Hello MG writers!


If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’ve written a book for Middle Grade readers and are wanting to learn more about your craft and to take steps towards pursuing publication by submitting to Pitch Wars! If so: congratulations! Completing a draft is a major achievement, one that requires a lot of work and dedication. We’re so proud of you!


For those of your who haven’t heard of Pitch Wars, Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to spend three months revising their manuscript. It ends in February with an Agent Showcase, where agents can read a pitch/first page and can request to read more.


This year we (Graci Kim and Karah Sutton) have the privilege of being MG mentors. We can’t wait to read through all of your submissions, though we are sorry that we can only choose one mentee. 

A banner featuring the Pitch Wars owl mascot Poe with the Pitch Wars logo and the headline "2019 Middle Grade mentors"

You can find Part 1 of our Mentor Wishlist here, which gives a bit more information on who we are and why you should submit to us, as well as what we’re looking for. We recommend you read it first, as it provides context for the additional lists below. 

Our Wishlist, part 2

In this post, we’re going to list a few specific Wants and Do Not Wants, to give you more insight into our tastes. If you don’t see something resembling what you’ve written here in our Wish List, please don’t be discouraged! This is just a bit of fun to help give a bit more insight into the types of stories we love. With the exception of our Do Not Want list, not fitting this list does not mean we won’t consider your submission! 


With that in mind, here are some things we both would be giddy to see in our inbox: 

UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 01: Film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone” In United States In November, 2001-Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is showered by letters as the Dursleys (left to right Richard Griffiths as Vernon, Fiona Shaw as Petunia and Harry Melling as Dudley) panic. (Photo by 7831/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
  • Diverse voices from any underrepresented author or MC. Yes, we already said this in Part 1 of our wishlist, but it’s worth repeating! We would be delighted to find a story that helps underrepresented kids see themselves as the MC, and we would love to offer support via our feedback and mentorship to a marginalised creator.

  • Witches and ghosts and anything paranormal or supernatural. The interpretations of these characters and creatures can be creepy or silly, anywhere in between, or a new twist that we haven’t seen before!

  • Mythologies, folklores, and fairy tales. Especially if from previously underrepresented cultures and viewpoints. 

  • Sibling stories, family stories, and stories that explore identity and belonging. As mentioned in our Part 1 wishlist on Graci’s website, we want stories with heart and emotional resonance, and stories that explore identity and/or family relationships are sure to tug at our heartstrings!

  • A few other random things we enjoy: heist stories, survival stories, stories relating to animals or the environment, unusual POVs (an example being THE BONE GARDEN), big old castles/manors/museums that might be haunted or have secret passages.

Do Not Want list

A lemur with its hand up and the caption "Thank you, but no"

As we said, if your story doesn’t have any of the above, do still feel free to submit to us! However we recommend that you consider a different mentor if you have the following:


  • Novels in verse or graphic novels. We both LOVE reading these, but we’re very sad to say that we’re not confident we would be the best mentors for either of these, because they’re really not in our skillset. 

  • High fantasy, particularly of the sword/sorcery variety. Summarising it as “high fantasy” isn’t entirely accurate because we do both love lush worldbuilding and we’re also fine with books set in worlds other than ours when the world feels familiar and relatable in some way. However, if there is a lot of vocabulary we need to understand to know the stakes, it might not be for us. His Dark Materials is our limit.

  • Preachy books. We both like it when stories say something, and have a grander theme. However this should not outweigh or overshadow the plot or characters.

  • Stories about a marginalised experience that the author does not share, or which present a marginalised character as a prop to either burden or support the MC.

“How do you feel about animal fantasy/portal fantasy?” 

Iorek Byrnison from the new His Dark Materials series. Credit: HBO

This is a common question! Karah herself was asking it as a Pitch Wars hopeful in 2017, because her book A WOLF FOR A SPELL features an animal protagonist.


We are both open to these genres, however we’d like to see a unique spin on these familiar tropes, and are especially looking for a high concept and highly pitchable hook. 


And that’s it! We are so excited to read your submissions, and to work with one of you in the coming months! If you have any questions, you can also tweet us at @Karahdactyl or @GraciKim.


You can return to the main Pitch Wars Blog Hop post here, or see the other MG mentor wish lists below!


Pitch Wars 2019 Middle Grade Mentors’ Wish Lists

  1. K.C. Held
  2. Kit Rosewater and Ash Van Otterloo
  3. Amanda Panitch
  4. Graci Kim and Karah Sutton
  5. Sarah Suk and Julie Abe
  6. Erin Entrada Kelly
  7. Rebecca Petruck
  8. Adrianna Cuevas and Sarah Kapit
  9. Kim Long and Jennifer L. Brown
  10. TJ Ohler
  11. Eric Bell
  12. Lacee Little and Bronwyn Clark
  13. Jessica Bayliss
  14. Shakirah Bourne
  15. Sean Easley
  16. Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass
  17. Julie Artz and Jessica Vitalis
  18. Maria Frazer and Meera Trehan
  19. Rajani LaRocca and Remy Lai
  20. Nicole Panteleakos