I see them in love with a work already, that discourages me. I do worry about the competition for those who seem to be a perfect match with mine. Name recognition plays little role for me. Yes, I do think if I haven't seen them all over, fewer people might sub to them and the odds might be better (same with fewer followers).

In addition to considering if my MS matches their wishlist to some degree, a big factor for me was their own writing (checking out their first chapter on Amazon). A couple of my choices have multiple first person POVs and/or write in first person present tense, so I think it will work out better getting feedback from them (and they might be more okay with my style).

Harlequin · Aug 5, 2017

Two of mine are repped but not published I think so not much insight into their publishable work.

Shoeless · Aug 5, 2017

Harlequin said:
I'm not much of a twitter user, and quite like that my (hopeful, applied to) mentors are quiet on twitter >.> The pitch teases don't do anythign for me either good or bad; I just assume none of them are relevant to me. It may make a difference to some, but then, with hundreds of submissions (possibly) per mentor I don't think they'll mind maybe losing a few lol!

You're much more calm and collected about this than I was. I actually got stressed out about this stuff, which was very unlike me. I was seeing all the people interact with each other on Twitter, making friends, generally having a huge social media extravaganza/experience and feeling a bit inadequate because I didn't even have a Twitter account, or want one, and my anti-social predisposition was starting to seem like a major career liability. I felt guilty about being an introvert, because it seemed like introverts couldn't be "real" writers. I know it wasn't true, and that was just me making comparisons about my own personality versus someone else, but seeing so many people being genuinely happy to constantly interact with total strangers when I found it a draining experience was humbling.

Sage · Aug 5, 2017

CJSimone said:
Yes, I do think if I haven't seen them all over, fewer people might sub to them and the odds might be better (same with fewer followers).

My #1 thing was their wish lists and favorite books, and that was the only thing that went into my first three mentor picks. But I wavered on my fourth choice because the "maybe" I changed to a "yes" came out of her answers on the Pitch Wars boards, and then I worried that she was too visible because it seemed like her thread was always getting bumped. My fifth choice hadn't been active beyond a few tweets on twitter, and I liked her critting style, but I didn't think she had as many clues about whether she'd love my novel as #4. I went back and forth between those 2, until I got the bonus mentors. And then I had 2 more that I liked but were in that "not as many clues" phase, that I had to decide between.

This was all before teasers started, and none of my choices are doing teasing, or at least not yet.

Pitch Wars 2017

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Netz

Freshly caught writing bug lives!

CJSimone

CJSimone

CJSimone

BreeC

BreeC

Shoeless

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

CJSimone

Shoeless

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

BreeC

BreeC

Shoeless

BreeC

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

BreeC

CJSimone

CJSimone

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

Shoeless

Sage

Supreme Guessinator