Pitch Wars Blog Archive

The Future of Pitch Wars and #PitMad …

After ten amazing years of building mentorships and an online community of writers, Pitch Wars  and #PitMad are coming to an end. As an entirely volunteer-run event, we are truly overjoyed and grateful for the opportunity to assist so many writers on their journeys. While this decision was difficult to make, we are confident that the many other wonderful writing mentorship programs that now exist will carry our common mission – to help writers grow Read more…

By Brenda Drake, ago

About Pitch Wars

What was Pitch Wars? Was it another contest? Oh, no, it was so much better. Pitch Wars was a volunteer-run mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns chose one writer each to mentor our a month to three months period depending on the year. Mentors read the entire manuscript and offered suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for the agent showcase at the end of the mentoring period. The mentor also helped Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

Pitch Wars Committee

Throughout the duration of Pitch Wars, we were privileged to work with a group of exceptionally dedicated volunteers who served on our committee. I am deeply grateful for our generous team members who assisted us in making crucial decisions throughout the years. Their commitment and expertise were instrumental in shaping the success of our program. Below, you’ll find the list of committee members from our final years. Pitch Wars Committee Brenda Drake Founding Director, Mentor Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

Pitch Wars Blog Team

During the run of Pitch Wars, we were fortunate to have a group of incredibly generous volunteers contribute to our blog. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the amazing writers who produced content over the years: Angel Zhang, Anna Kaling, Annette Christie, Brenda Drake, Erin Hardee, Ernie Chiara, Gail Villanueva, Gwynne Jackson, Heather Cashman, Jaime Dill, Kellye Garrett, Leigh Mar, Lisa Leoni, Rochelle Karina, Sarah Nicolas, and Shari Schwarz. If I’ve inadvertently missed Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

Pitch Wars … a legacy

  June, 2018 I can hardly believe how many years its been since Pitch Wars began in 2012 as a small contest providing mentorship to aspiring authors. It seems like yesterday that the idea came to me during an episode of Cupcake Wars,  a show where bakers have an assistant to help them prepare the best cupcakes possible for a round of judges. While watching all the yummy creations come together, I thought it would Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

#PitMad Success Stories

Over the years of our event, our #PitMad Twitter Pitch Parties had seen numerous successes. What we’re sharing here represents just a small fraction of the many success stories from the event. Congratulations to everyone who has navigated the fast-paced feed and found a match during the party!  And here are some of the wonderful successes as a result of #PitMad … Carol Barreyre – @cbarreyre  I couldn’t let the sun set today without saying thank you. Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

Pitch Wars Press

Pitch Wars “A romance novelist struggled with Asperger’s. Now she writes about love on the spectrum” at The Washington Post – July 19, 2019 “Q & A with Traci Chee” at Publisher’s Weekly – November 15, 2018 “Fall 2018 YA Spotlight: Teen Lit Reflects Wider World” at Publisher’s Weekly – October 19, 2018 “‘Bad Seed’ Novel Plays On Expectations Around Motherhood” at 90.5 WESA – August 3, 2018 “Is Tomi Adeyemi the new J.K. Rowling?” Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

Pitch Wars in the Wild

Mentors GK Byrne, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Julia Nobel, Brittany Morris, Joy McCullough at Emerald City ComicCon in Seattle (with photo by mentor Julie Artz). So excited to hang with these lovelies last night at #ECCC19. Always fun to see my #pitchwars friends and amazing to meet @somaiyadaud as well! pic.twitter.com/ISO4MzEAQE — Julie Artz | Book Coach | I dissent. (@julieartz) March 16, 2019 Mentees Erin Gunti and Cass L. Scotka meet up with their mentor Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

The Synopsis … simplified

Will you need a synopsis for Pitch Wars? I’m not going to lie. You may need one. Many mentors might ask for one to make that final mentee decision. I get it.  I hate writing synopses. But, unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil. Agents and editors may ask you for one. Get yours ready right after you finish your manuscript. Some writers do one before they even write the book. I can’t do that because I Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

The Query Simplified

Are you query-ready for Pitch Wars? The first impression of your book comes from the query. It should be short and hooky. But how do you get everything about your book in your query? You don’t. It’s a teaser. You only need just enough information to hook an agent or editor. So I thought I’d share with you how I do my queries. Here’s a simplified formula. I hope it helps you to come up Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago