Hi friends! I can’t believe how quickly the Pitch Wars window has flown by! (Easy for me to say since I’m not waiting for any kind of announcement!) This time last year I was anxiously awaiting the mentee announcements, stress eating like nobody’s business, and heavily relying on my PW support group to get me through those last few days. For today’s advice post, I really want to focus on what happens next for those who are chosen, along with some tips for those who are not this year. And as always, feel free to comment with any questions, or DM me on Twitter (@falonloveslife).
I want to preface this first section with something that is going to make me sound a bit like an asshole. I have some tips for those who are not chosen for Pitch Wars, but full disclosure, I only applied one time and it was the time I was selected. HOWEVER. The journey to publication is rife with rejection, so while I may not understand this particular sting, I have certainly experienced plenty of others. So let’s get to it!
What To Do If You’re Not Chosen For Pitch Wars:
–Feel all your feels. Seriously. Rejection is hard, no matter how many times you might experience it. Allow yourself to feel however you need to feel. Don’t feel obligated to express false emotions just for the sake of it. If you need to wallow for a couple of days, do it. If you need to not acknowledge it and move on, do it. Do what you gotta do.
–This kind of goes along with the first tip, but make sure to practice self care. That looks different for everyone, only you know what works best for you, but whatever it is you need to do, do it. Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally.
–Hopefully during the waiting period, you made some new writer friends. Now is the time to lean on them! Of course you can share your misery with friends and family, but no one quite understands the struggle like other writers. Even if you have writer friends who didn’t enter Pitch Wars, they will be able to provide you with support, because (again) rejection is par for the course in the writing game.
–If you didn’t find your trusty band of fellow writers during the Pitch Wars waiting period, use this time to find new writer friends. Seriously, this will continue to be a tip because you need these people in your life!
–Remember that the majority of people do not find their agents through PW, but through good old-fashioned querying. I have multiple friends who applied for PW and weren’t chosen and ended up signing with agents in the weeks/months that followed. This is not the end all be all!
–Keep writing. This is the number one tip, not just for PW rejection, but for all rejections. They hurt. They sting. Sometimes they make you question why you’re even doing this. But no matter what, keep writing.
–Remember that no matter what else, YOU WROTE A BOOK. How many people in this world can say that? You wrote a whole ass book and that’s something to be proud of.
What To Do If You’re Chosen For Pitch Wars:
–Celebrate! Congratulations! You did it! Welcome to the Pitch Wars crew! I know I personally immediately burst into tears when I saw my name on the list, then promptly had a dance party with my husband and kid (who didn’t understand why I was crying). Take some time to revel in the good news before the business starts…
–Now comes the business! After celebrating and freaking out on Twitter, things will get serious. You’ll be sent a Pitch Wars handbook. Read it carefully as it lays out exactly how the PW process works, what you can expect from your mentors, and what to do if you have problems.
–At some point in the first week or two, your mentor(s) will send you an edit letter and likely set up some kind of video chat to go over the letter and talk about the vision for your manuscript. This can be kind of a nerve-wracking wait, but it will go quickly. Once you have your edits, I highly, highly recommend setting up a schedule for yourself. I am not exaggerating when I say I worked on my revisions every. single. day. From the time I got my letter, to the time my draft was done, I think I took one day off. I wrote on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s going to be a lot of work in a short amount of time, so having a schedule is vital. Figure out what time of the day works best for you and try to work during that time period each day. For me, I mostly wrote while my kid was at school because I had the house to myself. Make a plan and stick to it the best you can.
–Don’t compare your process to everyone else’s. If you can learn how to do this, it will serve you well, long beyond your PW experience. Even in a situation like PW where everyone is going through the same thing, everyone will have a different experience. Some mentors do way more than they are asked. Some do exactly as much as promised in the handbook. Some mentees become friends with their mentors. Some don’t. Some mentors hype their mentees books on Twitter. Some mentors don’t use social media. There is always going to be the urge to compare your experience with other people’s, and I totally get that urge, but avoid it as much as possible. Focus on the work.
–Part of the reason you’ll even be able to compare experiences is because you will chat with other mentees throughout the process. You guys will have a Facebook group (moderated by PW leadership), and often times, there will be breakout groups that form, whether on Twitter or Slack, or whatever the platform du jour might be. These groups are great as your fellow mentees are an awesome resource. But they can also be a distraction. So don’t get too wrapped up in other people’s business. And stay out of the drama ;o)
–BUT you totally should find your buddy somewhere in your class of fellow mentees. I didn’t find my buddy until the showcase (more on that in an upcoming post), mostly because I was so focused on my revisions and they took up almost all of my free time. But once I did find her, she became invaluable to me as a writer. I texted her to ask what I should write in this post. She was the first to read my latest manuscript. You might get lucky and find more than one person to be your PWBFF, but my advice is to go for quality over quantity.
–Communicate openly with your mentors. This process is overwhelming. And if you are anything like me, you might not want to “bother” your mentor unnecessarily. But your mentor is there to help you so do your best to communicate honestly. If you are struggling, or something feels not right, let them know. They want to help you!
–As the showcase draws near, attempt to temper your expectations. Again, easier said than done, I get it. There is a lot of pressure around the showcase, and there’s also that hint of competition and comparison. Try not to focus on how many requests you get or how quickly you get an offer. It’s actually not a competition at all in the slightest, so if you can change your mindset going in, it will only benefit you. The goal is to find the agent who loves your book as much as you do, not get the most requests or the first offer. I’m going to talk more about the showcase in a later post, but for now, my advice is to put the showcase out of your mind, and turn all your attention to your revisions.
There are so many great things you can take away from the Pitch Wars application period, whether you make it or not, and whether or not your name is on that list in a few days, you should be so proud of yourself for a) writing a freaking book and b) putting yourself out there. Good luck to everyone and I’m rooting for all of you!
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