We’re getting excited behind the scenes for our fifth Pitch Wars!
For those unfamiliar with Pitch Wars, it’s a contest where published/agented authors, editors, or interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine. The mentor also critiques his/her writer’s pitch to get it ready for the agent round. To do this, the mentors read all their applications and choose the writer they want to mentor for two months to get them ready for the agent round. Writers can pick up to four (4) mentors to submit to. Last year we had about fifty mentees sign with agents and some of those resulted in book deals. That’s not counting all the successes from Pitch Wars 2012, 2013 and 2014. We hope to have many more successes this year!
The August 3, 2016 submission window is fast approaching. We have our mentors all signed up and ready to go. This year I’ve added more mentors and increased the number for the middle grade and adult categories. There will be a longer agent showcase starting November 3 and ending on the 9th to give our agents more time to go through all the pitches. Each category will have their own showcase day. Here’s the agent showcase schedule for 2016 …
November 3 – 9: Agent Showcase
- November 3: Adult and New Adult entries go up on my blog
- November 4: MG entries go up on my blog
- November 5: YA entries go up on my blog
- November 9: Last day of Agent Showcase
I know there are a lot of names on this list, but I wanted as many writers as possible to have a chance to be mentored. To us the most important part of the contest is the mentoring phase. The agent showcase is the prize at the end. The wonderful Heather Cashman has separated the mentors by the categories they’ll be mentoring. Click on their names for the links to follow them on Twitter. There will be some valuable information being shared by the mentors on our hashtag #PitchWars. Come back for our Mentor Blog Hop to view our mentors’ bios and their wishlists starting July 20 through August 3.
And now, here are your 2016 mentors …
Adult Mentors …
Carrie Callaghan
Dan Koboldt and Michael Mammay, co-mentors
Dan Malossi
Emily Wheeler
Hayley Stone
Holly Faur
J.C. Nelson
Jennie Nash
Jenny Ferguson
Karma Brown and Susan Crispell, co-mentors
Kellye Garrett and Sarah Henning, co-mentors
Kristen Lepionka
Margarita Montimore
Michelle Hauck
Scarlett Cole
Adult/New Adult Mentors …
Brighton Walsh
Caitlin Sinead
Diana Gardin
Heather Van Fleet
J.R. Yates
Jami Nord and K.T. Hanna, co-mentors
Kara Leigh Miller and Meredith Ireland, co-mentors
Kelly Siskind
Laura Brown
Laura Heffernan
Layla Reyne
Michelle Hazen
Nazarea Andrews
Rebecca Yarros
Tamara Mataya
Mary Ann Marlowe and Jaime Loren, co-mentors
Young Adult/New Adult Mentors …
Charlie Holmberg
Diana Gallagher
Jennifer Blackwood
Marie Meyer
Young Adult Mentors …
Amanda Foody
Amy Trueblood
Ashley Hearn
Austin Aslan
Ayesha Patel
Brian Palmer
Brianna Shrum
Catherine Scully and Kim Graff, co-mentors
Chelsea Bobulski
Dannie Morin
Dawn Ius
Dionne McCulloch and Fiona McLaren, co-mentors
Eden Plantz
Emily Martin
Heather Ezell
Helene Dunbar and Beth Hull, co-mentors
Isabel Ibañez Davis
Jamie Howard
Jamie Pacton and M.K. England, co-mentors
Janella Angeles and Axie Oh, co-mentors
Jeanmarie Anaya
Jenni Walsh
Jessie Devine
Judi Lauren
Karen Fortunati
Karen McManus
Kate Karyus Quinn and Demitria Lunetta, co-mentors
Katherine Webber
Katie Bucklein and Megan Lally, co-mentors
Kelly Hopkins
Kes Trester and Jennifer Hawkins, co-mentors
Kip Wilson
Kristin Wright
L.L. McKinney
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Linsey Miller
Lisa Amowitz
Lizzy Charles
Lynnette Labelle and Destiny Cole, co-mentors
Mara Rutherford and Joan He, co-mentors
Marty Mayberry
McKelle George
Molly Lee
Monica Hoffman
Monica Bustamante Wagner and Kerbie Addis, co-mentors
Naomi Hughes
Natasha Neagle
Nikki Roberti
Phil Stamper
Pintip Dunn
Rachel Solomon and Kit Frick, co-mentors
Rebecca Sky and Stacey Trombley, co-mentors
Rosalyn Eves and Erin Summerill, co-mentors
Ruthanne Snow
Sarah Nicolas and Leigh Mar
Shana Silver and Sarah Glenn Marsh, co-mentors
Sharon Johnston
Sonia Hartl
Stephanie Scott
Summer Spence
Tabitha Martin
Tobie Easton
Trisha Leaver and Kelly Calabrese, co-mentors
Middle Grade Mentors …
Allison Ziegler
Alexandra Alessandri
Amanda Hill and Cindy Baldwin, co-mentors
Ashley Martin
Brooks Benjamin and Caroline Thompson, co-mentors
Dee Romito and Jen Malone, co-mentors
Ellie Terry
Elly Blake and Ron Walters, co-mentors
Gabrielle Byrne
Gail Nall and Abby Cooper, co-mentors
J.C. Davis and Addie Thorley, co-mentors
Jenna Lehne
Jessica Vitalis
Joy McCullough-Carranza
Juliana Brandt
Julie Dao
K.C. Held
Kara Seal
Kate Foster
Kevin Springer
Kim Long
Laura Shovan and Tricia Clasen, co-mentors
Lisa Tyre
Melyssa Mercado
Patrice Caldwell
Rebecca Petruck
Rebecca Wells
Sarah Cannon
Shari Schwarz
Stefanie Wass
Wade White and Timanda Wertz, co-mentors
Phew! Happy mentor hunting!!
