Pitch Wars Blog Archive

38. PROVIDENCE – Young Adult Historical

Mentor Name: Molly Lee Mentee Name: Barbara Britton Title: PROVIDENCE Category: Young Adult Genre: Historical Word Count: 59,000 Pitch: When the cursed daughter of a priest flees Jerusalem with a sympathetic guard, they are captured by an enemy army commander with a curse of his own. Curing the commander is their only hope for freedom. Excerpt: Jerusalem, 840 B.C. Hannah waited mere feet from the prophet of Israel, shaded from the Jerusalem sun by the Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

39. HOW TO MAKE A HEARTBEAT – Young Adult Contemporary with a Speculative Twist

Mentor Name: Mónica Bustamante Wagner Mentee Name: Susan Gray Foster Title: HOW TO MAKE A HEARTBEAT Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary with a Speculative Twist Word Count: 80,000 Pitch: When his childhood-crush-now-prom-date dies in an accident, Daniel brings her back to life with a genius experiment. So what if her kiss tastes like blood? She’s alive! Except now she’s pale, cold, decaying. Finding a solution will mean defying everything he knows, but if Daniel can’t, Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

40. CHARMING THE DEAD – Young Adult Speculative Mystery

Mentor Name: N.K. Traver Mentee Name: Marisa Hopkins Title: CHARMING THE DEAD Category: Young Adult Genre: Speculative Mystery Word Count: 82,000 Pitch: When 15-year-old necromancer Fontaine discovers a centuries-old unsolved murder in her sleepy magical town – and accidentally unleashes a dangerous spirit using forbidden magic – she must master her power and find the killer in order to prevent a deadly repeat of history. Excerpt: I was having a Lady of Shalott moment. The Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

41. THE TRUTH ABOUT TWO-SHOES – Young Adult Contemporary

Mentor Name: Rachel Lynn Solomon Mentee Name: Nikki Roberti Title: THE TRUTH ABOUT TWO-SHOES Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 78,000 Pitch: Abandoned by her friends and unable to conceal her baby bump, Mississippi pastor’s daughter Ellie joins a slacker gang hell-bent on plotting her baby daddy’s revenge. But getting revenge means facing the truth about a night this former goodie-two-shoes can’t—and doesn’t want to—remember. Saved! meets Freaks and Geeks. Excerpt: There it was, Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

42. FATHERS, FENDER GUITARS, AND OTHER F-WORDS – Young Adult Contemporary

Mentor Name: Rebecca Yarros Mentee Name: Carrie DiRisio Title: FATHERS, FENDER GUITARS, AND OTHER F-WORDS Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 74,000 Pitch: Screw fifteen minutes of fame; 16 year old, cardigan-wearing Laney just wants five minutes of normal. But a surprise hall of fame nomination for her dad’s punk band stirs up old secrets, forcing Laney to choose between her hard-earned anonymity and the chance to discover the identity of the groupie mother Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

43. THE READER – Young Adult Fantasy

Mentor Name: Renée Ahdieh Mentee Name: Traci Chee Title: THE READER Category: Young Adult Genre: Fantasy Word Count: 96,000 PITCH: When her only remaining relative is kidnapped, Sefia vows to save her. But rescue means learning to read in a world where literacy is forbidden and sacrificing the boy she loves to the secret society that destroyed her family. NEVERENDING STORY meets HIS DARK MATERIALS, with swashbucklers and sharpshooters. EXCERPT: There were redcoats on the Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

44. STORM CHASER – Young Adult Contemporary

Mentor Name: Ricki Schultz Mentee Name: Phil Stamper Title: STORM CHASER Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Word Count: 56,000 Pitch: Sixteen-year-old Imogen knows chasing tornadoes is reckless. But after a doctor says she’ll blind two years, her dream of being a professional storm chaser slips away. Now, she’s got one season to prove her worth to local researchers and one shot to give her something to remember. And she’s not going to blow it—even if Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

45. THE MOST DAZZLING GIRL IN BERLIN – Young Adult LGBTQ Historical

Mentor Name: Sarah Guillory Mentee  Name: Kip Wilson Title: THE MOST DAZZLING GIRL IN BERLIN Category: Young Adult Genre: LGBTQ Historical Word Count: 65,000 Pitch: In 1930, two desperate, poverty-stricken girls couldn’t be more different: Lena is a Nazi sympathizer and Gisela a queer singer. When Nazi violence strikes their Berlin cabaret, an unlikely but fierce friendship is their only weapon. CODE NAME VERITY meets LIES WE TELL OURSELVES. Excerpt: Lena’s fingers fumbled as she Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

46. THE FROST KING – Young Adult Fantasy

Mentor Name: Sarah Nicolas Mentee Name: Elly Takaki Title: THE FROST KING Category: Young Adult Genre: Fantasy Word Count: 80,000 Pitch: Ruby is one of the last Firebloods in a land ruled by Frost. To save the kingdom from an ancient curse, she must ally with her enemies, control the Fire within her, and sacrifice the boy she loves. Excerpt: Ice cracked like the breaking of bones. Frost swept the prison in a white wave, Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago

47. THE CORPSE CIRCUS – Young Adult Dark Fantasy

Mentor Name:  Sharon Johnston Mentee Name: Lakin Wooliver Title: THE CORPSE CIRCUS Category: Young Adult Genre: Dark Fantasy Word Count: 69,000 Pitch: At midnight, seventeen-year-old Corin seeps into her twin’s grave to escape her family’s drug-dealer lifestyle. In the Land of the Dead, she lives her aerialist dreams at the Corpse Circus. But when a Mors discovers she’s alive, he kidnaps her twin and delivers an ultimatum: kill for him or he’ll devour her twin’s soul. Supernatural Read more…

By brendaadmin, ago