Hello, potential #pitchwars mentees. I’m glad you’re here. I wish I could mentor all of you.

Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each with whom they’ll spend three months revising their manuscript. It ends in February with an Agent Showcase, where agents can read a pitch/first page and can request to read more.

About me:

I’m mentoring in the YA category (but not NA), and my pronouns are she/her.

This is my first year mentoring in Pitch Wars but I mentor four writers with their whole novels each summer at the Highlights Whole Novel workshop.

My genres, awards, bestseller lists, etc: I write in three YA sub-genres: contemporary, fantasy (set in our contemporary realistic world), and suspense/thriller. I’ve published 10 YA novels so far, with an 11th under contract — with Penguin, Random House, and Candlewick. Sometimes my books win awards (National Book Award finalist, Edgar award winner, LA Times Book Prize finalist) and sometimes they sell well (New York Times bestseller). Sometimes, however, shockingly, my genius goes unappreciated! I love all my books, deeply. I grow with every one. And I’ve learned over a long career to keep dancing to my own particular drum no matter what, and to value most doing the work itself.

Recent reads: I was the kid who brought home a giant stack from the library every week. I still read all the time, in almost all genres (the exception is horror, which is not for me). Recent reads: Fifth Season trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (reread), Family Trust by Kathy Wang, Sadie by Courtney Summers, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, Half-Witch by John Schoffstall, Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor, The Women’s War by Jenna Glass, Golden HIll by Francis Spufford, Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, Dune by Frank Herbert (reread), Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (reread), Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells, Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.

Philosophy: I believe fiercely that your book needs to become its own best self, even if that means it’s quiet or quirky or weird, rather than being retrofitted to a perceived market niche or a particular agent/editor’s taste when that doesn’t match yours. The only way this can happen is if you learn to listen deeply to yourself as well as others—a lifelong practice; a difficult balance. There’s more about me and my writing philosophy over in Cynthia Leitich Smith’s “Survivor” blog series. (Note that some of the information there about my publishing life is outdated, but not how I feel about nurturing your writing.)

How long? Writing a YA novel takes me 2-5 years, depending on the book and what’s happening in my life. Big projects take me time; sometimes a lot of time. That’s okay. I have a long-haul personality, a day job, a lot of patience, and also a lot of hard-earned faith in myself and my process.

About agents: I choose to represent myself now, but was previously agented for many years. I believe that a new writer needs a good agent to publish traditionally in the current market, in most cases.

Communication style: As your mentor, I’ll write you long emails, and I’d hope we can do at least one Skype (or similar videochat app) session. I probably won’t want to work by phone. For a sense of what my notes would be like, check on September 17 for a first page critique on the Pitch Wars blog.

Grammar/spelling: I’m a stickler for clarity, which means I care tremendously about excellent grammar and spelling–barring those few typos that none of us can manage to eradicate completely, or some special situation. Writers need fluent, deep control of language down to the smallest detail.

About you, my mentee:

You are a lifelong, voracious reader.

You’re confident that you’re a good writer, even if right now your fictional craft is more seat-of-the-pants than it is conscious. (And I hope you think this is hilarious.)

You write one of the following kinds of YA fiction (but not NA):

Contemporary realistic
Suspense / murder / crime
Science fiction
Fantasy (with a strong realistic bent — i.e., real world with a magical element rather than full-on fantasy)

Then, mix and match, you might have some of the following randomly listed elements I happen to like … not an exhaustive list, however:

Feminism
Nerdiness
Romance (particularly if someone is misunderstood)
Sexual tension
Humor
Fear / Angst
Fairy tale elements
Judaism
A character on the autistic spectrum
Costumes / disguises
Boarding school setting
Friendship

If your book had some of the following, it would make me happy:

Characters who do what they really would do if they were real and in real trouble, rather than being puppets of your authorial will
Thoughtful, book- and writer-appropriate attention to inclusiveness and diversity
Skillful use of just the right details (e.g., see Holly Black’s use of “fish sticks” in the prologue to The Cruel Prince)
Emotional depth — or the promise that it will emerge with some courageous digging

And here’s something that makes me sit up straight with excitement, but is not fashionable right now, and many fear it. But sometimes it IS the right and perfect choice:

Omniscient authorial voice

A few things that aren’t for me:

Bloody, explicit horror (I am squeamish and prefer things to be implied)
“Bad boy” romances
Novels in verse (I like reading them, but don’t feel I have the craft tools to help effectively)
Sports settings/themes (I might be tempted to try, because the crucible of a sport can be an amazing setting for a YA contemporary, but no, there are better mentors out there for this than me)
High fantasy and animal fantasy
Anarchist or libertarian themes
Novels that end without hope
First book in an intended trilogy or series, unless the book feels complete in itself

I don’t care if you’re a plotter or a pantser. My opinion is that plot/pants is a fun binary that distracts from the truth that there are many ways to write a novel and your own method, whatever it is (and it’s way more complicated than plot/pants), will not only work, but it’ll work better for you than someone else’s method. In short, you’re not banging around in the dark because you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re banging around in the dark because that’s what writers do . . . until we figure each book out.

Pitch Wars 2019 Young Adult Mentors’ Wish Lists