Welcome to the 2020 Pitch Wars Advice Blog Hop, Part 2!
Last year, Ernie Chiara came up with the brilliant idea to reach out to mentors, mentees, and non-mentee applicants to hear their perspectives on the Pitch Wars experience.
It was such a cool and fun thing, we decided to continue it this year. We asked folks to share their best tips, pointers, and advice for preparing for Pitch Wars and your journey along this path, wherever it leads.
Everyone’s path is different! Pitch Wars is just one event, and there are countless paths to getting published. A ton of people who weren’t selected for Pitch Wars have gone on to find agents, and many Pitch Wars mentees never find that agent-writer connection. There’s just no way to predict how things will shake out. But, one thing’s for sure: the more you work to improve your writing, the more you put yourself out there and connect with others in the community, and the more knowledge about the publishing industry you try to absorb, the better position you’ll put yourself in to find the path that’s right for you.
Please note: Some blogs post may mention mentees could be kept from entering the agent showcase. Pitch Wars has made some changes this year. It will now be the mentee’s choice if their work is ready and if they want to enter it into the agent showcase and not the mentor’s decision.
A big huge thank you to Ernie for idea and the updated graphic there. Also to the Pitch Wars committee for letting the blog run with this. And the biggest, hugest thank you to all of the folks who shared their advice!
And so… here it is… in no particular order… the 2020 Pitch Wars Advice Blog Hop! (Click here for the 2019 PW Advice Blog Hop!)
Because we had so many replies, we’re doing this post in two parts. Click here for Part 1.
Cheryl Caldwell
2019 Mentee, Twitter
Cheryl is an artist, photographer, and author, who writes humorous MG stories with heart. When she’s not creating, you can find her somewhere in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico where she is busy finding inspiration for her next story.
So You’re Thinking About Submitting to Pitch Wars
Mary Harrigan
2019 Applicant, Blog, Instagram, Twitter
Mary is a ninja and emerging writer who harbors a not-so-secret love of dragons. Her flash fiction has appeared in RuneBear’s Spring 2020 Quarterly. You can also find her on Twitter as @WhiteSheWolf and on Instagram as @mwritesdragons.
Pitch Wars Advice Blog Hop: A Newbie’s Perspective
Nicole Willson
2017 Mentee, Twitter
Nicole Willson has been a frequent visitor to small coastal towns located along the Eastern seaboard but has yet to see anything truly alarming emerge from those waters, much to her disappointment. Her debut novel TIDEPOOL is coming out with Parliament House Press in 2021.
Pitch Wars Advice Blog Hop: Just Keep Swimming
Maria Linn
2019 Mentee, Twitter
Maria Linn is a writer, a collage artist, a Pitch Wars 2019 mentee, a research specialist for a K-12 school district, a member of SCBWI, and an animal lover.
Falon Ballard
2019 Mentee, Twitter, Instagram
I’m a writer, a mom and wife, a social media addict, a wedding planner, a bookaholic, and a huge nerd.
Emily Colin
2017 Mentor, Twitter, Instagram
Emily Colin is the New York Times-bestselling author of THE MEMORY THIEF, a Target Emerging Authors Pick, and THE DREAM KEEPER’S DAUGHTER. She’s also the author of SWORD OF THE SEVEN SINS and SACRIFICE OF THE SEVEN SINS, the first book and prequel novella in her SEVEN SINS YA series.
Sam Elyse
2019 Applicant, Twitter
Sam Elyse is an author for children’s fantasy. Her work aims to empower children through magic, culture, and compassion (with plenty of monster-loving twists).
Gail D. Villanueva
Pitch Wars Tech Director (2018 to present); MG mentor (2017 & present), Twitter
Gail D. Villanueva is a Filipino author and web designer born and based in the Philippines. Her debut novel, My Fate According to the Butterfly (Scholastic, July 2019), was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, an Amazon Best Book of the Month Editor’s Pick, and a NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.
So You Wrote a Marginalized Protagonist
Kerbie Addis
2013 Mentee, 2014 Applicant, 2015 Mentee, 2016 Mentor, 2017 Mentor, 2018 Mentor, 2019 Mentor, Website, Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook
Kerbie was born and raised in the Carolinas. Throughout grad school, she worked as the marketing director for an indie bookstore and as a literary agent intern. She currently lives and works in Philadelphia as a nonprofit librarian and can be found anywhere there’s herbal tea, vintage clothes, or creepy books.
George Jreije
2019 Mentee, 2020 Mentor, Twitter
I’m an Arab MG Fantasy writer. After being mentored in Pitch Wars’ class of 2019 and subsequently finding my agent, I now have the pleasure of being a mentor myself!
Thank you to all who participated and shared their Pitch Wars stories and advice!
As with any advice, these are the opinions of the authors. Keep what works for you and tweak it to your own needs. Hold onto the words that give you encouragement or help push you along the way, not just in Pitch Wars, but in your journey as a writer.