Our Wish List
Both Sarah and I are voracious readers and read quite widely. So we’re open to most genres, styles and flavors of MG.
But there are a few things we’d really, really love to see in our inbox:
Fantasy with a new twist!
We'd love to see the diversification of fantasy that's been happening in YA trickle down to MG even more. Or high fantasy with counternarratives, such as the sly and witty feminism in MISS ELLICOTT'S SCHOOL FOR THE MAGICALLY MINDED, or the matter-of-course LGBT family in THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY. Give us wild and weird new worlds, like THE LAMPLIGHTER CHRONICLES for MG or THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON. We'd also enjoy fun romps like THE STORY THIEVES books or THE LEAGUE OF BEASTLY DREADFULS.
Sarah writes Contemporary Fantasy (If you haven't read ODDITY you absolutely should, it's fabulous), so it's no surprise that genre is high on our wish list! We'd love to see American fantasy through new and underrepresented lenses: think ARU SHAH, THE SERPENT'S SECRET, MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR, and MS. MARVEL. We love dark, creepy, and funny, sometimes all at once! Give us a MG with a NIGHTLIGHTS or LUMBERJANES vibe.
(We're mentioning a few graphic novels, but that's because they're often great indicators of up-and-coming must-read lit rather than because we specifically want graphic novels. Alas, while we love to read them, we're not the right fit to mentor them.)
Dystopian
Yeah, we said it! Don't be afraid to send us your broken worlds and eerie futures. Sarah recently read a gorgeous dystopian called A WHISPER OF HORSES and adored it!
Retellings
We both have a soft-spot for a good retelling, whether it's a literary retelling, myth, folklore, or real-life events told through a different lens. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (which is a reboot of THE JUNGLE BOOK) is a particular favorite for both of us.
Science Fiction
Someone please bring us your version of DRAGON PEARL so we have something to read until it comes out? Or send us something like HOLLY FARB AND THE PRINCESS OF THE GALAXY which is as tongue-in-cheek as Douglas Adams.
Contemporary
Such a broad spectrum of books in this genre but particular faves for the two of us include: COUNTING BY 7s, THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK, THE STARS BENEATH OUR FEET, FINDING PERFECT, and THE ETHAN I WAS BEFORE. They're very different books, but they share important qualities: unique, nuanced characters telling stories only they could tell.
Animal Narrators
via GIPHY
When done well, books with animal narrators can be amazing. For example, the main character in THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART is a dragon who's turned into a girl. Viewing the world of the story through her dragonish lens is part of what makes that book so original and fun! Another animal main character done well is Casseomae the bear from THE PRINCE WHO FELL FROM THE SKY, by John Claude Bemis. In this case, an animal MC puts a cool spin on what would otherwise be a pretty standard MG dystopian. What we're saying here is that an animal-driven narrative would have to have serious hook to get our attention...but we also wouldn't want to miss it.
Paranormal
Give us the kind of book that makes you keep all the lights on, the sort that puts goosebumps on your goosebumps. We love a good ghost story and one of JC's all-time fave series is LOCKWOOD & CO. by Jonathan Stroud.
Mystery
Give us twisty tales that keep us guessing and pit your characters against foes determined to keep them in the dark. Particular favorites include the ENOLA HOLMES series by Nancy Springer. (JC has a serious Sherlock obsession.)
Historicals
Whether it's more recent eras like THE CARE AND FEEDING OF A PET BLACK HOLE, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, and AHIMSA, or distant times like THE INQUISITOR'S TALE or THE TRAGICALLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF KIT DONOVAN, we want to be swept away to different times, especially if it's with characters and cultures that aren't commonly seen in historicals to-date.
The list above isn't exhaustive, we just wanted to give you a taste of some of the books and genres we love. There are really two things we're looking for: number one is voice, voice, voice! It really is such a critical part of any story, and MG voice is hard to nail! Second, original ideas and world building (yes, even contemporary novels have world-building.)
What we’re NOT looking for:
What you can expect if we pick you as our mentee:
You will work your butt off. There will be homework. We'll do a broad pass on your manuscript, as well as detailed line edits. We’ll also work together as a team to polish your query and pitch so they are shiny and bright and ready for the agent round. Our critique style is very, very thorough and your manuscript will bleed red with comments, corrections and suggestions when we are done, so if you can’t take constructive criticism, we may not be the mentors for you. We're not ogres! We will cheer you on and talk you through the hard bits. But you really do need to come into this ready to work hard on that manuscript (we certainly will) with an open mind.
Our mentee will have the final say on all changes. We will never ask you to alter your manuscript in ways you aren’t comfortable with. But choosing a mentee isn't about finding a manuscript that's already perfect. It's about loving a story and having a clear vision for how to make sure agents and editors can see what we see. We shall not waver in the face of grammar shenanigans! We shall not crumble under snail-like pacing and info-dump moments! We will persevere and we will win this war!*
*We define winning as helping you revise your book to a place where you’re happy with it. The agent round and requests are a happy benefit, but not the whole point. However if you get a million requests, heck yeah we're going to throw a virtual party!
