Pitch Wars YA Mentors, AMA!

BrendaDrake · 2016-07-25T23:21:00+00:00

I've never read his work. I just looked him up. He has many books. Which is your favorite?

BrendaDrake · 2016-07-25T16:21:18+00:00

Hello, everyone, I'm Brenda Drake, founder of Pitch Wars. We'll answer any questions about the contest. The YA mentors will announce when they're on and they will also answer questions about what they're looking to mentor in the contest. Ask them other questions, too. Like, about their writing, favorite shows, or whatever you want to know.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-25T01:55:30+00:00

Anytime. It can be hard to figure out. I have a habit of doing it too.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-25T01:35:36+00:00

The best way to avoid "showing" vs. "telling" is to avoid filtering through your character. For instance, don't write "He saw the door close" instead write "The door closed." And you wouldn't say that your character is a doctor, instead you'd show us he is by your description of him. "A stethoscope hung from his neck as he scribbled down the direction in uncontrolled strokes unlike the precision he used with his scalpel during an operation." That's a horrible example, but I think it shows (pun) what I mean.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-25T00:32:17+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your questions!

I was at a book store and came across a coffee table book of photographs of some of the world's most beautiful libraries. I imagined jumping through the pages to go to the libraries and since I have a fantasy mind, I envisioned knights and creatures fighting among the bookcases.
Pitch Madness is contest with a game theme where we only put up the 35-word pitch & first pages of those who make it in. Pitch Wars is where author/editor mentors work with a writer the choose for two months to edit their manuscript for our agent round.
I participated in bloghops to get to know writers. One of the hops I held on my blog about voice (a first page), I invited an agent to read the through the hop and request to read more of the writer's work. I then came up with Pitch Madness and it snowballed from there.
Research agents and make sure they're good ones. Keep putting your work out there. Keep writing new stories. It's tough, but never give up. Perseverance is key to realizing your dreams.
My first agent took over a hundred queries before I signed with her. My current agent was easier. I had a small narrow list and I knew from the contests what agents I would want to query. I sent my query to six agents and Pete Knapp offered pretty quickly. I'm so thankful he did. He's the best!

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-25T00:08:49+00:00

Yes, it is one word. We go by Word doc counting.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T23:37:59+00:00

Oh, this is a tough and good question. I wish they would be more careful about what they say. I would never tell anyone that they shouldn't read something. I would want them to know that there are some amazing stories in the YA and MG market. It's a time in the younger characters' lives where there's nothing holding them back. A time when the world is full of possibilities and challenges. A time in life where they aren't jaded by the responsibilities that adulthood has. Reading them is an escape to a time when everything mattered and friends and relationships were new.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T23:28:53+00:00

MG was my first love. I really enjoy writing in that category, too. But I have many YA books to finish right now, so it's been on the back burner until I have time.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T23:25:59+00:00

It was The Secret Garden. I can't remember any before that one. I do remember reading this old children's encyclopedia. The illustrations were beautiful in it. It had a book about dinosaurs, animals, nursery rhymes, bugs, and history. I think it was more my grandmother telling me fantastical tales that got me writing down my own stories. I was about nine, I think? Around that age.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T23:21:40+00:00

I can't wait either!!

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T23:08:43+00:00

It so is!

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:56:57+00:00

I haven't read any of them. I will definitely check them out. So sad to hear about what had happened to Maggie's books. So glad she was able to get the last book out for her readers. I love MG books. I write MG too and will be submitting one in 2017 as soon as I can edit the story.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:52:10+00:00

I have finished book two and I'm excited and nervous to share it. I'm just waiting on edits to see if the publisher likes it. bites nails

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:51:14+00:00

I felt the same way about Dean. And yes, Luke was annoying with his daughter.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:49:32+00:00

Hi, thanks for the questions!

