It is very slowly starting to sink in...I didn't dream it........
I ACTUALLY GOT INTO FREAKING PITCH WARS!!!!!
2020 has been a cataclysm of a year in so many ways, but I would never have guessed I'd come out of the mother-of-a-lockdown we had going on here in Melbourne, as a 2020 Pitch Wars Mentee.
What is Pitch Wars? Just the most EPIC writer mentoring program on the planet.
Every year the competition attracts many thousands of writers hoping to score a mentorship with handpicked professionals in the industry. Each mentor reads hundreds of submissions and selects one mentee to work with, to whip their manuscript into the best shape it can be for an agent showcase at the end of the mentoring period.
This year, I was one of the lucky writers to be chosen as a Pitch Wars Mentee by the amazing Aty S. Behsam.
I've been low key stalking the competition, its mentors and mentees for a good couple years now (>_<) so actually getting in is surreal.
A bit about my journey to this point:
I started writing my Pitch Wars manuscript, Society of the Unseen, about three years ago. Back then it was a middle grade manuscript.
I rewrote my entire manuscript after a SCBWI partial assessment where the editor pointed out my writing voice leaned naturally to YA . It was gruelling work rewriting, but I was sure it was the best version ever.......fast forward to my submission to Pitch Wars 2019 where I got zero requests. My queries to agents had also begun bouncing back and I was left wondering what to do with it.
Back in mid 2018, when I first started to query the middle grade version, I stopped about 5 queries in because I couldn't shake the feeling something was off...that the story just wasn't yet *there* yet.
It kind of felt like that was happening again.
The year prior to this, I had won a competition to have my first book, a middle grade titled Gregory and the Grimbockle, published by a new indie press. It was a great experience, but things ultimately didn't turn out quite how I expected and my debut book went off with more of a fizzle than a bang. Back then I didn't REALLY get the industry at all, and I realised that was my own fault.
I took a full year doing every writing course I could (and couldn't (>v<)) afford and going to every event I could find.
I wrote and rewrote, and rewrote again. Somewhere along the way I started to doubt the story and worry it might never be enough.
I decided to leave it alone for a while and work on other things.
But for some reason this bizarre dragon book baby just wouldn't leave me alone.
Everyone says it, but it's true. Even if you don't get into Pitch Wars, the community you meet along the way is incredible. I found my kindred spirit critique partner, Jessie Heninger, through Pitch Wars social media networking last year. Together we cheered each other on all year and gave each other the kind of feed back we needed to progress.
I also saved up to do a reader report with former Pitch Wars mentor turned New York Times best selling author, Adalyn Grace. That report saw me do almost a complete rewrite of the story AGAIN.
I thought after all that, it must surely be ready. But once again, I had that sinking feeling as I started to query.
At this point I felt like I'd taken the book as far as I could alone, that I would need help to get it further and so I entered Pitch Wars again. This time my mindset was so different. I would give it my best shot but not expect anything.
I had been following Aty on Instagram since Pitch Wars last year and was convinced that she would love my weird, messed up dragon book baby because of our shared anime obsession. Aty is a creative wondrous explosion of a person. And when I saw her speaking on one of the mentor YouTube lives I was struck by how much heart and depth she had.
Aty was my absolute top pick from my mentors, so when I got her initial request for more material I was beside myself.
The following weeks were torture . There is a lot of talented writer peeps who submit to Pitch Wars. I knew it could just as easily be any of them as me.
When that final email came in saying that I'd been chosen I had to check it so many times to make sure it was really my name. That she actually sent it to the right person.
And so here we are now! To where I'm editing my guts out and rewriting things for the umpteenth time, because that's how the magic happens! I'm so glad I didn't ignore this story. Because it taught me so many things about being a writer and it brought me to this point. I couldn't be prouder of this new round of revisions and I can't wait to share it with all of you (hopefully) soon.