- Ciannon
2020 PITCH WARS MENTOR WISHLIST
Welcome to my PitchWars wishlist! I'm a returning mentor, though I'm flying solo this year; If you’ve written a YA Fantasy brimming with villainy and grey characters, you’re in the right place.
WHAT IS PITCH WARS?
If you’re already familiar with Brenda Drake’s brainchild, feel free to skip ahead. For those who are new to Pitch Wars, it's an incredible mentoring program ‘where published/agented authors, editors, or industry vets choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions about how to make the manuscript shine for an agent showcase.’
The best part, in my opinion, is the community Pitch Wars encourages. Whether you're selected for mentorship or not, you'll form solid friendships with like-minded writers - a necessity in this weird publishing biz.
MY BIO
Of Jamaican heritage, Ciannon Smart grew up in a small town in the south-east of England. As the only daughter in a house full of boisterous sons, she developed a voracious appetite for reading from an early age, preferring anarchy in stories rather than real life. In YA she loves her heroines exactly as she loves her villains: wilful, wily, and unpredictable. When not writing, Ciannon can be found reading, painting, or taking the long way home to listen to a good song more than once. Her debut YA fantasy novel WITCHES STEEPED IN GOLD will release April 20th from Harper Teen US, and Hot Key Books UK.
My future mentee can expect:
dry humour and plenty of inside jokes
a safe space to vent
book recommendations
tv show recommendations
discussions about which Studio Ghibli anime is the best
STORY CONCEPTS / ELEMENTS I LOVE
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
This year I am in the market for VILLAINS, the complex, the grey, the gorgeous, and I'd like them matched with:
Lush, dark settings
Unique mythology and magic systems
Lesser known retellings
Unique magical creatures
Court intrigue
Quests and heists
Beautiful writing and strong voice
Characters with agency
ROMANCE - enemies-to-lovers / enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies / enemies-to-disaster ‘murdery’ children
Tormented boys (I will LOVE you forever if you send the next Darkling / Cardan)
Soft precious cinnamon roll boys
Blair Waldorf type girls, but make it fantasy
Strong character relationships (female friendships, platonic relationships, familial relationships, found families
Villain love stories (If your comp is The Cruel Prince, why isn’t your sub in my inbox yet?)
Plot twists
Humour
Killing Eve, but make it fantasy
FAVOURITE BOOKS AND AUTHORS
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Anything written by Laini Taylor
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black
The Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo
The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown
The Wrath and The Dawn by Reneé Ahdieh
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool
Vicious by V.E Schwab
The Gilded Ones Namina Forna
Raybearer Joran Ifueko
We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
Wintersong by S. Jae Jones
I AM NOT THE RIGHT FIT FOR . . .
Fantasy with sprawling timelines
Sci-fi
Contemporary
Anything outside the YA category (Middle Grade / Adult)
Rape and/or sexual assualt as a plot device
Premises that undermine marginalized groups
Magical-negro tropes
White savior tropes
Books that feature Obeah
Books with witches
Mermaids
Fae
Manuscripts that surpass 100,000 words
These are all hard passes for me, sorry! But other mentors may be open to them, so be sure to scour wishlists and pick your best fit
MY IDEAL MENTEE
Someone who isn’t afraid of revisions
Someone willing to consider the merit of different perspectives regarding how to improve their work
Someone who’s ready and excited to take their book to the next level
Someone ready to work collaboratively on their manuscript
Someone who has gone as far as they can with their manuscript, is confident in what they want to achieve with the story, but needs fresh eyes to evaluate plot, structure etc
MENTORSHIP PROCESS
Round one: an initial letter, in which I'll focus on structure and big picture edits. I'll be looking at your plot, your characters, and your worldbuilding. The edit letter will be very thorough, but it’s nothing to be afraid of as I'll be on hand to answer questions/allay concerns/cheer you through. By the end of round one, you will have a shinier, tightly-plotted manuscript in your hands
Round two: the second round is usually a quick one, in which I'll focus on story continuity and flow. If there are any plot holes, we’ll plug them.
Round three: if time permits before the agent showcase, my final round will focus on line level edits.
My strengths lie in character development, their motivations and agency, plot, and structure. Ultimately though, line editing is the part of the process I enjoy the most—digging into the prose, and enriching language and descriptions laterally.
It takes a village to write a book. I've been blessed enough to have many talented people guide me through the trenches. I welcome the chance to do the same for you
Definitely check out the other YA mentors' wishlists below!