28 Comments
Mike Crowl · May 17, 2016 at 9:48 pm
You’ve outdone yourself this time. And probably next time too, but savor the moment!
Dannie Morin · May 17, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Woot! Bring it on, writers!
Valerie · May 18, 2016 at 6:41 am
Amazing list! Can’t wait to get started.
Maria Hossain · May 17, 2016 at 10:23 pm
Woohoo! The YA mentors’ list is huge! Can’t wait to start stalking them from today to understand their #MSWL…it’s a whooping long list to go through but I’m ready…???
Ben Langhinrichs · May 18, 2016 at 8:15 am
If two people are co-mentors, do they count as one (given that you can only apply to four), and do you apply to each of them or just one, but they work together?
Rbxx · May 18, 2016 at 5:33 pm
Yes, submitting to a pair of co-mentors counts as one submission, since they will be working together and considering submissions together.
K.J. Harrowick · June 21, 2016 at 6:24 pm
Hi there 🙂
What a fantastic list, and I’m already elbow deep in poking around the mentor sites.
I do have a question. Is there a list for the mentors of genres they absolutely detest or have no desire to see? I’d hate to waste someone’s time with a pitch on dark and gritty fantasy when they prefer lighthearted romance.
Cheers and thank you!
Heather Cashman · June 21, 2016 at 9:43 pm
KJ–there will be a post that will list the mentors’ age categories, and then a blog hop where you can go to their post about what each mentor is looking for. It’s a lot of research, but it pays off to submit to the right mentor.
We will also be doing mini-interviews beginning sometime next week that will highlight more about most of the mentors. Then at the end of July, we will also have live chats with them so you can actually see them in person.
Hope that helps!
K.J. Harrowick · June 21, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Ahhh… I was jumping ahead of myself. 😛
Thanks Heather! I will keep an eye out for those, and keep stalking… *cough* researching until then.
Cheers!
Shadow · June 24, 2016 at 8:14 am
Can you enter if you have been a finalist recently in another contest?
Heather Cashman · June 24, 2016 at 9:05 am
It won’t matter. There are two major benefits to Pitch Wars–working on your manuscript for two months with an agented and/or published author, and having that polished manuscript in front of agents. Working on your MS couldn’t hurt. And many of the agents who do Pitch Wars don’t do other contests, so they won’t have seen your manuscript. Also, a lot of ninja requests from agents not signed up.
Anna Molly · July 4, 2016 at 10:59 pm
Will there be any mentors for fantasy genres?
Brenda Drake · July 4, 2016 at 11:41 pm
Yes, there will be many for it. You’ll find out the genres during the mentors’ bio/wishlist blog hop starting July 20th.
Mary R. Woldering · July 14, 2016 at 7:31 am
So Am I too late to get started? Are Indie published books already in print ineligible?
What if I don’t see a mentor I think would work? Do I wait for a wish list? Just seeing this now. Just subscribed today.
Visionary Historical fantasy
Heather Cashman · July 14, 2016 at 3:26 pm
Mary–the manuscript must be unpublished. Can’t be self-pubbed. As for finding a mentor, there are loads of them. I don’t think you’ll have a difficult time finding some that will be what you’re looking for.
Darkie · July 14, 2016 at 7:36 am
Can I submit to a mentor who’s looking for my genre… I happen to know this person and we are sort of friends? I would use a pseudonym, etc.
Heather Cashman · July 14, 2016 at 3:27 pm
You can submit to whomever you like. If you know them, it is best to use a pseudonym.
Boo · July 14, 2016 at 5:45 pm
Do the Adult/New Adult folks do both adult AND new adult? Or just new adult?
Brenda Drake · July 15, 2016 at 12:55 am
They take both Adult and New Adult applications. But they can only pick one mentee to mentor.
Boo · July 15, 2016 at 7:27 am
thanks 🙂
Kerri Davidson · July 26, 2016 at 2:37 pm
Are there any mentors for memoir? Thanks!
Heather Cashman · July 26, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Kerri–I know there are, but I can’t remember exactly who. I do know they are adult mentors, though, so that should narrow down the list.
Kerri · July 26, 2016 at 7:19 pm
Thanks Heather!
Lindsay Pierce · August 4, 2016 at 5:11 pm
Hello, can I confirm that my 6 submissions were received. I didn’t see green text when I submitted. Thank you so much!
Brenda Drake · August 4, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Got them all. 🙂
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