Surprise! We’re opening the submission window early! It will remain open until the original closing of August 17 at 11:59PM EDT (just before midnight).
For those unfamiliar with Pitch Wars, it’s a contest where published/agented authors, editors, or interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine. The mentor also critique his/her writer’s pitch to get it ready for the agent round. To do this, the mentors read all their applications and choose the writer they want to mentor for two months to get them ready for the agent round. Writers can pick up to five (5) mentors to submit to.
Last year we had about forty mentees sign with agents and eight of those resulted in book deals. That’s not counting all the successes from Pitch Wars 2012 and 2013. We hope to have many more successes this year!
For a list our mentors and submission guidelines go here. For a list of our agents this year, go here.
If you have any difficulties with this form, or if there’s a technical glitch, or if the site blows up, don’t panic, just use the form under the contact label above and let us know the issue.
About your queries: It should have all parts of the query, as if you were sending to an agent. “Dear Mentor” works for the salutation and make sure to include your bio (if you have one) and category/genre/word count.
About your first chapters: Upload the first chapter of your manuscript no matter how long it is. You can include short prologues (3 pages or less) or send the prologues later if the mentor asks for a full manuscript. If you don’t have chapters in your book or feel your chapters are too short, send the first ten pages of your manuscript.
PLEASE DO NOT ENTER IF YOU AREN’T READY, once you hit send, there are no take backs or changes. Double check that you have the right mentors for the category (MG, YA, NA, or Adult) you are submitting, your entry will be deleted if you send it to a mentor who is not requesting your category.
There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes for Pitch Wars. I have vacillated between charging and not charging a small fee to enter Pitch Wars this year and decided against it. Instead, if you’ve gotten anything out of the contest, please consider making a donation. Any amount helps. Thank you for your support!
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After you hit send on the form, the page will reload. Scroll down to where the form was and it will tell you if your submission has been accepted. YOU WILL NOT GET AN EMAIL RECEIPT.
Please do NOT re-enter your form. When you hit submit, the form will say your entry has been received.
AGAIN, please do not re-enter your entry!
THE PITCH WARS WINDOW IS NOW CLOSED. Come back September 2 when we’ll announce the mentors’ picks.
Hi Brenda! I had a hard time with the form accepting my document and had to back out and start all over. I didn’t get a pop-up window that said it went through. I’m sorry to ask, but would you please confirm when you have time that you received my query and that my document came through? Thanks much! And THANK YOU again for this AWESOME contest! You rock!
Received.
Oh and thank you!
Comment Just wondered if my submission was received. Thank you so much for this opportunity!
I had real trouble finding those mentors I’d chosen from the list here http://www.brenda-drake.com/2014/06/pitch-wars-mentor-list/ to those available on the submission form. Perhaps the link is outdated? In any case, one person I sent to was S. P. McConnell, who I realize must be the Sean McConnell who was said to have withdrawn from mentorship. If that is the case, do I just lose one of my five submissions?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Hi Brenda,
I’m sorry, but it didn’t say anything when I submitted. Did it work? I know you’re busy, thanks for checking.
J
Received.
Hello, Brenda! I’m sorry, but I’m having the same issue. I would really appreciate a confirmation my submission went through, when you have time. Thank you so much for hosting this contest! This is an incredible community of writers.
Victoria, I did get your form.
Thank you so much!
So excited! Thanks for this opportunity to submit!
Hi Brenda! Same thing as above…no confirmation. If you get the chance, please let me know if you received my entry form. Thanks so much! So excited and you are appreciated 🙂
We did receive your entry. There isn’t a confirmation email. After you enter it should have taken you to different screen that said it went.
It didn’t take me to a different screen either. Nothing that registered when I scrolled down either. Sorry to bother you, especially since you worked so hard to offer us this opportunity. Was the submission received?
Thanks for confirming…no window happened..it just reset the submission form window. Thanks again!!
Yes, I just checked it. It resets the submission window post and then at the bottom shows the message that the form was received.
Thanks for opening the submissions early!!! Made it so much easier for me! 😀
Hi Brenda. Me again. I submitted, but there is nothing that tells me if my submission was accepted.