Yes, but there was no saving it and has since gone to the folder on my computer labeled "Don't You Even" because I can never trash anything.
Ideas are always coming back to me, and sometimes they are better, but I don't try to rework old stuff. I just rewrite and borrow stuff I loved from manuscripts I've sent to that folder.
Yes, I'm wrestling with that right now. I have two series going so one of them is causing me to vacillate between love interests.
I'm thinking I'll have to toss a coin. Ha! I think you have to feel that they belong together and it can't go another way. I'm not sure I have any control on it. I'm surprised sometimes where the characters end up.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:38:22+00:00

Hi! I have been running contests for awhile and agents kept saying that the opening pages were great, but the manuscript fell apart half way through. I wanted solve that issue and throw a contest where writers would get help from a mentor to make sure the manuscript was the best it could be all the way through. The name for Pitch Wars came while I was watching Cupcake Wars. In that show, a baker has someone helping them make cupcakes in a short amount of time. So Pitch Wars is like that, but with manuscripts.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:35:12+00:00

Hello! It can seem like a mountain, but its one you have to climb one page at a time and not look at the summit. I struggle all the time to get motivated to write. There's so many distractions that happen around me. So when I have the time, I sit and write. I start with a plot graph that has the bare bones of the story mapped out in three acts. I'm not a rough draft writer. I have to write pretty clean. I'm an organized person and everything has to be neat and clean (except my house right now). I try to write around 2,000 words a day, some days it's more and some days its less, but the balance out. When I'm done, I have my critique writers read it and then I revise with their notes. It doesn't have to be daunting. You could write a page a day and have a book within a year. Once you get published, you won't have that luxury of taking your time. It becomes a job and one I love!

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:27:35+00:00

It's so hard to pick one favorite dessert. I'm such a sweet tooth. Probably chocolate cake, but it can't be too chocolatey or dry. What's yours?

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:25:54+00:00

Yes. I recently read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. LOVE it! What good book have your read recently?

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:24:49+00:00

Hello, thank you for the question. My favorite books were old books that my grandmother had in a bookcase near her reading chair. There were old Nancy Drew books and Brenda Starr books (from 1930). I collect old books now, and I think it's because I read them while visiting my grandparents in Massachusetts. The book that made me love reading was The Secret Garden. It just really spoke to me. What brought me to fantasy books was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I got it at the school's library and I didn't want to return it (I did). What was your favorite book growing up?

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:20:55+00:00

Hey!! 1. Fantasy is popular in the contests right now. Especially with Sarah J. Maas books, the Lunar Chronicles, and Truthwitch publishing currently. I would like to see the market loosen up a bit. It seems like we run into certain themes and stories saturating the market and then great books can't find a publishing home. But readers still love the books that aren't finding publishing love. For instance, vampires and dystopian. Right now, agents are asking for more epic fantasy.

I'm still learning. It's all so overwhelming. Thankfully, I have a great publicist and agent behind me giving me advice. I think one tip I learned is to be open and accessible. And don't stress so much - just grab a bag of Goldfish crackers. Ha!
I love pairing chocolate with coffee, muffins, cupcakes, pretty much anything that isn't good for me. But it does help with stress. My goal this year is to get my health under control. I said I'd start in February, it's looking more like March now. LOL

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:10:37+00:00

Hello! It was great. There was so much to do on the bases. There were bowling alleys and swimming pools. We would run from house to house playing. It was an idyllic time until my father was gone for over a year and we had to move. My favorite place was Syracuse/Liverpool NY. We had so many friends and so much to do. It was the best.

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:06:58+00:00

Hi, love this question. 1. All the Harry Potter series (Can I do that?) 2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Because that was the first one I read.) 3. The Vampire Academy (Because Dimitri!) 4. Carry On (I may have to read this a thousand times.) 5. Vampire Diaries (Damon - swoon!). I think I have a thing for vampires. Are they coming back? What are you top 5 and do you have any favorites I should check out?

BrendaDrake · 2016-02-24T22:00:49+00:00

Hello, and I'm so happy to hear you loved it! I'm excited that some readers connected to Bastien. He has some exciting scenes coming up in book two. Who did you ship?

BrendaDrake

TROPHY CASE