Last year I was thrilled to be chosen as MĂłnica B.W.âs Pitch Wars mentee, and she helped me immensely, pushing my manuscript way above and beyond where it was to the point of being truly agent-ready. This year, Iâm SO excited that MĂłnica asked me to co-mentor with her, and now Iâll have the opportunity to pay it forward by helping MĂłnica help another writer reach the next level.
Weâll be looking for YA and NA manuscripts, and weâre going to polish one to take it with a tuxedo and a tie to the agentsâ round in November. And hopefully, this writer will get MANY offers of representation! *wink*
Now our bios and wishlist!
MĂłnicaâs Bio: Iâm a mother of three boys and owner of eleven hens. When Iâm not collecting laundry or eggs, I write YA fiction. Iâm represented by Lauren MacLeod of the Strothman Agency, and Iâve worked with many published YA authors, such as Francisco Stork, Gretchen McNeil, Debra Driza, Kasie West, Krista Van Dolzer, Stacey Leeâamong many others. Some of the entries I’ve picked in contests from slush have had nice deals and one even sold for a six-figure deal. I freelance, too, and I absolutely love helping writers hone their manuscripts. (Some days I even prefer to edit than to write!) My NA romance, FROSH, is coming from The Studio/ Paper Lantern Lit on Oct 20th 2015.
Susanâs Bio: Iâm the mom of two young adults, and I write young adult novels, represented by Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates. Iâm happiest when Iâm playing around with words (and occasionally music)âwhether the words belong to me or someone else. And Iâm especially happy doing this while cuddling with my dogs and a cup of tea. I have a BA in English Lit and taught Creative Writing to at-risk students at an alternative high school.
Wishlist:Â Let us tell you what we want to read this year, but first, hereâs what we DO NOT WANT (this is not a criticism of any genre, just our own preferences for PW this year):
-Dystopian.
-Post-apocalyptic.
-A novel written in verse (unless it’s done sparingly, like in WE WERE LIARS).
-A quiet novel, such as a teen losing someone they love and coping with this death.
-A novel thatâs over 100,000 words.
-Historicals (unless itâs historical fantasy). Yeah. Sorry. Last year MĂłnica was looking for historicals, but since this year weâre taking YA AND NA, we needed to narrow down the list.
-No zombies, vampires, or werewolves.
-Zoomed-out 3rd person POV. If itâs written in 3rd, we like it when it reads zoomed in the characterâs head/emotions/etc, and it feels almost as if itâs written in 1st person POV (like Rainbow Rowellâs books).
What we would LOVE to read in YA and NA:
Fantasy and Urban Fantasy YA/NA: We really love fantasy! But please donât send us something like Eragon (with its own language) or Lord of the Rings. Weâre interested in fantasy/UF more like: DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor, THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Steifvater, SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo, CRACKED by Eliza Crewe⊠Or something like MĂłnicaâs CP just sold: HEARTS MADE OF BLACK. Now, THAT kind of fantasy? Absolute crazy love!
Contemporary YA/NA: We love this genre. In fact, the first MS MĂłnica picked in Pitch Wars was a contemp. YA that did more than well in the agentsâ round. We want an original contemporary with a hookânothing that is too quiet (like we said above). Give us something fresh, and if it has romance, even better. We love girl POVs and guy POVs, love flawed characters that make you feel. We love Rainbow Rowell (although who doesnât, right?) and Stephanie Perkins. (BTW, MĂłnica has been so lucky to beta some awesome contemporary YAs, like THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West /Harper Teen 2012 and THE MEMORY OF LIGHT by Francisco X. Stork /Scholastic 2016.) Seriously, if you have a contemporary YA/NA, weâre your gals!
NA romance: If you have something original, with a twist, a mystery or something that intrigues us, and characters that feel real, weâd love to see it! For example: MĂłnica just picked this NA romance for The Writerâs Voice 2015 that did well in the agentsâ roundâsee how it has a twist? We also loved the voice in this entry. Voice in NA is very important. NA authors we like: Jennifer L. Armentrout, Tammara Webber, Katie Cotugno, Colleen Hoover, etc. If you have a NA with multiple POVs, like MĂłnicaâs FROSH, then weâd love to read it too (if it has more than 2 POV characters, only send it our way if itâs written in 3rd person POV).
Literary YA:Â If your MS is beautifully written with a lovely cadence and rhythm and characters that are complex and flawed and loveable at the same time, AND it has a commercial aspect, like an intriguing and hooking premise, please send it our way! An example of lovely literary prose would be Lauren DeStephanoâs WITHER. Or Nova Ren Sumaâs IMAGINARY GIRLS.
Sci-fi: Sci-fi isnât our favorite genre. But Susan has written a YA with a light sci-fi angle (which is the ms that caught her amazing agent) and MĂłnica has picked sci-fi in contests before. Like one of the mss she picked for The Writerâs Voice 2012 was a great YA sci-fi that later sold to Disney Hyperion. What weâre trying to say hereâwe read sci-fi. Weâre just VERY picky when it comes to it. But again, if we love it, we will definitely take it.
