Tons of work goes on behind the scenes to bring you Pitch Wars each year, and even though 2020 has been difficult so far, we’re looking forward to the distraction. There’s been a lot of pain this year, but we also have hope for better times. We all aren’t equal until Black lives matter. We at Pitch Wars wholly believe this, and you should as well.
Pitch Wars has had many successes with mentees making agent matches, snagging publishing deals, and receiving awards. We couldn’t do this without the generosity of our mentors who dedicate their time and knowledge to our community.
First, let me introduce you to Sonia Hartl, our Managing Director this year. Sonia has been a part of the Pitch Wars family since 2013. Check out Sonia’s page here to learn more about her.
A message from Sonia:
Huge thank you to everyone who applied to be a mentor this year! We were blown away by the talent and compassion of everyone who applied. If you weren’t invited to mentor this year it’s not a reflection on you at all, and we absolutely welcome all of you to apply next year. We appreciate the time and expertise you were willing to share with a new class of mentees.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with our 2020 mentors! The experience and generosity they are bringing to the table is sure to make this an incredible year.
Many talented industry professionals applied to mentor in Pitch Wars 2020 that it was an extremely difficult task to pick our mentoring team this year. Our selection committee worked hard to choose a team they feel represents our community and offers an acceptable range of genres in each of the categories we accept for the program. After each Pitch Wars event, our committee will evaluate our program and make changes as they feel are needed.
Don’t know what Pitch Wars is? Peruse our site and learn more about our mentoring program. You could start HERE.
To learn more about each mentor, check out their bios on our site. We also have a twitter list of all the mentors here.
Mentor wishlists will go live on September 12. Please review the wishlists to help you decide which four mentors you will submit an application to when the entry window opens on September 27.
AND COME BACK TOMORROW to enter our critique workshop giveaway. Our current and past mentors will be giving away query and first page critique packages for our workshop. I’ll have more details in my post tomorrow.
I’m sure you all are excited to meet the 2020 Pitch Wars mentors, so without further delay, here they are!
Adult Mentors
| Alex Segura and M. J. Soni |
| Anna Kaling |
| Anne Raven and Janet Walden-West |
| Charish Reid and Denise Williams |
| Clay Harmon |
| Cole Nagamatsu and Sequoia Nagamatsu |
| Cynthia (Cina) Pelayo |
| Damyanti Biswas |
| Denny S. Bryce and L. Penelope |
| Elizabeth Little |
| Farah Heron and Roselle Lim |
| Gia de Cadenet |
| Gladys Qin |
| Gwynne Jackson |
| Heather Van Fleet and Jessica Calla |
| Hudson Lin |
| Ian Barnes |
| Jake Nicholls |
| Kalyn Josephson and Kat Enright |
| Keena Roberts |
| Kelly Siskind |
| Kristen Lepionka and Ernie Chiara |
| Layne Fargo and Halley Sutton |
| Lyn Liao Butler |
| Maria Heater |
| Mary Ann Marlowe |
| Matthew Quinn Martin |
| Mia P. Manansala and Kellye Garrett |
| Mia Sosa and Adriana Herrera |
| Michael Mammay and A.R. Lucas |
| Morgan Rogers |
| N.E. Davenport |
| Nicole Glover |
| Paris Wynters |
| P. J. Vernon and Kelly J. Ford |
| Rachel Howzell Hall |
| Rachel Lynn Solomon |
| Ren Hutchings |
| Rob Hart |
| Rochelle Karina |
| Roma Panganiban |
| Ruby Barrett and Rosie Danan |
| Samantha Rajaram |
| Sarah Remy |
| Sonia Hartl and Annette Christie |
| Stephen Morgan |
| Taj McCoy |
| Tanen Jones |
Young Adult Mentors
| Abigail Johnson |
| Aiden Thomas |
| Amanda Panitch |
| Amelia Diane Coombs and Sophie Gonzales |
| Andrea Contos |
| Anna Sortino |
| Aty S. Behsam |
| Auriane Desombre and Susan Lee |
| Ava Reid and Allison Saft |
| Ayana Gray and Maiya Ibrahim |
| Bethany Mangle |
| Carrie S. Allen and Sabrina Lotfi |
| Ciannon Smart |
| Dawn Ius and April Snellings |
| Deborah Falaye |
| Emery Lee |
| Emily K. Thiede |
| Gabriela Martins and Adiba Jaigirdar |
| Grace Li and Rebecca Mix |
| Hoda Agharazi |
| J.Elle and Emily Golden |
| Jamie Howard |
| Jennieke Cohen |
| Kat Dunn and Daphne Lao Tonge |
| Kimberly Gabriel and Kara McDowell |
| Kit Frick and Carlyn Greenwald |
| Kylie Schachte |
| Lane Clarke |
| Laurie Dennison |
| Liz Lawson and Dante Medema |
| Lyndsay Ely |
| Margie Fuston |
| Meg Long and Xiran Jay Zhao |
| Michaela Greer |
| Nova McBee |
| Rachel Griffin |
| Rona Wang |
| Sandra Proudman and Shannon A. Thompson |
| Sarah Dass |
| Sarvenaz Tash |
| Sasha Peyton Smith and Kristin Lambert |
| Sheena Boekweg and Alechia Dow |
| Sonora Reyes |
| ST Sterlings |
| Sunya Mara |
| Tash McAdam |
| Tashie Bhuiyan and Chloe Gong |
| Zach Hines |
Middle Grade Mentors
| Adrianna Cuevas and Sarah Kapit |
| Chad Lucas |
| Darlene P. Campos |
| Eric Bell |
| Erin Entrada Kelly |
| Gail D. Villanueva |
| George Jreije and Long-Quan Nguyen |
| Jessica Vitalis and Julie Artz |
| K.C. Held and Shana Targosz |
| Kim Long and Jennifer L. Brown |
| Lisa Moore Ramee |
| Rajani LaRocca and Remy Lai |
| Rebecca Petruck |
| Reese Eschmann and Christina Li |
| Rochelle Hassan |
| Shakirah Bourne |
| Sofiya Pasternack |
| Sylvia Liu |
| TJ Ohler |
5 Comments
M. Evalyne · August 10, 2020 at 8:27 am
Congratulations to everyone!!
Missie Matt · August 10, 2020 at 8:42 am
This us such a great program you offer. I just thought it was tweeting a pitch to agents. I didn’t know there was more to it.
Thanks!
Brenda Drake · August 10, 2020 at 9:47 am
This is our mentorship program. We also have #PitMad that is held quarterly which is tweeting a pitch for agents and editors. So Pitch Wars and #PitMad are separate events.
LN Loft · September 11, 2020 at 2:31 pm
Thanks for all of this. Just curious, where can we find the mentors’ wishlists? On their bios I just see the books they’ve written and books they like. Thanks.
Brenda Drake · September 11, 2020 at 8:29 pm
They’re going live 9/12 on this blog, so look for the post.
Comments are closed.