Pitch Wars Blog Archive

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Gigi Griffis and her mentor, Gladys Qin

We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Gigi Griffis and her mentor, Gladys Qin! Gigi signed with Veronica Park at Fuse Literary. We’re so excited for them! Category: New Adult/Adult Genre: Historical Fiction Gigi, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentor/s? Reverse outlining! I cannot believe I wasn’t doing that before. We did an outline based on the completed draft, color-coded it to make sure sub-plots were Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Kelis Rowe and Her Mentor, J.Elle

We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Kelis Rowe and her mentor, J.Elle! Kelis signed with Chelsea Eberly at Greenhouse Literary. We’re so excited for them! Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Romance Kelis, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentor/s? Actually, I have two favorite tricks. One is, figure out a different way to say ‘smile’. In YA romance (fictional and literal), there’s a LOT of smiling. Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Happy Release Day to LATE TO THE PARTY by Kelly Quindlen

Join us in celebrating Pitch Wars 2019 Mentor Kelly Quindlen’s young adult debut, LATE TO THE PARTY! From author Kelly Quindlen comes a poignant and deeply relatable story about friendship, self-acceptance, and what it means to be a Real Teenager. Late to the Party is an ode to late bloomers and wallflowers everywhere. Seventeen is nothing like Codi Teller imagined. She’s never crashed a party, never stayed out too late. She’s never even been kissed. And it’s Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Jenny Coon Peterson and her mentors, Sabrina Lotfi and Carrie Allen

We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Jenny Coon Peterson and her mentors, Sabrina Lofti and Carrie Allen! Jenny signed with Amy Bishop at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. We’re so excited for them! Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Jenny, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentors? Places to tighten up my writing! I tend to write long then edit down, and I loved all the places Carrie Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Cover Reveal for THE BEAT MATCH by Kelly Siskind

Two DJs. One beat. An off-limits romance neither of them expected.  Weston Aldrich is known for his devastating looks and crisp Italian suits. He’s been groomed to take over his family business and is on the brink of closing a massive merger. Only two wild cards can derail him. Wild Card One: If anyone learns he moonlights as a masked DJ, his credibility will be toast.  Wild Card Two: Annie can’t-hold-a-job Ward. The Annie Ward Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Briana Miano Ruiz and Her Mentors, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland and Sandra Proudman

We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulatingBriana Miano Ruiz and her mentors, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland and Sandra Proudman! Briana signed with Quressa Robinson at Nelson Literary Agency. We’re so excited for them! Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Fantasy Briana, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentor/s? At one point, there was so much to look at that I froze. Sandra’s tip to treat my edit letter as Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Maria Linn and Her Mentors, Rajani LaRocca and Remy Lai

We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Maria Linn and her mentors, Rajani LaRocca and Remy Lai! Maria signed with Melissa Nasson at Rubin Pfeffer Content. We’re so excited for them! Category: Middle Grade Genre: Contemporary Fantasy Maria, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentors? In general, my mentors got me in the good habit of asking tough questions of my manuscript. Specifically, they gave me a Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Announcing 2020 Pitch Wars Dates!

Hi Pitch Wars! As previously announced after the Agent Showcase, I’m thrilled to be serving as your 2020 Managing Director! You may or may not have seen the announcement of our 2020 dates on Twitter, but we’re keeping the timeline similar to 2019. Though it might not make everyone happy, we’ve found this schedule best balances the needs and availability of mentors, agents, and future mentees. We understand the holidays are often a difficult time Read more…

By Sarah Nicolas, ago

Pitch Wars Success Stories with Briana Johnson and Her Mentor, Laurie Dennison

  We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Briana Johnson and her mentor, Laurie Dennison! Briana signed with Sam Farkas at Jill Grinberg Literary Management. We’re so excited for them! Category: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary w/ Light Spec Elements Briana, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentor? Laurie taught me so much! With her guidance, I learned how to create a beat sheet that worked for me, Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago

Pitch Wars Success Story with Katie Bohn and Her Mentor, Kate Lansing

  We’re back with another Pitch Wars Success Story! Please join us in congratulating Katie Bohn and her mentor, Kate Lansing! Katie signed with Jessica Watterson at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. We’re so excited for them! Category: New Adult/Adult Genre: Mystery/Women’s Fiction Katie, what’s your favorite tip you learned from your mentor/s? Kate helped with a lot of big-picture plot points, but she also helped me fine-tune my dialogue, from spacing issues to varying my Read more…

By Rochelle Karina, ago