Turning the Man-u-stuck Into a Manuscript

Welcome to Pitch Wars! If you haven't dipped your toe into these waters before, starting is simple--match yourself with the mentor that best suits your interests, writing style, and the perfect fit for your manuscript. What's not so easy comes next: months of editing, possibly killing off characters, and not being butthurt when your mentor tells you the truth about your ugly baby (all manuscripts are ugly babies).

About me
I'm the author of four books: Zombie Tarot (Adult - Quirk Books); Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls, and Other Creepy Collectibles (Adult - Llewellyn); The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide (MG - Sourcebooks Jabberwocky); and The Boxcar Children Guide to Adventure (MG - Albert Whitman & Company). I am also the author of one screenplay and multiple published short stories. I was the founder and editor of the humor website, An Army of Ermas, and have additional websites at The Zombie Dating Guide and Wee Ghosties: A Beginner's Guide to Ghost Hunting. I blog for the Huffington Post. My work has been featured in BUST and Rue Morgue Magazines, and Zombie Tarot was chosen as a Summer Reading Pick by the Los Angeles Times in 2012.

If you'd like to learn more about my books and websites, please click on the Books & Media page above.

You may have noticed a trend here: I like spooky. Even the Boxcar book had its creepy moments. I'm looking for middle-grade books that focus on the fuzzy bits of life that we can't always define. Special preference will go to well-crafted ghost stories. I also love humor so if your first chapter has me snorting and scaring my dogs--you're in like Flynn.


Books I love

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
• The Graveyard Book
• Nancy Drew series
• Superfudge

What I'm looking for

• Clever characters that aren't know-it-alls
• Well-developed sub-characters 
• Creepy humor
• Flat-out humor
• Manuscripts that have been well-edited before they head my way. No first drafts, please
• Ghost stories or mysteries that aren't blamed on the dog
• "Strange little girl" protagonists (think Merricat Blackwood) 
• Authors that want to learn the business of being a working writer

What I am not looking for

• MG is tightly written. Please no projects over 55,000 words unless it's a whiz-bang of a story and you don't mind slashing chapters
• No fantasy

But wait, there's more!

What can I offer an writer looking for more than a quick tumble in a Twitter contest?

• One-on-one editing: We'll look for plot holes, boost character development, and be an overall pain-in-the-butt until the manusuck turns into a manuscript
• Advice on the seedier side of being an author: marketing, social media, when to say no to one more pencil at an author table, book signings, what's the real skinny on being a working writer, and time management skills 

Additional bits
I am a freelance editor and an apprentice agent for Red Sofa Literary. (I will not be open to queries until after Pitch Wars.)

I will be taking part in the MG Pitch Wars chat on August 4th at 8p EST. See you there!

I look forward to seeing you on Twitter and on Facebook! Good luck!

Stace


To learn more about Pitch Wars and how to submit, visit Brenda Drake's site!

1. Kes Trester (co-mentoring with Jennifer Hawkins) 2. Mindy McGinnis (co-mentoring with Kate Karyus Quinn) 3. N.K. Traver 4. Kristin B. Wright 5. Laura Heffernan 6. Mary Ann Marlowe 7. Joy McCullough-Carranza 8. Lisa Lewis-Tyre 9. Jenni L. Walsh (co-mentoring with Trisha Leaver) 10. Sarah Glenn Marsh 11. Julie C. Dao 12. Kellye Garrett 13. K.T. Hanna 14. Jessie Devine 15. Rosalyn Eves 16. Jami Nord 17. Samantha Joyce 18. Helene Dunbar 19. Jenna Lehne 20. Linsey Miller 21. Jessica Vitalis 22. Stacey Graham 23. Dan Koboldt 24. Brighton Walsh 25. Kate Brauning 26. Lisa Maxwell 27. Wendy Spinale 28. Sarah Cannon 29. L.L. McKinney 30. Juliana Brandt 31. Scarlett Cole 32. Hayley Stone 33. Jennifer Blackwood 34. Kendra Young 35. S.P. McConnell 36. Nikki Roberti

37. Emmie Mears 38. Lori Goldstein (co-mentoring with Chelsea Bobulski) 39. Jennifer Hawkins (co-mentoring with Kes Trester) 40. Elizabeth Briggs 41. Ron Walters (co-mentoring with Meredith McCardle) 42. Fiona McLaren (co-mentoring with Dionne McCulloch) 43. S.M. Johnston (co-mentoring with Stacey Nash) 44. Max Wirestone 45. Jaye Robin Brown 46. Molly Lee 47. Rachel Lynn Solomon 48. J.C. Nelson 49. Holly Faur 50. Sonia Hartl 51. Natasha Raulerson 52. Marty Mayberry 53. J.C. Davis 54. Rebecca Wells 55. Michelle Hauck 56. Tabitha Martin 57. Rebecca Petruck 58. Sarah Henning 59. Alex White 60. Jeanmarie Anaya 61. Laura Salter 62. Wade Albert White 63. Brooks Benjamin 64. Margarita Montimore 65. Megan Grimit 66. Charlie Holmberg 67. Diana Gallager 68. Stefanie Wass 69. Tamara Mataya 70. Rebecca Sky 71. Kara Seal 72. Lee Gjertsen Malone

73. Katie Bucklein 74. Kevin A Springer 75. Brianna Shrum 76. Kate Karyus Quinn (co-mentoring with Mindy McGinnis) 77. Kim Graff 78. Emily Martin 79. Trisha Leaver (co-mentoring with Jenni Walsh) 80. Kim Long 81. Catherine Scully 82. Stacey Trombley 83. Stephanie Scott (co-mentoring with Valerie Cole) 84. Valerie Cole (co-mentoring with Stephanie Scott) 85. Lizzy Charles 86. Dannie Morin (co-mentoring with Alexandra Alessandri) 87. Kate Foster 88. Elly Blake 89. Julie Sondra Decker 90. Lady Lioness 91. Susan Gray Foster (co-mentoring with Monica Bustamante Wagner_ 92. Kelly Calabrese 93. Sarah Nicolas 94. Kelly Siskind 95. Roselle Kaes 96. Monica Bustamante Wagner (co-mentoring with Susan Gray Foster) 97. Renee Ahdieh (co-mentoring with Traci Chee) 98. Traci Chee (co-mentoring with Renee Ahdieh) 99. Janet B. Taylor 100. Jessie Humphries (co-mentoring with Mara Rae) 101. Lynnette Labelle 102. Erica M. Chapman 103. Summer Spence 104. Marieke Nijkamp 105. Meredith McCardle (co-mentoring with Ron Walters) 106. Thomas Torre 107. Phil Stamper 108. J.A. Souders

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