Qualifications:
And so begins the brag-fest. Let's get that part over.
First, the oh-so-astonishing and exciting bio:
Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two new adults. Two papillons help balance out the new adult drama. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack.
She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat and Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow among others.
Her epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. Her short story, Frost and Fog, is published by The Elephant's Bookshelf Press in their anthology, Summer's Double Edge. She's repped by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary.
Find me on twitter at @Michelle4Laughs
On the hush-hush side, I'm waiting to be allowed to announce a little something else to go in that bio. Something a little... big, if you know what I mean.
Moving on.
I'm not going to fill this post with gifs. I'm not going to shout and boast. Simply put, I know contests. I know agents--lots of agents. I've hooked many writers up with their agents--or helped them on their way so they could do it themselves.
Many of them are now PitchWars mentors. They are very talented writers, and I'm thankful I happened to spot them.
If you don't know, I'm the host of Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, New Agent and Sun versus Snow as well as Picture Book Party. I also post interviews with agents on my blog to help querying writers. I've been running contests for three years.
My contests have resulted in dozens of success stories. I've read thousands of entries and know what works.
You want the real deal mentor, then you want me. (Sorry other mentors.)
I. SPOT. WINNERS.
Enough said. I humbly drop the mic and walk away.
My Editorial Style:
I prefer to work by email or chat. I'm not a fan of talking on the phone.
Last year out of about 80 submissions to me, I requested 10 partials and then 4 fulls from that. All 10 partials got edit letters and in-line feedback from me.
What am I looking for?
This year I am mentoring in the adult category.
And I'm being very selective in what I'm looking for: fantasy and a very few types of science fiction.
I want adult fantasy and especially adult epic fantasy, though I'll look at all other kinds of fantasy. That's urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, each and every kind of sub-genre of fantasy.
Sorry but:
-I'm not your person if your story includes tons of romance. If the MC bats her eyes and moons over guys/girls a lot, it's not for me.
-I'm not your person if your word count is over 120,000 or under 70,000.
-I'm not your person if you have vampires or werewolves.
-I don't do Twilight.
-I'm not a big fan of ghosts.
-I'm not your person for whiny/bitchy or complaining main characters.
-Elves and dwarfs are not really my area of interest.
-I'm not your person if you believe your manuscript is practically perfect as is. You have to be willing to revise--not huge, rewrite-the-whole-thing revisions, but some.
-If you have graphic sex scenes or kill all your main characters, it's not for me. I quit GoT in the second book.
Clarification: I don't mind if you kill characters in the ms. Just not all the point of view MC in the middle of the book. Killing characters is to be expected in fantasy.
-I do want unique concept. Something that stands out of the crowd.
-A little romance is okay. As long as it isn't the MC's focus.
-I will consider dystopian or post apocalypse, but no other type of science fiction.
-I want magic and big worlds.
-I want characters with secrets they're hiding and lots of backstory that comes out gradually, not in the first chapter.
Some of my favorite authors include: Brandon Sanderson, Kate Elliott, Michael J. Sulllivan, Robert Jordan, Kristen Britain, Jim Butcher and more.
If you have something like the Green Rider series, I want to see it. If you are into WoT (if you know what this means, you're my kind of writer) and The Dresden Series, I want to see it.
Please make sure you are sending adult fantasy my way. Don't waste a mentor slot sending YA or MG fantasy. Due to the contest structure, I'm restricted to the adult category.
On a side note, I know it's hard to pick a mentor when you only get to send five subs. It will be difficult to pick just one mentee. I'm looking for something I really love as we only get one choice. I hope you'll choose me to help you.
If in doubt or you want to know my editorial style, ask me on twitter (@Michelle4Laughs) or in the comments.
See you August 17th for subs and August 10th for #AskMentor on twitter.
Here are the "other" mentors.
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If only my MS was finished! After reading this post, I think you'd like it! ;) When I finish it, I hope to participate in Pitch Wars; sounds fun and helpful!
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