Follow us on Twitter (@saille and @JCDavisAuthor) and make sure to check out the other awesome mentors helping out with Pitch Wars this year:
Yeah, we said it! Don't be afraid to send us your broken worlds and eerie futures. Sarah recently read a gorgeous dystopian called A WHISPER OF HORSES and adored it!
Retellings
We both have a soft-spot for a good retelling, whether it's a literary retelling, myth, folklore, or real-life events told through a different lens. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (which is a reboot of THE JUNGLE BOOK) is a particular favorite for both of us.
Science Fiction
Someone please bring us your version of DRAGON PEARL so we have something to read until it comes out? Or send us something like HOLLY FARB AND THE PRINCESS OF THE GALAXY which is as tongue-in-cheek as Douglas Adams.
Contemporary
Such a broad spectrum of books in this genre but particular faves for the two of us include: COUNTING BY 7s, THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK, THE STARS BENEATH OUR FEET, FINDING PERFECT, and THE ETHAN I WAS BEFORE. They're very different books, but they share important qualities: unique, nuanced characters telling stories only they could tell.
Animal Narrators
via GIPHY
When done well, books with animal narrators can be amazing. For example, the main character in THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART is a dragon who's turned into a girl. Viewing the world of the story through her dragonish lens is part of what makes that book so original and fun! Another animal main character done well is Casseomae the bear from THE PRINCE WHO FELL FROM THE SKY, by John Claude Bemis. In this case, an animal MC puts a cool spin on what would otherwise be a pretty standard MG dystopian. What we're saying here is that an animal-driven narrative would have to have serious hook to get our attention...but we also wouldn't want to miss it.
Paranormal
Give us the kind of book that makes you keep all the lights on, the sort that puts goosebumps on your goosebumps. We love a good ghost story and one of JC's all-time fave series is LOCKWOOD & CO. by Jonathan Stroud.
Mystery
Give us twisty tales that keep us guessing and pit your characters against foes determined to keep them in the dark. Particular favorites include the ENOLA HOLMES series by Nancy Springer. (JC has a serious Sherlock obsession.)
Historicals
Whether it's more recent eras like THE CARE AND FEEDING OF A PET BLACK HOLE, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, and AHIMSA, or distant times like THE INQUISITOR'S TALE or THE TRAGICALLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF KIT DONOVAN, we want to be swept away to different times, especially if it's with characters and cultures that aren't commonly seen in historicals to-date.
The list above isn't exhaustive, we just wanted to give you a taste of some of the books and genres we love. There are really two things we're looking for: number one is voice, voice, voice! It really is such a critical part of any story, and MG voice is hard to nail! Second, original ideas and world building (yes, even contemporary novels have world-building.)
What we’re NOT looking for:
- Anything other than Middle Grade. Sarah and I can only mentor MG as part of Pitch Wars and we don’t want you to waste one of your precious entries, no matter how amazing your book is, on a manuscript we can’t touch.
- Books dealing with drugs/alcohol abuse
- Books about eating disorders
- Books that promote hate speech or views
- Books that feature gratuitous violence against animals
- Books about sexual abuse
- Books written by our CPs, betas, friends, past or current mentees. You’ve already got a shortcut to our inbox and opinions :)
- Anything that is poorly written or with a ton of grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. We don't expect your book to be perfect (if it is, you shouldn't be entering PW anyway; go sub that thing!) but we do expect that you've taken the time to make sure it's not riddled with mistakes that make us feel like we're reading something Google translate just spit out. This is a deal breaker.
You will work your butt off. There will be homework. We'll do a broad pass on your manuscript, as well as detailed line edits. We’ll also work together as a team to polish your query and pitch so they are shiny and bright and ready for the agent round. Our critique style is very, very thorough and your manuscript will bleed red with comments, corrections and suggestions when we are done, so if you can’t take constructive criticism, we may not be the mentors for you. We're not ogres! We will cheer you on and talk you through the hard bits. But you really do need to come into this ready to work hard on that manuscript (we certainly will) with an open mind.
Our mentee will have the final say on all changes. We will never ask you to alter your manuscript in ways you aren’t comfortable with. But choosing a mentee isn't about finding a manuscript that's already perfect. It's about loving a story and having a clear vision for how to make sure agents and editors can see what we see. We shall not waver in the face of grammar shenanigans! We shall not crumble under snail-like pacing and info-dump moments! We will persevere and we will win this war!*
Follow us on Twitter (@saille and @JCDavisAuthor) and make sure to check out the other awesome mentors helping out with Pitch Wars this year:
2018 Middle Grade Mentors
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Wonderful!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo, my biggest problem this year is that my mcs are not human... but they aren't exactly animals either(though a tiny side character IS a sea sheep). Think of them as a wingless dragon, a forest Sprite, and Jellyfish-esque race. Would that be something you would consider?