Welcome, 2020 mentee hopefuls! We could not be more excited to be co-mentoring YA in Pitch Wars this year! (If you’ve stumbled upon this post and are wondering “What the heck is Pitch Wars?” please visit the Pitch Wars site for the contest description, details, and deadlines, then come on back here. We’ll be waiting!) We are mentoring YA Contemporary in most sub-genres this year. Before we get into the specifics of what we want to see in our submission inbox, first a bit about us:
Kit Frick mentor photo
Kit (she/her): I am the author of three YA mystery/thrillers, all out from Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry books: I Killed Zoe Spanos, All Eyes on Us, and See All the Stars. And I’m represented by the amazing Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management/Folio Jr.
I Killed Zoe Spanos book cover
When I’m not writing, I’m probably editing: I am a Senior Editor at Black Lawrence Press, where I have been on the editorial staff since 2009 and have served as acquiring editor on over thirty chapbooks (short collections of poetry and prose). I also edit for private clients through Copper Lantern Studio. That’s right—editing is literally my day job, and 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.
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 and have a full-length collection out with 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 and my Chiweenie, Winnie.
Carlyn Greenwald mentor photo
Carlyn (she/her): I hail from a beach suburb of Los Angeles famous for being the first ones to die in the film 2012 and for being featured in the transition reels between scenes in Hannah Montana. I attended USC and studied English/Film, Screenwriting, and Criminology. I’ve been an intern for various literary agencies as well as film production companies where I primarily worked in reviewing books for TV/Film adaptation. After a year tutoring rich kids and babysitting a highly successful Hollywood manager, I started my MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults at The New School. I’m currently doing my second year while writing and continuing my work in Hollywood and writing. I’m primarily a YA Thriller writer, but also work in YA Fantasy, Adult Contemporary Romance, and most recently YA graphic novels. I also write screenplays (features and pilots), where I’m still chasing the high of being a semi-finalist in the CBS Writers Mentoring Program. My books are represented by Janine Kamouh at WME. When not writing, I’m playing video games, deep diving in true crime, paranormal, or pop culture YouTube videos, or hanging out with my cat and dogs.
Okay, so what are you in for if you work with us? Here’s a peek at our mentoring style!
Kit: This is my fourth year mentoring YA in Pitch Wars, and Carlyn was my mentee back in 2016! Fast-forward four years, and we are now a bad-ass co-mentor duo. So our mentee will get the benefit of working with a seasoned Pitch Wars mentor AND a former mentee turned mentor who has been there. 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 2020!) Carlyn and I will begin with an editorial letter, which will provide global (big-picture) feedback on our mentee’s manuscript. We’ll also do a second round of fine-tuning edits. Be ready to dig in deep and really revise. We 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 showcase 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 watching my mentees develop as writers. Two of my past mentees signed with agents with their Pitch Wars manuscripts directly following the contest. Carlyn is of course now agented, my co-mentor, and we beta read for each other. 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 showcase and querying.
Carlyn: Like what Kit said, I had such a wonderful experience growing as a writer in Pitch Wars 2016, and being able to help another writer do the same (and WITH my former mentor turned CP/friend? A dream!) In a first read through, I focus on character (Do we know enough about what your MC likes/dislikes? Do they show readers different sides of themselves with various supporting characters in their lives? What’s their core wound, and how does that affect the story in the present?) as well as plot (Is your structure sound? Is the narrative engine working throughout the book? Is the MC pushing the plot forward or the other way around? Plot holes?). I’m a huge psychology nerd and love knowing every useless detail about character, so expect to be asked a lot of character questions that may not make it into the book that will enhance your characters. With my screenwriting background, I’m also huge on narrative structure and keep readers’ attention with concision when possible and hitting huge, exciting tentpole moments at the right time. At the line edit level, I love pointing to areas in the manuscript and going “can you show us more of your character’s emotions?” and making dialogue as punchy as possible.
We’re flexible with methods of communication–we can do Zoom, phone calls, texting, etc and will discuss with our mentee what works best and feels the most comfortable for them. We know that the world is extremely stressful right now, so we’ll be checking in periodically around deadlines to see if anything needs to be adjusted based on how our mentee is doing.
WHAT WE WANT
YA mentor badge with Poe the owl
This year, we are looking for YA CONTEMPORARY in most sub-genres! (Exceptions to follow.) But first …
We would be particularly excited to see the following in our inbox:
IN ANY SUBMISSION, we’d love to see …
Real talk: We’re not going to be a good fit for everything! Because we want you to set yourself up for your best chance of being matched with a mentor or co-mentor team who will be a good fit, please note that we are ONLY looking for YA CONTEMPORARY submissions, and we would not be a good match for the following:
Finally, we’ll leave you with some books, movies, and TV shows that are up our alley. If you can see your manuscript hanging out with any of these stories, that’s definitely a good sign! (The books are all YA; the TV/film is not all geared toward young adults, but we’d love to see young adult takes on these types of stories!)
YA CONTEMPORARY
Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
American Panda by Gloria Chao
Pointe by Brandy Colbert
Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Slay by Brittney Morris
Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
YA MYSTERY/THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
Monday’s Not Coming and more by Tiffany D. Jackson
When I Am Through With You and more by Stephanie Kuehn
We Were Liars by E Lockhart
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall
People Like Us by Dana Mele
Female of the Species, Be Not Far From Me, and more by Mindy McGinnis
One Of Us Is Lying and more by Karen M. McManus
Death Prefers Blonds and more by Caleb Roehrig
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Little Monsters and more by Kara Thomas
Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten
YA CONTEMPORARY WITH A SPECULATIVE ELEMENT
Still not sure what the heck contemporary with speculative/magical/paranormal elements looks like? How is it different from SFF? Here are some example books and TV shows that should help illuminate:
The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Riverdale
The Society
MORE TV/MOVIES!
Buzzfeed Unsolved
Elite
The End of the F***ing World
Get Even
Gone Girl
The Haunting of Hill House
Oceans 8
Safe
Search Party
Side Effects
Teenage Bounty Hunters
Thanks for coming through! To follow the YA Mentor Blog Hop, visit our rivals I mean friends wish lists:
Pitch Wars 2020 Young Adult Mentors’ Wish Lists
Click here to view all Pitch Wars 2020 Mentors’ Wish Lists