You can read the full text version of our wishlist HERE!
What is Pitch Wars?
Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to spend three months revising their manuscript. It ends in February with an Agent Showcase, where agents can read a pitch/first page and can request to read more.
That’s it! It’s really as simple as reciting the alphabet, right?
(GIF of Nicholas Cage reciting the alphabet in Vampire's Kiss)
Well, not exactly… Pitch Wars has an intense, often stressful revision window that requires a great deal of energy and thought both on your part and ours. We want to make this the best experience for you -- but we aren’t the best mentors for everyone.
About Us
We are authors Yvette Yun and Marith Zoli, otherwise known as #TeamXYZ. We’re looking for Mentee X to round out our Pitch Wars triumvirate (though your name does not have to start with X!). We’ve been writing buddies since 2017, when we both participated in the inaugural year of RevPit. This is our first time mentoring in Pitch Wars, but Marith made many friends through applying in 2018 and Yvette was a mentee in 2019.
Yvette writes family dramas in the YA and adult categories and is based in Honolulu, Hawaii. She’s an avid surfer and world traveler, though thanks to COVID, she now spends her free time writing in her backyard hut by Kalihi Stream.
Marith is a science fiction and fantasy author based in the wilds of North Jersey. Currently, she’s wrapping up an adult fantasy novel about a middle-aged mom who's trying to do her best in a world of devils, demons, wizards, dragons, evil empires, and teenagers.
(GIF of the letters XYZ and hearts)
Our mentoring process
Our goal is to help you grow as a writer and support your goal of representation and publication, however it happens, whether through the showcase or the slush pile. We are flexible, but in broad strokes our mentoring process will comprise an initial edit letter, a revision plan and timeline for turnaround and feedback, help with your query letter and pitch, and—if time allows—a final editing pass. We will urge you from day one to focus on the quality of your revision and be there to answer your questions, talk through our ideas, and offer support and encouragement.
Our mentorship prioritizes you and your work. Your writing is precious to you in ways we will never know, so we will always defer to you when it comes to changes to your manuscript.
(GIF of Mr. Rogers saying, "The alphabet is fine, but it's what we do with it that matters most.")
Of course, we will try to challenge you by questioning or opening up new possibilities that you might not have considered. We may assign you some homework, such as a craft book or podcast, or a relevant novel or film to check out. All suggestions hope to get your wheels turning. In the end, you will make your own decision about your work.
Email is our preferred mode of communication but we can group chat/text or hop onto Zoom.
Who we are looking for
Our ideal mentee is driven, open-minded and willing to listen to criticism. You value your work as well as other people’s opinions and find creative solutions to your problems. You have grit and won’t give up -- not even if this book isn’t “the one.”
We prefer someone who is a little farther along in their writing journey. You’re well-read in the genre you write in and already have some experience writing a novel. Don’t worry if you haven’t read all of the ‘classics’ -- we haven’t either! It’s more important to us that you value diversity and read what is current.
If your main objective is exposure to agents in the showcase, please do not apply to be our mentee. Also, be honest with yourself about how invested you can be, both mentally and practically. You should apply to us if you are interested in and committed to building your writing community AND are willing to work with us through a challenging and tight three-month revision process.
(GIF of Suga from BTS: "If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together")
What we want (Part 1 of 2)
Our mentorship style is not for everyone. If our approach to mentoring doesn’t fit what you’re looking for, we encourage you to browse the other Pitch Wars Mentors' Wishlists (URL: https://pitchwars.org/pitch-wars-2021-mentor-blog-hop/) and hope you find a better match!
If what we’ve said so far sounds good, then hop over to Marith’s blog (URL: https://www.marithzoli.com/post/pitchwars-2021-wishlist) to find out what kind of manuscript we’re looking for this year.