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 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.
So, as my last writing post of 2020, this is my advance notice to put AMM's Mentors announcement on your calendar for December.
AMM decides the mentors now, during Nov.-Dec., and will probably post them on Twitter soon. As soon as you see names, start doing your research, depending on whether you want to apply for Adult, YA or MG.
And while this mentor contest has traditionally focused on YA and MG, I, for one, am super excited to see what adult mentors applied and the genres they'll be open to mentoring.
The Mentee submission window opens in mid-January. This is a little bit earlier than last year, I think, when it opened in February, so if you have that on your calendar, move it up a month.
Be prepared to do your mentor research (without stalking), edit that MS, or finish that draft in December and get it polished!
That's what I'm doing, and I'm writing my fingers off to meet the deadline. I've got my first adult murder mystery, Babytime on the Border, that I'm trying desperately to finish in time. It's a rough draft at 88K and just need to start editing, but I may not make it in time to be polished enough to enter. I'll have to see.
Babytime is a bit of a hot mess right now, and hasn't gone through my usual Alpha (i.e. my husband -- the man is a wonderful monster re: keeping me consistent and poking plot holes in my MSs) and then several CP readings and beta reads. It's still very, very raw, and I need to find adult mystery writers / readers as CPs, as well. I've joined SinC's Guppies, so I'll see where I am in a month.
But back to AMM. If you prepared a MS and query package for Pitch Wars, and didn't get picked, take another shot with this mentoring contest. Just know, many mentors in this one don't want MSs that have been "queried widely" -- and last year, that meant fewer than 10 times, according to the mentors I applied to. So perhaps hold off on #PitMad and querying until AMM announces its picks.
And of course, after AMM comes Revise and Resub in April... so there's still plenty opportunities for your MS coming your way.
Good luck!
And have a great December!
