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| My mentor and co-mentor, Mónica, and I met up on a beach in Florida. |
Pitch Wars
2016 is just around the corner! One of the best features of the Pitch Wars
contest is that writers get the opportunity to work with mentors who help them
strengthen their manuscripts before submitting to agents. Best of all, writers can
choose which mentors to apply to. That way, if they are selected as mentees,
they know they’ll be working with someone whose opinions they value.
So how does one go about deciding which mentors to apply to,
and how, exactly does having a Pitch Wars mentor work?
Since I had the tremendous good fortune to be selected as a
mentee in 2014 and as a co-mentor in 2015, I thought I could share some tips
from both sides of the Pitch Wars experience.
***Opinions are mine;
please refer to Brenda Drake’s
website for all official Pitch
Wars rules, information, and guidelines.***
How to choose
The process begins when mentors’ wish lists go live on July
20. Brenda’s website will have links
to all the mentor blogs, and each mentor will post a brief bio and detailed information
about what categories and genres they are seeking, taste preferences,
expectations, and other useful tidbits. So, of course step one is to read the
mentor wish lists!
You will definitely want to take notes, and using a
spreadsheet or some sort of organizational system will help track mentor
information. You can immediately narrow your mentor list to those seeking the
category and genre you write. (Seems obvious, but there are always a few wasted
entries submitted to someone not mentoring that genre.) If a mentor mentions
special interest in something specific that your manuscript has (could be
horses, a particular period setting, LGBTQ, rare fairy tale retellings, etc.),
that’s a strong indicator that they might be a good choice for you. Mentor
wishlists may also discuss mentoring style, and you may get a sense of personality.
In addition, some mentors take part in Workshops (on Brenda’s website), and Live Chats.
These are great sources of information about the mentors and their styles and
personalities.
Once you have a “short list” of potential mentors who are
seeking the type of manuscript you’re writing, you will probably want to do a
bit of stalking on twitter and/or other social media sites and blogs to find
out more. You can check out any books mentors have published or that will be
coming out, who their agents are, and who they’ve mentored in previous years.
All these tidbits may leave your head spinning, which is where a good
note-keeping system can be a huge help.
Finally, for mentors who have been involved with Pitch Wars (or
other contests) in previous years, I highly recommend checking out their
previous entries. This is what lead me to apply to the person who ultimately
became my mentor (and now co-mentor) Mónica
Bustamante Wagner. I loved the writing and concept of her previous year’s
entry, and I figured that if we had similar taste in that respect, then there
was a better chance that she would like my manuscript. Furthermore, I felt I
could confidently rely on her judgement, knowing that she had similar values in
terms of story and writing style.
Now what?
So you’ve applied to carefully-selected mentors, and you’ve waited
through the grueling weeks until the mentor picks are revealed, and—HURRAY!!—you’ve
been selected as a Pitch Wars finalist! Now your mentor will provide you with
feedback to help you take your manuscript to the next level.
I was beyond thrilled when I received feedback from my
mentor, Mónica; I knew, immediately, that she had discovered the key to
fixing an issue that had been plaguing my manuscript and preventing me from
moving forward.
Communication
But what if your mentor suggests something you don’t agree
with? At some point in the revision process, Mónica advised me that my
characters “laughed” too much and suggested that I could substitute the word, “chuckle.”
But, for me, the word, “chuckle” has very specific connotations: an old man can
chuckle, but my MC would never chuckle! The word didn’t fit my manuscript’s
voice, in my opinion. Timidly, I explained this to Mónica. And of course
she replied with something like, “Okay, no problem, just find other ways to fix
your overuse of ‘laugh.’”
I believe communication is the key to a successful mentor-mentee
relationship. Don’t understand a suggestion? Communicate. Wondering when you’ll
get notes? Communicate. Disagree with something? Communicate. Confused by what
other mentees are saying? Communicate. Completely and utterly freaking out
about everything? Communicate.
Respect
At the same time, mentors have varying communication styles
and schedules, and it’s also important to be respectful of your mentor’s time. Communicating
every time you’re unsure of where to put a comma would probably be a bit much.
Your mentor selected your manuscript from among the many
they received, and they are volunteering their time because they believe in you
and your manuscript and want to help you move forward with your writing dreams.
By respecting your mentor’s time and effort, and communicating honestly, you
can make the most of your Pitch Wars experience.
Questions or tips about finding and working with a mentor?
Please add a comment!