What would make us pick it? First, the voice. Second, if the sci-fi part in your book is just a small elementâsay, the setting is contemporary and thereâs only one scientific thing on the MS⊠then, that would be nice. Think the TV series Heroes. Thereâs a lot of superhero fantasy stuff, but thereâs also a little sci-fi thread in there, too. And the series isnât 100% sci-fi. And third, if your book has a nice romantic plot, or if it feels like an adventure (even if itâs set in outer space), then, weâll probably like it. Oh, and take a look at this sci-fi to see what we meanâwhich did awesome at The Writerâs voice 2015âŠ. if you have something unique like that, we want to see it!
Magical Realism YA/NA:Â SURE!!! As we mentioned above, MĂłnica loves IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma, and that is totally magical realism. Seriously. We love magical Realism.
Thriller YA/NA:Â MĂłnica loves the nature of this genreâthat it makes you flip pages because you really want to know what the heck is going on! And then thereâs always a twist that you hopefully didnât see coming and youâre like, WOW! Yeah. We want that. That said, if itâs a thriller, we want a romantic subplot (it doesnât have to be a huge romantic thing, just that thereâs a love interest). And we want the plot to focus on teens. Letâs explain: Sometimes YA thrillers include institutions like the FBA, CIA, whatever, and those are filled with grownups. Teens want to read about teens. So if your YA thriller has romance and focuses on teens, with an original plot and loveable characters (even villains have to be interesting!), then send it our way, please!
Paranormal YA/NA: It needs to be something reeeeally exceptional and unique to stand out. That said, there are cool paranormal premises that weâve seen over the years. Like last year, one mentee had a YA paranormal about the memory of objects. Weâd love to see unique paranormals that arenât the typical ghost/vampire falls for a human girl.
Horror YA (Not NA):Â Hard-core horror? No, thanks! But something with a little creepy vibe, weâre all for that! MĂłnica has betaed this kind of mss, tooâsheâs even in the acknowledgements of a YA light Horror published by Balzer & Bray, and she loved that book.
YA/NA Memoir: It has to be something original and that reads like fiction. We may fall in love with a YA or NA Memoir!
LGBT and WNDB YA/NA: As an example: MĂłnica picked a LGBT MG for The Writerâs Voice last year that got 10 agent requests. Why did she pick it? It had a fresh twist on a premise. If your ms has a VERY original twist, and itâs well written, and we love the voice, itâs very likely that weâll pick it. One diverse book we liked is SHINE by Lauren Myracle. It had a crime, a mystery, and the writing was lovely. Susan is a huge fan of Matt de la Penaâs writing, and MĂłnica recently hosted an agent-judged contest for diverse books. So yes! If you are a writer sharing the unique POV of an under-represented segment of the population, please send your diverse MS our way!
If you can think of any other YA or NA genre that we didnât mention, then SURPRISE US, and send it our wayâunless of course, itâs something we specifically said we donât want to read. đ  If we love your voice and writing, then we probably wonât care about the genre. If your sample pages show instead of tell and pull us into your story, and if youâre looking for honest, constructive feedback and willing to work hard to make your writing the very best it can be, we want to work with you! Let us know if you have questions for us in the comments section of this post.
Why should you pick us?
Susan is very nitpicky and thorough with her edits. After being MĂłnicaâs mentee in 2014, Susan betaed for her, and MĂłnica realized what a GREAT editor Susan was, and begged her to become her CP. So now weâre CPs and BFFs!
MĂłnicaâs former mentees, Missy Mitchell and Rachel Coleman, left testimonials, too:
âMonica is the mentor YOU need. First, she knows her stuff, which is totally important. She has a great eye for “big picture” and line-edits. She also helped brainstorm ideas with me to help bring my MS to the next level. And availability?? I have to tell you, Monica was available at a moment’s notice. She was super fast with her edits and responses, even if I would send a regular old email to just talk about a MS idea. << This is super important during #pitchwars. Most important, I received offers from agentS and am now talking with publishers. ‘Tis true!! So you should choose her. She’s the one!â —Missy Mitchell
“Working with Monica was sort of like earning a mini MFA in creative writing, she’s that good! She worked on big picture things like cutting out an entire POV character; changing the “telly” parts of my MS to sound more like the internal monologue of my protagonist; as well as the minute details like word choice, grammar, and punctuation. When she finds something that doesn’t work, she not only tells you why but also offers brilliant suggestions for fixing it. She has a knack for understanding the kind of story you are trying to tell, and then making your MS shine. She’s also incredibly nurturing, finding ways to make every critique feel like a compliment. If you’re looking for someone to cheer you on, and be super tough at the same time, you’ve found her. She’s quick to respond (like supernaturally quick. I don’t know how she does it!) and continues to keep in touch and mentor me long after the PitchWars contest is over. After working with her, I’ve had full requests from every agent I’ve queried. If you don’t get chosen to be her mentee, you should totally hire her as a freelance editor!” —Rachel Coleman
Also, you may want to check out MĂłnicaâs Editorial Services page, because there are other testimonials there. And you can read the Love YA success stories, too.
And you should pick us because weâre going to make you work so hard, youâll fall off the grid while revising your MS we have lots of experience editing mss, and we can help you take your manuscript to the next level, with everything from brainstorming to line-edits. And because weâll have fun in the process!
Summing up, PICK US! đ
†Susan and Mónica
CLICK HERE to see the other mentor blogs!
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