Sorry, I did get a verification. Didn’t see it until now. Silly me.
Hello!
I submitted my form but also didn’t get a window or see anything that said “confirmed” 🙁
Can you please confirm it was received?
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
We received your entry, Rachel. Good luck!
Thank you so much! I know I speak for all of us when I say you’re very appreciated!
Same as all the others…could not tell if my submission was actually sent?
We received it, Jane.
Same as above. Couldn’t tell if my submission was accepted. Please confirm when you have time. Thanks on behalf of many for doing this contest.
It was received, Giora.
Comment
I’m afraid I have no idea either if you got my submission? Please can you confirm that you did – thanks – otherwise I won’t sleep tonight !
Thanks again
Sarah
We received it, Sarah. 😉
Thanks for this opportunity, Brenda.
The website didn’t take me to a different screen either. When I scrolled down the page, there was no acknowledgement, simply this form. Sorry to bother you, especially since you work so hard to offer us this opportunity. Was the submission received?
We received your entry, Dede. 😉
Excited to have submitted. Good luck to everyone.
RJ
Dear Brenda,
Just want to confirm my submission was received (No confirmation window displayed). Thank you so much for all that you do.
Ana Radisic
I received yours, Ana. 😉
I know some people were having trouble with the form earlier. I submitted but did not see a notice that it had gone through when the page reloaded. Just wanted to double check since I know you don’t want us re-submitting! Thanks.
We received it, Casie.
Yay! Thanks so much for all your hard work and for this opportunity. 🙂
Hi Brenda,
Sorry to bother you, but my computer restarted and I was wondering if you received my submission? Thanks!
Jocelyn
We received yours, Jocelyn.
Hi Brenda,
I don’t mean to be a pain, but my computer started acting really screwy right after I hit submit. Did my entry go through?
Thank you!
~Nicole
I got it, Nicole.
Oh good. Now the nail biting can commence.
Hi Brenda,
Thank you for organizing Pitch Wars. I am so excited about the opportunity to potentaily work with a mentor. I am so impressed by the amount of mentors and agents you have secured. Wow. Thank you.
Best of luck to everyone.
Michelle
Thank you, Michelle! This community is wonderful, and the mentors are so giving and talented.
Thank you for hosting pitch wars! This is my first time to enter, but several in my critique group swear it is an awesome contest. I had the same problem not getting a confirmation on my entry, but I assume that it worked. Thanks again. Bonnie
We got it, Bonnie. 😉
Dear Brenda,
Just want to confirm my submission was received (No confirmation window displayed). Thank you so much for all your hard work.
Sussu Leclerc
We received your entry, Sussu.
Thanks Brenda, YOU’RE A CHAMP!
And you have such a gorgeous name! 🙂
Thanks, I think your name is gorgeous, too! 😉
Hi Brenda,
I submitted yesterday and thought it went through. But I just saw a tweet from someone that we were not supposed to use Safari (which I used) to submit the form and I just wanted to make sure it went through.
Thank you.
Lori
We received your entry, Lori.
Thanks for checking, Brenda!
Feeling nervous-excited-happy-uncertain-brave-a little queasy-but mostly appreciative Thank you for devoting so much of your time to help others have a chance to live a dream 🙂
Best of luck to everyone!
I love doing it, and happy that you’re excited. And get that you’re nervous. Been there. Hugs!
Just submitted, but when I scrolled down, now acceptance notice. Did you get it?
Thanks in advance.
I didn’t mean now, I meant no…
We received your entry, Carolyn.
Thanks so much, Brenda, and thanks for all you do for us!
I recieved a note that my chapter did not attach correctly. Eek- I used Chrome- not sure if there’s a way to fix that. Please let me know.
I just responded to your DM. Glad Kate was able to help you.
Brenda,
This is my first time with Pitch Wars! Thanks for the opportunity. I picked 5 wonderful mentors – hope one picks me!
I’m crossing my fingers for you!
So excited! I entered my manuscript! This is a first for me. Congrats to everyone who enters.
Yay! So happy you took the leap!
Will you post the number of pitches received when the last is entered?
