Pitchwars 101: An Overview

If you're anything like me, you stay on the fence about everything until the very last possible minute. This series of short, last minute posts will hopefully be helpful to anyone still unsure about the contest itself, the query, the first chapter, and the synopsis. 

• Everyone's experience is different. I know people who worked with their mentors to rewrite their book in the two month period. I know people who only had to line-edit. There really is a spectrum for everything--the amount of revision, your closeness with your mentor, etc. For example, Mara and I were close (and we remained friends and CP's long after the contest) but I'm sure there were other mentees and mentors who were "closer" in the sense that they emailed each other every single day, gif-warred on twitter, etc. It worked out that I tend to retreat when I write and revise, so Mara and I mostly checked in every week or so. I turned in my materials on time, and Mara read them and gave comments promptly. So if you enter Pitchwars, just remember that no mentee-mentor relationship is exactly the same. That's part of the magic--the experience is really what you and your mentor decide to make it.
  
• I've been in some other contests before, and I have to say that the Pitchwars community is unparalleled. Maybe it's because it's less of a contest and more of a process, and you're in it for 2+ months, but your fellow mentees will become your people even if you are the most introverted, awkward, shy person ever (Exhibit A: me).
  
• The two months will pass really quickly. I was in school while revision round was happening, and before I knew it, August had become the end of October, and Agent Round was just around the corner. For some, these two months will be utterly crazy. I mostly was editing to up the tension and pacing in the first 50 or so pages, so it wasn't overly intense, but juggling assignments and exams was still a pain. Buy yourself a planner if you don't have one already--it will become your best friend.
  
• The agent round is stressful for everyone, whether you're in the tons-of-requests club, the Zero-Request-Club, or somewhere in between. There's really no way to get around the stress, so make sure you fill up your day with positive things, people, and activities.
  
• After the contest, people's paths will start to diverge. Some will get immediate offers of representation out of the Agent round, which will lead into immediate book deals. Some will get immediate offers, but fail to get that immediate book deal. Some will land great agents at great agencies months after the contest. And some will ultimately move on and write another book, and try the whole process all over again. Some, like me, will be in the middle (I got my agent about 2 months after the end of the contest, right around the holiday season, and...I am currently rewriting my PW book). There really are infinite permutations of where your writing road might turn post-PW, and as long as you keep that in mind, it won't feel like you're being left behind.
  
• If you don't get into the contest, just remember this: there are two main factors involved in whether or not someone gets picked: quality and luck. Quality means the quality of your submission materials. If you've had multiple eyes on your first chapter, query, and synopsis, and you know that objectively they are as good as you could have gotten them, then it boils down to luck. Did you submit to the "right" mentors? Did your mentors get a lot of submissions in your genre, or few? Did you not submit to the "right" mentors, but did that kind person pass you on to someone he/she thought would be a better fit? I was a case where I had not submitted to Mara, and some super amazing mentor whom I had submitted to passed me along because Mara wanted some more fantasy subs. So all the pieces aligned for me, luckily. But constantly, I imagine if I hadn't been passed onto to Mara. There's a very likely chance I wouldn't have made it into Pitchwars. Or maybe I would have. No one knows. 

So there we have it, very brief overview of what PW is like, based on my experiences from last year. If you have any questions, comment below, or find me on twitter. Stay tuned for a brief post on the query portion of your submission!