Hey #PitchWars hopefuls! The sub window is closing soon @rosiedanan and I wanted to say a few things: if you subbed to us, if you didn't, or if you're still considering...strap in because this is gonna be a THREAD.

1. We’re so proud of you! You wrote a book! YOU. DID. THAT. You’re amazing. Whether you submitted or not, you deserve to celebrate yourself. You took something from deep inside of you and you put it on a page. A piece of your heart now lives forever outside of you.

1 (cont). You’re so brave! Never ever forget this thing that you’ve done and hold onto it always.

2. Yes, Rosie and I are mentors this year and with that title comes a lot of responsibility and power. We wanted to make some assurances to everyone who subs to us:

2 (cont). We won’t be doing teasers this year, it’s just not our thing. Your privacy is of the upmost importance to us. We’ll keep our discussions about your work between the three of us.

2 (cont). We’re here to guide you using what we’ve learned about the publishing industry and writing in general but we’re also here to listen to you. We see this as a partnership/team because please remember, Rosie and I were in your position not that long ago.

2 (cont). Yes, in the terrible slog that is 2020, 2018 seems so very far away but it wasn’t long ago that we were in the same spot you’re in right now: a wishing, hopeful, bundle of nerves.

3. No matter what, no matter who we work with, for us Pitch Wars is about the writing.

3 (cont.) An agent, a publishing deal, a movie option, all of that is WONDERFUL and exciting. But they’re not the most important thing and none of those things can happen or exist without the work you’ll do in PW.

3 (cont). The only metric we want you to judge your success by is this: are you proud of your words, of yourself? Did you put everything onto the page? Do you feel like you ended with a better book than you started with?

3 (cont). That is what matters, in PW, and in writing in general, whether you make it into PW or not, get an agent or not, get a publishing deal, or not.

4. Now more than ever your community is your lifeline. Reach out to other mentee hopefuls.

4 (cont.) We know it’s scary and hard to put yourself out there but PW is like publishing in that omg there’s so much waiting. And the truest thing we’ve learned is that the waiting is easier when you have supportive, thoughtful, empathetic community members around you.

We want to thank every single person who has subbed or will (the window is still open) for choosing to put your trust in us. Remember that no matter what, whether you're participating or not, whether you've finished a book or not:

You are a writer and we are so proud that you are a part of this community.