Someone will most likely do a stats post. But I’ll announce after the window closes.
Thank you Brenda. This is one of the most exciting and well organized wars I have entered.
Hi Brenda,
I have just submitted my entry to Pitch Wars but didn’t get a confirmation.
Could you please let me know if you have received it?
Thank you.
We received your entry, Julia.
Thank you.
Sorry to have added to your busy day.
Eek! Here we go!
Same as the above. Sorry to bother you but I didn’t receive a confirmation. Could you e-mail me?
We received your entry, Joseph.
Thanks so much.
I have fulls out by agents. Can I/ would it be fair to still enter Pitch Wars? Thanks
Yes, you can enter.
Thanks so much, Brenda!
Is this competition open to writers outside the US? I’m a bit worried I’m on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Thanks.
This contest is international. So writers from all the world can enter.
Hey Brenda.
Everything worked for me, just wanted to let you know! And a great big hug and thank you for your wonderful work and caring for writers everywhere. You are sooooooooooo appreciated.
BTW my sixteen-year-old granddaughter is looking forward to the release of your book. She knows I’m buying it for her and she can’t wait to read it (neither can I).
Aww Jan, thank you! I’ll have a pre-order swag package campaign coming up soon if you all are interested. I’ll be posting details on my blog.
I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I have the same problem… no confirmation my form was received. Can you confirm? Thank you so much!
We received your entry, Suzanne.
I checked the bios and credits of those I requested to mentor my manuscript along with others outside my category. Impressive list. There are so many names I have not read them all but I do know that I am planning on doing a lot of reading in the future. My fingers are crossed that I impressed someone. Good Luck to All!
Good luck, Marcia!
SO excited! After researching all the mentors – great, great group – I finally picked my top five and submitted my query + first chapter.
Fingers crossed 😀
Hello Brenda! Can you confirm that you received my entry? So excited, and thank you so much for doing this!
We received yours, Deborah.
I know you’re busy, I’m sorry for bothering you, but it didn’t say anything when I submitted. Did you receive my submission?
thanks for checking and for running this amazing event. Even if I don’t get picked this has been a great experience.
THANK YOU!!!
We received your entry, Lauren.
sorry to be a pain, but having the same issue. The site never said the form was accepted. Thanks for all your hard work on this! It is really an amazing opportunity.
We received your entry, Yvonne.
Hi Brenda,
I submitted my entry and my computer froze after I hit submit. I had to refresh the page and did not get a message saying my entry was received. Can you please confirm if my entry was received. Thank you!
Dejanae
Yeah, it does a weird hiccup/freeze thing. So strange. But we received your entry, Dejanae.
Thanks a lot for hosting pitch wars. This is a great initiative with impressive mentors,and agents.
Have a great week ahead.
Just submitted! Phew! Thank you Brenda for the time and effort. You’ve created an amazing community where writers grow together!
I too didn’t receive a confirmation that my pitch was submitted. Can you kindly confirm? And many thinks for this wonderful opportunity.
We’ve received your entry, Jennifer.
If I could get a confirmation, I’d appreciate it.
Thank you for everything, Brenda.
We’ve received your entry, Mark.
Thank you so much for this contest and your time on this, Brenda, Nikki, & Mentors!
I also did not get the pop-up window and would like to confirm whether my submission was received.
DJ.
We received your entry, DJ.
Thank you so much!
Also didn’t get a popup or a message, simply got swept away to the PW blog entry. Given all the other comments, I’m thinking this is normal and I’m good? But double checking.
Thanks so much for this opportunity!
Jennifer B.
We’ve received your entry, Jennifer.
I’ve been in IT for decades; this is never easy. My entry also rode the Tardis. I’ll assume it’s been received, as the others are.
It did make it safely on the Tardis, Dave.
I’m so sorry to pester you with the same issue, Brenda, but I didn’t see a pop-up window and now I’m panicking about my submission. (Typical neurotic writers, right?)
We’ve received your entry, Maggie.
Thank you so much for humoring me, Brenda!
I have an odd question…
So has anyone ever been picked as a mentee by multiple mentors?
