Hello, you beautiful Pitch Wars hopefuls! Welcome to our wishlist, we are so happy you're
here! If you stumbled across this and are wondering what in the world Pitch Wars is,
just click here to find out! And so you know early on, we are mentoring in the
Adult category!
just click here to find out! And so you know early on, we are mentoring in the
Adult category!
First, a little bit about us! This is our second year mentoring together and we are so thrilled
to be back! Our first mentee made her amazing manuscript sparkle and is now represented
by Katie Shea Boutillier at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. We can't wait to help another aspiring writer with their journey in this wild, but wonderful industry!
Alexa Martin is a writer and stay at home mom. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, she
recently made the move to Mexico with her husband and four kids. Besides the humidity,
not much has changed. You can still find her telling her kids to put their shoes on… again,
or catching up with her latest book boyfriend.
She was selected as a 2016 Pitch Wars mentor and is represented by Jessica Watterson at
Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. The Playbook series was inspired by the eight years she
spent as an NFL wife and is published by Berkley Romance. Her debut, Intercepted, was
optioned by Starz and G-Unit Films and Television. Unfiltered, her women's fiction debut,
will also be published with Berkley.
will also be published with Berkley.
Suzanne Park is a Korean-American writer who was born and raised in Tennessee. In her former life as a comedienne, she was a finalist in the Oxygen Network's "Girls Behaving Badly" talent search, and was also selected to appear on BET's "Coming to the Stage." She found
this to be the funniest thing in her comedy career because, well, she is not black. Suzanne
was also the winner of the Seattle Sierra Mist Comedy Competition, and was a semi-finalist
in NBC's "Stand Up For Diversity" showcase in San Francisco.
She was selected for PitchWars in 2016 and is represented by Brent Taylor of Triada US
Literary Agency. Her debut YA romantic comedy novel THE PERFECT ESCAPE releases in April 2020, followed by her Women’s Fiction rom-com LOATHE AT FIRST SIGHT in June 2020.
In her spare time, she procrastinates.
BOOKS/TV SHOWS/MOVIES WE LOVE (past and present)
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?- Mindy Kaling
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl- Issa Rae
Not the Girl You Marry- Andie J. Christopher
The Royal We- Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The Wedding Date, The Proposal, and The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
A Princess in Theory- Alyssa Cole
Kiss Quotient and Bride Test - Helen Hoang
Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
Emergency Contact - Mary H.K. Choi
The Overnight Socialite - Bridie Clark
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
The Mindy Project
Superstore
Grey’s Anatomy
Nailed It
Blackish/Grownish (sidenote, an adult version of Grownish would be AMAZING!)
Real Housewives of any city
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Hulu version! Think diverse, fun, refreshing!)
Girls Trip
Bad Moms
Pitch Perfect 1-3
Long Shot
Ocean's 8
Ocean's 8
WHAT WE WANT
Adult (age 20s and older) contemporary, voicey books with a strong (ideally
awkward) female main character. Think Mindy Kaling. Issa Rae. Jane the Virgin. We
love ensembles, too! We will accept N/A.
Fun coming of age arcs/stories
“Chick lit”
Rom-coms
Humorous upmarket lit
HEA (Happily ever after)
DIVERSITY PLEASE! *grabby hands*
#OWNVOICES PLEASE! *grabby hands*
Escapism: lighthearted themes throughout
We will accept contemporary romance, but again, we are looking for something along the
lines of a romantic comedy. If 50 Shades is your comp, we are not the mentors for you.
awkward) female main character. Think Mindy Kaling. Issa Rae. Jane the Virgin. We
love ensembles, too! We will accept N/A.
Fun coming of age arcs/stories
“Chick lit”
Rom-coms
Humorous upmarket lit
HEA (Happily ever after)
DIVERSITY PLEASE! *grabby hands*
#OWNVOICES PLEASE! *grabby hands*
Escapism: lighthearted themes throughout
We will accept contemporary romance, but again, we are looking for something along the
lines of a romantic comedy. If 50 Shades is your comp, we are not the mentors for you.
WHAT WE DO NOT WANT
Please...
No horror
No paranormal
No sci-fi
No fantasy
No historical
No literary
No erotica
Nothing categorized as YA or Romance (we like YA and Romance, but we are
mentoring Adult, specifically Women’s Fiction)
mentoring Adult, specifically Women’s Fiction)
MENTORING STYLE
Maybe it’s the moms in us...we offer a delightful combination of nurturing + tough love. As
former mentees, we know the hard work you will put into your manuscript and we are here
to cheer you on as well as make sure you come out with a not only a stronger manuscript,
but a stronger understanding of your craft. Our strengths include dialogue, pacing, and
characterization. We will send you an edit letter filled with what we love… and what needs
love, but we promise, it won’t be 15 pages!
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR IN A MENTEE
A fun, yet hard-working, roll-up-your-sleeves type!
If this fits you and your manuscript, send it our way! We are looking forward to meeting you, our amazing, future mentee!
- Paris Wynters
- Kathleen Barber (Accepts NA)
- Ian Barnes
- Mary Ann Marlowe (Accepts NA)
- Elizabeth Little
- Hayley Stone and Erin A. Tidwell
- Gwynne Jackson (Accepts NA)
- Maxym M. Martineau (Accepts NA)
- Katie Golding (Accepts NA)
- Ava Reid and Rachel Morris (Accepts NA)
- Carolyne Topdjian
- Natalka Burian
- Tim Akers
- Alex Segura
- Michelle Hauck and Carrie Callaghan (Accepts NA)
- Laura Brown (Accepts NA)
- Mia P. Manansala and Kellye Garrett (Accepts NA)
- Kerbie Addis and Ren Hutchings (Accepts NA)
- Susan Bishop Crispell (Accepts NA)
- Kelly Siskind and Heather Van Fleet (Accepts NA)
- Janet Walden-West and Anne Raven (Accepts NA)
- Kate Lansing (Accepts NA)
- Kristen Lepionka and Ernie Chiara
- Alexa Martin and Suzanne Park (Accepts NA)
- Gia de Cadenet (Accepts NA)
- Rob Hart
- Layne Fargo and Halley Sutton
- Michael Chorost (Accepts NA)
- Sarah Remy (Accepts NA)
- Nicole Glover (Accepts NA)
- Farah Heron (Accepts NA)
- Samantha Rajaram
- Keena Roberts (Accepts NA)
- Rebecca Enzor (Accepts NA)
- Matthew Quinn Martin (Accepts NA)
- Denny S. Bryce (Accepts NA)
- Meryl Wilsner and Rosie Danan (Accepts NA)
- P.J. Vernon and Kelly J. Ford (Accepts NA)
- Gladys Quinn (Accepts NA)
- Diana A. Hicks (Accepts NA)
- Damyanti Biswas
- Stephen Morgan (Accepts NA)
Hello! Thanks for the wish list. Y'all mention a preference for romantic comedy, but would you consider an MS without a strong comedic element?
ReplyDeleteBest,
Faerl Marie
Hi Faerl! Thank you for asking! I think it depends on how you would categorize your manuscript. If it is women's fiction with a romantic element, send it over! If it's contemporary romance without a comedic element, maybe there is another mentor that would be a better fit. However, if you have a really strong voice, we can be swayed!
ReplyDeleteLovely answer. Thank you!
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteYour wantsvlist says yes to HEA and romance but not wants list says no to Historical. So does that mean you don't want historical romance?
Thank you for clarifying!
Royaline
Yes, that means no to historical romance. We wouldn't be able to properly help that story. Thank you of asking!
Delete