Welcome, 2018 mentee hopefuls! I could not be more excited to be mentoring YA for the third time this year in the greatest contest on Earth, Pitch Wars! (If you’ve stumbled upon this post and are looking for all the contest details, please visit the Pitch Wars site.) Before I get into what I want to see in my submission inbox, first a bit about me:
My debut novel is See All the Stars—and it releases today—LITERALLY TODAY—if you are reading this post on August 14 as the Blog Hop goes live! So, as you can probably imagine, I’m absolutely buzzing from all the book release excitement combined with all the Pitch Wars goodness. See All the Stars is a YA contemporary suspense/thriller about four best friends, one beautiful boy, and a deception that ruined everything. It’s being published by Simon & Schuster/McElderry Books. My second YA, also a psychological thriller, will come out in 2019 from S&S/McElderry. I’m represented by the inimitable Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management/Folio Jr.
When I’m not writing, I’m probably editing: I edit chapbooks for Black Lawrence Press, I edit for private clients through Copper Lantern Studio, and I’m also a Book Coach through Author Accelerator. That’s right—editing is literally my job, and you can read more about my editorial work right here. I’ll be bringing that editorial acumen to my mentee’s manuscript, so that’s definitely one of the reasons you want me as your mentor.
Speaking of which, you’re probably wondering about my mentoring style. I approach my mentees’ manuscripts with the same dedication, passion, and savvy red pen with which I edit my clients’ manuscripts. (OK, red pen is a metaphor—we’ll do edits electronically cause it’s 2018!) We’ll start with an editorial letter, which will provide global (big-picture) feedback on your manuscript. We’ll also do a second round of fine-tuning edits. Be ready to dig in deep and really revise. I will push you in a positive and guided way to do the work necessary to shape your manuscript into the best version of itself for the agent round and querying.
I love mentoring Pitch Wars for a whole bunch of reasons, but one of the absolute best things about being a Pitch Wars mentor has been establishing long-term relationships with my mentees and watching them develop as writers. One of my past mentees signed with an agent with her Pitch Wars manuscript directly following the contest (and is now a Pitch Wars mentor herself!). Another past mentee signed with an agent with a new manuscript for which I also had the privilege to provide feedback. Another past mentee is working on a new WIP, which I can’t wait to get my hands on. Yes, Pitch Wars is a contest, but it’s also a phenomenal mentorship program, and I’m looking for a mentee that’s as excited about that aspect of it as they are about preparing for the agent round and querying.
What else do you need to know? I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University and have studied with book editors, copyeditors, and literary agents through NYU’s Center for Publishing. I also write poetry (my debut poetry collection is also coming out this fall from New American Press!), love to cook, can kick your butt at Eurogames like Seven Wonders and Dominion, and spend a lot of time snuggling with my two adorable cats.
This year, I’m open to YA CONTEMPORARY in most sub-genres! (Exceptions below.) But first …
I would be a particularly excited to see the following in my inbox:
*Anything thriller/mystery/suspense (give me your twists and turns, your page-turning tension, and your well-crafted suspense!)
*Dark & gritty stories that explore moral and emotional gray areas
*Voice-y stories with humor and heart
*Stories that employ interesting narrative structures (i.e. dual or multi timeline, unfolds backwards, epistolary, short timeframes, and so on)
*Verse novels (did you know I’m also a poet?)
*Contemporary with magical or speculative elements (i.e. manuscripts that introduce a magical or speculative element into an otherwise real-world, contemporary setting. Think magical realism—with the caveat that I’m not comfortable using that as a genre classification unless it refers to Latinx literature—or “contemporary with a twist.” This is not to be confused with fantasy or sci-fi!)
*Stories by marginalized authors / underrepresented voices and manuscripts that craft inclusive worlds. (Note that diversity in all its forms needs to be well-represented and thoughtfully researched. That applies to all representations of diverse characters, #ownvoices or otherwise.)
*Immersive, evocative settings, especially: unusual settings (take me outside of high school walls!); boarding school settings; college campuses; towns with interesting stories; settings that challenge the main character
*Three-dimensional characters with flaws and fully-realized personalities
*Characters who pursue their passions
*Complicated character relationships & friendships, especially among teen girls (toxic / fiercely good / nuanced / intense / obsessive / withstanding / destructive)
*Girls into STEAM (science, tech, engineering, arts, math)
*Gorgeous writing that draws me in
*A voice that grabs me from page one
Real talk: I’m not going to be a good fit for everything! Because I want you to set yourself up for your best chance of being matched with a mentor who will be a good fit, please note I would not be a good match for the following:
*Sweet contemporary romance
*Horror
*Paranormal
*Dystopian
*Historical (with the exception of “near historical,” i.e. narratives set in the 1980s, 90s, or early 2000s, which I will accept!)
*Graphic novels
*Memoir (or any non-fiction)
*New Adult
*Anything SFF (sci-fi and fantasy) – remember I’m only looking for contemporary!
Finally, I’ll leave you with a few books and TV shows that ring my bell. If you can see your manuscript hanging out with any of these stories, that’s definitely a good sign! (The books are all YA contemporary; the TV is not all geared toward young adults, but I’d love to see young adult takes on these types of stories!)
BOOKS:
The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn (everything by Stephanie Kuehn)
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
American Panda by Gloria Chao
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Pointe by Brandy Colbert
TV:
Riverdale
Pretty Little Liars
Search Party
American Vandal
Orphan Black
GLOW
True Detective (season one!)
The Americans
True crime docu-series like Making a Murderer, The Confession Tapes, and The Jinx
Finally, finally: Want to stay in touch beyond the contest? Please follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and/or Facebook. (Pick your poison!) I don’t follow back on Twitter until after mentee picks are announced, but if we’ve interacted in a meaningful way during Pitch Wars, I’ll follow you back after we share the picks! (Nudge me if I miss you; I promise it’s not personal.)
I’d also love for you to sign up for my monthly author newsletter, These Little Secrets. Not only do I share book news, but I also get shouty about a whole lotta true crime and suspense/thriller stuff I’m into, run giveaways, give editorial tips, and offer a monthly “behind the scenes” peek into the writing life—you know, things probably of interest to you!
And that’s a wrap! Don’t forget to check out the wish lists of the other amazing 2018 YA mentors. (I mean, don’t do that, they’re the competition!) But really do. The below “linky” should take you to all their bios, but if there’s a technology fail, just pop back to the main post on the Pitch Wars website!
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