In know that’s essentially the dream, (and probably unlikely) but if so, what happens in that situation? Do we get to have them pitch us? Do we have a Thunderdome style showdown? A friendly roshambeau? 🙂
Yes, two mentors have chosen one mentee before. That’s the war part of Pitch Wars, which is them pitching, bribing, tripping the other mentor to get the mentee to pick her/him.
Can you please check to see if you got my submission? I’m not sure if I used the right email.
We received your entry, K.C.
Hi Brenda – I couldn’t tell if mine was accepted either. Can you confirm? Thanks. C.A.
I did receive yours, C.A.
Terrific. Thanks so much for doing this.
Entered and donated! Thank you for doing this, Brenda and everyone involved.
Thank you, Ann Margory! Your support is greatly appreciated. 😉
I confess, I hit “submit” twice. I promise I read the instructions. I wasn’t seeing the message that told me the entry had been received. Many apologies.
No worries, Alicia. Mistakes happen.
Yay! I’m so excited, what a fun contest Brenda. Let the war begin!!!
Hello Brenda–so sorry to bother you, but after I hit Submit, the page went to “This page cannot be displayed”. Could you confirm my entry, please?
Thanks so much for running Pitch Wars!
Michele, resend. I don’t see yours.
Okay, I re-sent the submission form and received the confirmation. Thanks for checking!
Great – we got that one, Michele.
I nervously submitted mine yesterday (my birthday!)and hoping for some good luck (that it DID go through and, well, getting picked. HAHA!)
Also, question: Will mentees not be notified until Sept. 2nd? I wasn’t sure (this is my first Pitch Wars) and didn’t know if mentors would be contacting potential mentees before then or not.
Thanks for all the hard work you do, Brenda! You have no idea how thankful I am 🙂
Happy Belated Birthday! We did receive yours. And no, mentees won’t be contacted until after the big announcement on my blog on Sept. 2.
Thanks, Brenda! 🙂
Hi! I see a lot of people are having the same problem, so I’m pretty sure that my submission went through. Then again, my computer is notoriously schizo, so I’m double-checking–and, while I’m at it, thank you thank you thank you…
We received your entry, Jennifer.
Mine went through with no problem…I just wanted to say thank you for this opportunity. I am truly impressed with this approach to matching authors with mentors and agents. It’s absolutely brilliant and makes this process fun for us. I have a feeling that a big break out hit will come from this contest this year ! …♡ 😉 best of luck to all of us who entered and to the mentors/founders for their diligent and hard work 🙂
Jennifer, I love doing it. And I so hope many break out hits come from this contest this year! Good luck to you!
Thank you ! Agreed…hope mine is among the stars ♡
Since everyone else had the same issue and their forms landed safely, I’m going to assume mine did as well. Thanks for all of your work on this, Brenda, and the other mentors also
Yes, we did get it, Vera. 😉
As with the others, I did not get a confirmation that my submission was accepted.
Many thanks.
We received your entry, Gretchen.
I received an offer hours after I submitted my novel. Can I take it out again and instead submit a different story or is my chance lost now?
An offer from an agent or a publisher?
From a publisher.
Go ahead and resubmit, Alice.
Congrats ! How exciting 🙂
Thank you for this opportunity, Brenda and everyone involved! *Hugs and high fives*
http://media.giphy.com/media/VvVeHW0UviOsg/giphy.gif
(Hopefully the gif shows up ^_^)
Yes, I could see the gif – Ha! We love doing it!
Hey the screen froze on me after I submitted. Could you tell me if it went through? Thank you 🙂
We received your entry, Ashley.
You’re so wonderful Brenda 🙂
Thank you for this contest, and everything you do for it. It’s pretty mind blowing!
I agree with you Ashley! The amount of work you put into this, Brenda, is mind boggling. Thank you so much!
Hi Brenda! My screen closed after I hit submit button. I am not sure if my entry went through. Do you have it or should I re-submit?
Thank You!
Lana
We received your entry, Lana.
Thank You!
I guess I’ll ask the same question as the others, did you get it? I was taken to a different page completely. Thank you, by the way, for all the wonderful work you put into this opportunity for us to share our work.
