I'm a PitchWars Mentor 2014

If you have a novel you feel ready to send to agents, you want ME as your PitchWars mentor!




Why?

I've been there.

I write a KILLER query letter. My letter got me in the door with almost everyone I sent it to (see 'How I got my Agent' post below.) I know how to pen an intelligent, interest-grabbing letter that WILL get you noticed.

My agent is a PitchWars agent!

Brianne Johnson of Writers House NYC is one of the Pitch Wars agents and as WELL as being an incredible agent and all-around lovely person, she is a fantastic editor. I know what she looks for. I know what can help distinguish your book.

I've done a BUNCH of stuff.

• As a diplomat's daughter I've spent half my life living overseas (Spain, Costa Rica, Colombia, India, England, South Africa... to name a few) and traveled even more (most of Europe, South and Central America and the United States)
  
• In my 20's I traveled overland the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. I was in first group of people allowed into Sudan when the borders briefly opened in the mid 90's, hitchhiked the dangerous Tete Corridor in Mozambique, climbed Mt. Kenya and met Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
• I launched a record label and played in a rock band in LA, headlining the Viper Room, among others.
• I worked at the White House for President Bill Clinton.
• I made a documentaries for the History Channel about exorcism and cannibalism
  
• I modeled in NYC.
• I've birthed three children (two of them at the same time!)
• I currently live in Bath, England (home of Jane Austen)

So if you have any of these elements in your novel, or just a fearless, adventuring protagonist, I can help make sure the story rings true.

I've been a judge in an international novel competition:

As a long and shortlist judge of the Bath Novel Award in 2013 (and coming up again in 2014), I read hundreds of novel excerpts and a dozen full manuscripts. Early on in the competition, a book really hooked me. I championed it. Juliet Mushens of The Agency Group, London, was the final judge and chose the same book as the winner, and then went on to represent it. 

Everyone needs an editor.

I'm a great editor. I have a degree in broadcast journalism, worked at the White House editing speeches for Bill Clinton, worked in television for 7 years writing and editing scripts and producing documentaries, and have worked with an ACE editor on my own novel, who taught me both how to give criticism AND receive it. IMPORTANT.

But know this:

I will not be easy on you. If you are looking for someone to tell you that your book is perfect bar some minor punctuation fixes, look elsewhere. Unless you've been strenuously edited already, your book WILL need work.

I will give you a careful, global edit of your manuscript. I will work hard for you and expect the same in return.

Please send me:

• YA (only)
  
• Literary/Horror/Suspense/Thriller/Ghost/Real-Life/Romance/SciFi--dystopian and postapocalyptic only)
  
• Stories with a strong sense of place/doomed love/strong emotional stake for the protagonist
  
• Love/Heartbreak/Romance--that which pulls at the heart--I have a passion for writing about love, longing and loss and can turn your affairs of the heart to the power of ELEVEN!
• ADVENTURE!!!
• HUMOR!!!
  
• Male OR female OR other protagonist.

Please DON'T send:

• Erotica 
• Hardcore SciFi (i.e. space and technology when those are the main narrative drivers. does that make sense? i mean, if you have two characters who are stranded on a broken ship floating in space and are falling for each other but will be killed by a flesh-eating virus if they lay hand on each other--yeah. i'd read that!)
  
• Historical
• Non Fiction
• Elves, vampires or wizards. 

Last but not least:

Please tell me why you are querying me. Why do you think we'd work well together?

Do engage me on twitter: @DionneMcCulloch Tease me with your story!

Know that I'll want to see a synopsis, and possibly a few additional chapters before making a final decision. Most agents would want the same!

For more information on PitchWars 2014, agents, and how to submit your entry, go HERE.


Happy hunting, Mentees!

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