Okay, so Pitch Wars time is coming around, and I’ve got some things to say about it.
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I didn’t win Pitch Wars, but watch for THE OUTS coming out in 2017, anyway
For starters, let me just put it out there that I didn’t get an agent out of Pitch Wars specifically. I do have an agent (the absolutely AWESOME Erin Young at DGLM), but not because of my Pitch Wars manuscript.
I loved my Pitch Wars submission. THE OUTS is a YA sci-fi thriller with mind-bending Inception-level craziness, comics references, and a Jekyll/Hyde relationship that gives me the creeps. My mentor J.A. Souders (her new book REBELLION just came out… buy it!) was awesome. She worked with me through the whole process, and when we queried I got lots of bites from some ah-MAZ-ing agents, many of whom I still communicate with.
But the agents weren’t quite sold. Something about the manuscript just didn’t fit for them all.
That’s okay, though, because the manuscript was picked up by Curiosity Quills off a completely different Twitter competition. NOTE: THE OUTS is scheduled for release Jan 24, 2017. Watch for it.
So no, Pitch Wars didn’t get me an agent. Technically, Pitch Wars didn’t get me the small press deal, either. But right here, right now, I’m telling you that if you have a great manuscript you’re undyingly excited about and want to keep moving forward into a publishing journey, you owe it to yourself to participate. And here’s why…
No, Pitch Wars didn’t get me an agent, but it did give me one of the most amazing support groups I’ve ever seen. The Pitch Wars class of 2015 are some of the best people I know, and some unbelievably talented authors. I talk with last year’s mentees daily. They share their publishing journey with me, and I get to do the same. Many are some of the best advice givers I’ve met (looking at you, Mike Mammay). A ton of them have given me awesome beta reads on my new manuscripts, and they’re always there to give their insight and experience when I have a question. And the support… man, that support…
Publishing can be a lonely business, and there aren’t a lot of affirmations along the way. If you’re accepted into Pitch Wars, you’ve got an awesome affirmation. You’ve got people to share the struggle with. You’ve got others to give you wisdom when you need it, and talk you off the edge when you’re freaking out about all the rejections, and the silence, and the why-don’t-they-see-what-I-see-ness.
No, Pitch Wars didn’t get me an agent right away, but being connected with an awesome support system and people who lift one another up gave me some of the confidence to keep going, and some of the insight to make my next book better, and some of the experience to know what to look for. And now I’m looking to go on sub with an amazing agent in September, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Pitch Wars didn’t get me my agent, but the Pitch Wars community helped, more than I can express. And if you’re an author who’s serious about getting into this business, you owe it to yourself to connect with people like this.
Do it. Submit. Submit.
The post I didn’t get my agent through #pitchwars. Here’s why you should join Pitch Wars anyway. appeared first on E.S. Wesley.