Check out the cover for A LIGHT OF HER OWN by Carrie Callaghan!

Amberjack Publishing (November 13, 2018) You can now pre-order A Light of Her Own! Pre-orders are so helpful to debut authors, and I’m extremely grateful for your support. Select your retailer of choice: IndieBound, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble About the book … In Holland 1633, a woman’s ambition has no place. Judith is a painter, dodging the law and whispers of murder to become the first woman admitted to the prestigious Haarlem artist’s guild. Maria is a Catholic Read more…

INSATIABLE by Pitch Wars mentor, Michelle Hazen … cover reveal!

Available 7.2.18 Pre-orders open now!       See more by Michelle Hazen About the book … Jax Sterling is a sex addict with the heart of a golden retriever puppy. As the lead singer for the Red Letters, it’s easy to hide his loneliness behind his bad boy lifestyle…until he lands on tour with a hard rock goddess who makes him want the relationship he can never have. Onstage, Ava’s all chains, whips and guitar licks, but Read more…

Happy Release Day to SIDE BY SIDE by Jenni L. Walsh

Book Summary

“Someday they’ll go down together / they’ll bury them side by side. / To few it’ll be grief / To the law a relief / But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.”

The story of America’s most infamous crime spree told in the raw and honest voice of the woman who lived it, Bonnie Parker.

Texas: 1931. Bonnie Parker’s dreams of the limelight and a white picket fence are on hold. She’s a waitress in Dallas, endlessly writing letters to the governor pleading for the release of the man she loves: a reckless, quick-smiling boy named Clyde Barrow, sentenced to fourteen years at the notorious Eastham prison farm.

When Clyde is paroled early, Bonnie thinks their life is about to really begin. But Clyde has changed in prison. Distant, damaged, and dogged by the cops, he knows it’s only a matter of time before the law tries to lock him up again. That’s not something he or Bonnie can bear. When he’s fired from his job—and now breaking parole—he decides to make a run for it. Leave Texas. Get enough cash to make a fresh start in a new state. And, of course, he wants his beloved Bonnie to come with him.

It’s just one stolen car. One robbed bank. Then, they can have the life they always wanted. Or so they think, as they set out.

Unflinching and yet deeply empathetic, Jenni L. Walsh’s Side by Side tells the story of America’s most iconic outlaws.

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Pitch Wars Success Story with Nova McBee and her mentor, Pintip Dunn

I’m thrilled to start up our blog posts again now that our new committee is settling in with their roles and are gearing up to announce 2018 Pitch Wars mentors in a few weeks. It’s a little emotional for me too, since I miss working with Heather. But she’s doing great with her new exciting publishing adventures. Make sure to say hello to her on Twitter. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you!

Anyway, we’re so excited whenever one of our mentees gets an agent offer or a publishing deal. Celebrating these successes is one of our favorite parts of the Pitch Wars process. We hope you can join us in congratulating Nova McBee and her mentor, Pintip Dunn. Nova signed with Amy Jameson of A + B Works, and we couldn’t be happier for her! (more…)

Mentor Applications

2021 Pitch Wars Mentor applications are now closed. To receive an email when the 2022 mentor applications open, fill out the form below. As a Pitch Wars mentor, you will sort through submissions that are typical of publishing submission materials, then choose one author from those submissions to mentor. The number of submissions per mentor can vary from 25 to 300+, depending on category, genre, and wishlist. You’re encouraged to ask applicants for additional material Read more…

Pitch Wars Going Forward … Part Four

This is a continuation and the final one in the series of blog posts concerning issues presented to Pitch Wars. You can read the beginning of the series HERE. This post will be addressing the issue of expectations tied to Pitch Wars and the culture that has risen around it.

This is a hard post to write because everyone comes to Pitch Wars with very different experiences. But we want to discuss and acknowledge some of the heightened expectations surrounding Pitch Wars in the past few years. Pitch Wars was started as a small contest where writers with industry experience and publishing professionals could guide mentees through the publishing trenches. Though it was posited as a contest, the heart of the program was mentorship. And to this day, this is still the point of Pitch Wars. It is meant to provide guidance and support to talented and hard-working mentees. (more…)

Pitch Wars Going Forward … Part Three

This is a continuation of the series of blog posts concerning issues presented to Pitch Wars. You can read the beginning of the series HERE. This post addresses the issue of inclusion and diversity in Pitch Wars.

I’d like to address the need for more inclusivity in Pitch Wars as well as what we hope to do moving forward. First, as mentioned in the previous post, there were mentors who expressed concern about a mandatory fee. Many of these mentors were from marginalized communities. Though it was never the intention of Pitch Wars to ignore any voice or opinion in our community, by not fully considering the concerns brought up by these marginalized mentors, we hurt the writing community. (more…)

Pitch Wars Going Forward … Part Two

This is a continuation of the series of blog posts concerning issues presented to Pitch Wars. You can read the beginning of the series HERE. This post addresses the (now-defunct) fee announcement.

Pitch Wars began in 2012 as a small contest providing mentorship to aspiring authors. The idea came while I was watching Cupcake Wars, a show where bakers had an assistant to help them prepare the best cupcakes possible for a round of judges. After watching the show, I thought it would be great to have a publishing contest where agented/published authors could mentor aspiring authors’ full manuscripts and guide them through the publishing trenches. (more…)

Pitch Wars Going Forward … Part One

We are sure you and many others in the writing community have questions about and for Pitch Wars. Therefore, we are starting a series of blog posts to address the recent and important issues brought up surrounding things like: the fee; inclusivity within Pitch Wars; how Pitch Wars addresses concerns of the public; and what is happening with Pitch Wars going forward.

First, we would like to thank the community for its honest conversation surrounding issues related to Pitch Wars. We understand that your honesty cost many of you emotional labor and we want you to know that your voices have been heard. We want you to always feel comfortable sharing your concerns with us and asking questions, which can be done via the Pitch Wars Twitter account as well as the Pitch Wars curious cat account. We hope this will both allow open communication between the public and Pitch Wars as well as give us comments and suggestions for how to better the program. (more…)

Our 2018 Pitch Wars Schedule & New Mentoring Plan

We know that there have been a lot of questions about the status of Pitch Wars this year and our transition to a smaller program run by a committee of past mentors and mentees. On Monday, we’ll launch a series of blog posts addressing past issues and talking about the future of the program.

However, we do want to share a few important things with you regarding our mentors, our new Pitch Wars schedule, and our committee members. (more…)