We received yours, Dru-Ann.
Thanks so much for hosting this contest! I just spent hours reading over your mentors~ and am inspired by how many lives you have touched through this event!
I love doing it! 😉 It’s very rewarding.
I could use confirmation that my 10 page submission was received. It only showed the title and I had serious doubts that it actually posted the document.
We received your entry, Lisa.
Thanks for your reassuring response, and thanks so much for creating, organizing, and hosting this. I, too, poured over the mentors pages and was able to learn about many writers and book titles that were new to me that I want to read and add to my library collections! I will make a donation and I so appreciate all the volunteer effort that goes into this for so many people.
Thank you for your support and happy you discovered some new writers and books!
Brenda, Thank you for running this incredible event! I found out about this from a friend and colleague, and very excited to potentially work with a mentor. Who are phenomenal. Really love the ‘pay-it-forward’ collaborative feel of Pitch Wars, and hope to someday be on the mentor side of the contest. Peace, Linda
I’m happy you found us, Linda!
Looks like your submission confirmation is working just fine now. I found my confirmation just by scrolling down on the page. Thanks again for doing this, it had been completely off my radar until I stumbled across it by accident doing research on agents. It’s like fate, since I happened to have all the requirements at hand while being completely unaware this was going on. Thanks for giving aspiring writers the opportunity to make a grab for the ring, brass or otherwise.
Glad you stumbled on it Wayne. It’s our fourth year and we’ve had many successes. Good luck!
Hi Brenda,
I’m sorry to be one more person to ask you if my entry was received. I’m out of town and staying at a place where the Wi-Fi is sketchy. I’d really appreciate knowing if my entry made it through. Thanks for hosting this amazing contest and for all of the work you put into it.
Thanks again.
Beth
We received your entry, Beth.
This is such an awesome contest and the entire group of mentors is amazing. It was so hard picking just 5. Thanks for all that you do Brenda!!
Brenda, was I supposed to get a confirmation of some kind? Because I don’t think I did. I want to make sure my submission was received while I still have time to re-submit. 🙂
We received yours, Katherine.
Thank you for checking.
Brenda,
I tried so many ways to load my ten pages and I kept expecting to actually see the document (like the query). Most of my attempts were a version of WORD but once, in my frustration, I tried a PDF. Hope that’s not the format I sent ultimately since I did read that you expected WORD docs. Was just trying to find something that worked. I can’t see what I sent, so apologies if the format was problematic.
Lisa, we received your entry and the attachment was a Word doc.
I’ve been trying to submit for the last hour and I kept getting errors. Not sure if mine went through. I attempted again, and now I’ve been locked out. Is there anywhere else I could send my submission?
Is it too late to ask for a confirmation? I sent mine in around 4:30 PST
We received yours, Leah.
I also didn’t see anything after I submitted earlier today (it’s still Monday here), so I’m checking that my submission was received. Thank you!!
We received yours, Janet.
Okay, everyone, I am done checking on submissions. Please don’t worry. Pretty much everyone’s submission I’ve checked has made it to the email. Good luck everyone!!
How many people submitted to Pitch Wars? Just curious… And thanks so much Brenda, this is really fun!
We had 1591 submit. And you’re welcome, I love doing it. 😉
Wow!! Thank you very much for organizing this.
So cool! What a good turnout and super fun for all.
Wow…that number just blows my mind! Thanks for doing all of this Brenda. And congrats on your second book, too.
Hi Brenda.
I blew it and left the closing line, signature, and contact info off my query. Will that info be there from the form? Is there a way to apologize to the mentors?
Thanks for all your great work, and for your patience in dealing with foolish folks like me.
That’s all right, Elena. The info. the mentors need are on the form.
Hi,
When I submitted I saw confirmation, but just saw you re-tweet Dan Kobold’s warning not to use IE – which I did… Should it still be okay?
Also, what is the proper way to go about disclosing partial requests that are floating out in the aether, or R&Rs?
Thank you!!
(now to revisit the blog-hop list for additions to my TBR pile)
We did receive your entry. You don’t need to disclose the requests unless a mentor asks for information. Good luck!