Alexa and Suzanne do Pitch Wars... again!

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!





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.




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






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.





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 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!

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us on twitter! @AlexaMBooks and @SuzannePark



Pitch Wars 2019 Adult Mentors' Wish Lists
  1. Paris Wynters
  2. Kathleen Barber (Accepts NA)
  3. Ian Barnes
  4. Mary Ann Marlowe (Accepts NA)
  5. Elizabeth Little
  6. Hayley Stone and Erin A. Tidwell
  7. Gwynne Jackson (Accepts NA)
  8. Maxym M. Martineau (Accepts NA)
  9. Katie Golding (Accepts NA)
  10. Ava Reid and Rachel Morris (Accepts NA)
  11. Carolyne Topdjian
  12. Natalka Burian
  13. Tim Akers
  14. Alex Segura
  15. Michelle Hauck and Carrie Callaghan (Accepts NA)
  16. Laura Brown (Accepts NA)
  17. Mia P. Manansala and Kellye Garrett (Accepts NA)
  18. Kerbie Addis and Ren Hutchings (Accepts NA)
  19. Susan Bishop Crispell (Accepts NA)
  20. Kelly Siskind and Heather Van Fleet (Accepts NA)
  21. Janet Walden-West and Anne Raven (Accepts NA)
  22. Kate Lansing (Accepts NA)
  23. Kristen Lepionka and Ernie Chiara
  24. Alexa Martin and Suzanne Park (Accepts NA)
  25. Gia de Cadenet (Accepts NA)
  26. Rob Hart
  27. Layne Fargo and Halley Sutton
  28. Michael Chorost (Accepts NA)
  29. Sarah Remy (Accepts NA)
  30. Nicole Glover (Accepts NA)
  31. Farah Heron (Accepts NA)
  32. Samantha Rajaram
  33. Keena Roberts (Accepts NA)
  34. Rebecca Enzor (Accepts NA)
  35. Matthew Quinn Martin (Accepts NA)
  36. Denny S. Bryce (Accepts NA)
  37. Meryl Wilsner and Rosie Danan (Accepts NA)
  38. P.J. Vernon and Kelly J. Ford (Accepts NA)
  39. Gladys Quinn (Accepts NA)
  40. Diana A. Hicks (Accepts NA)
  41. Damyanti Biswas
  42. Stephen Morgan (Accepts NA)

5 comments

  1. 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?
    Best,

    Faerl Marie

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi!
    Your 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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that means no to historical romance. We wouldn't be able to properly help that story. Thank you of asking!

      Delete