Ok, so if you've subscribed to my blog for a while, you'll know my writing posts go completely dark in December. I don't post writing tips, conferences, mentor contests, etc. at all during December so I can bring you my Review-a-Day Countdown to the Holiday, in which I review and recommend at least one MG or YA book a day (often entire series, 4-5 at a time) as gift ideas for under the Christmas tree or for Hanukkah.

Look for these reviews every day, Dec. 1-25, under the tab on my main blog page, Holiday Picks. Therefore, as my last writing post of 2021, this is a reminder to check out the AMM Mentors announcement and, when their profiles and wishlists are announced in December, to research the ones you'll submit to. I can honestly say, I have a polished MS (squee!!), so I'm going to submit to this one this year.

The Mentee submission window opens in mid-January, Jan. 12-14, 2022. Be prepared to do your mentor research (without stalking), edit that MS, or finish that draft in December and get it polished!

My contemporary fantasy MG, Dragon Scales, is polished and ready to go, but I may start querying it in January, I'm not sure. I've also got my first adult murder mystery, Babytime on the Border, I'm trying to revise from a first draft in time for this contest (I like deadlines ;-). I've gone over the plot changes it needs with my alpha reader (my amazing husband!) and now I'm revising. I may not make it in time for that MS to be polished enough to enter it. I'll have to see.

But back to AMM. If you prepared a MS and query package (query letter, Twitter or short logline pitch, 1-page synopsis, comparables, etc.) for Pitch Wars, and it didn't get picked, I highly recommend taking another shot with this mentoring contest. Just know, in past years, many mentors in this one didn't want MSs that had been "queried widely" -- and a couple of years ago that meant fewer than 10 times, according to the mentors I applied to back then. I haven't decided what I'm going to do, query or no, quite yet.

And of course, after AMM comes Revise and Resub in April... and WriteMentor for the summer. 

As always, let me know if you enter via social media channels, and I'll cheer on your MSs!

Good luck, and have a great December!

2021/2022 ROUND 9 SCHEDULE  

December 2021: Mentor Profiles Live on AMM Website 

January 12-14 2022: Mentee Submission Window Open