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Hand Writing

I'm currently CLOSED to mentorships, as I am working with a chosen author.

 

A quick reminder of how the Kiss Pitch Mentorship program works:

  • You may query multiple mentors at the same time.

  • If you receive multiple offers from mentors, you pick the one you feel is the best fit and let the others know you’ll be working with someone else.

  • As long as I'm marked as "open," you can query me at any time.

  • You must be a member of the Friday Kiss community. If you’re not a member, you can join HERE.

  • You must be unagented.

  • You have a completed manuscript, query letter, and synopsis.

 

My expectations of you:

  • You have revised your completed manuscript and have polished it to the best of your ability, even working with a critique partner or beta reader if available to you.

  • Our relationship would be collaborative. This is your baby, but you must be open to new ideas and willing to take suggestions on how to improve your work. This might include slashing scenes and/or characters, as well as adding sections as necessary.

  • You have the time and energy to do the necessary work to improve your novel.

  • You understand that I have other jobs and life commitments and will fit this mentorship in as I’m able. I’ll work my butt off for my mentee, but my turnaround time will vary depending on my availability at the moment. All time expectations will be discussed when the partnership is agreed upon.​​​

ALL ABOUT ME

I write fun, sexy romance and have published seventeen novels, both traditionally published and self-published.

 

Thanks to my amazing agent, some of my novels have sold to Italy, Germany, and Poland. I was even lucky enough to visit Rome for a book signing!!! Hello, bucket-list item.

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I worked as a Pitch Wars mentor for five years. I also work as a freelance developmental editor, helping writers edit their books to pitch agents and get book deals, as well as to self-publish their novels. I get ridiculously excited to help writers reach their goals! 

 

More details on my editing experience, including editing reviews, can be found HERE.

 

To learn more about my books, hop over HERE.

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MY EDITING STRENGHTS

  • Helping build strong characters your readers will care about.

  • Sharpening the elusive quality known as “voice.” Without a compelling voice, it’s near impossible to snag an agent or editor or keep a reader invested.

  • Untangling rough plotting and pacing. If your book suffers from the dreaded saggy middle, I’m your gal. Lacking tension? We’ll ratchet it up.

  • Ensuring dialogue is meaningful and snappy.

  • I will also tackle formatting issues, use of garbage and crutch words, and overarching grammar problems—basically, all the boring stuff—but I won’t dig as deep as a copyeditor.

  • No mentor can guarantee you’ll walk away from this experience with an agent or book deal, but I can guarantee I’ll help you grow as a writer.

 

GENRES I’M LOOKING FOR

Romance of all types!

I am a romance junky, from sweet and frothy to dark and dangerous. Closed door and steamy. Romantasy, romantic comedy, and historical romance. Neuro/Dis, body diversity, own voices, and LGBTQIA+ rep all welcome. If it has a happily ever after, or a "happy for now," I would absolutely love to see your work!

 

As you can tell, I don’t like to get too specific on my wish list. Voice and writing trump my stated preferences every time.

 

Women’s fiction, please :) 

I love diverse stories of personal growth. They can be fun and quirky stories, or maybe your novel transports me to a past era and leaves me gasping at the evocative scenery. Whatever the focus, I need a strong main character with agency, who shows how much they have grown by the end of the novel.

 

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM OUR WORKING RELATIONSHIP

I’m honest to a fault, even if it isn’t what you want to hear. I’ll also cackle over your hilarious lines and swoon over your brilliant prose, so you can see where your writing shines.

 

I will do two full passes of your manuscript. The first pass will involve an edit letter only, outlining trouble areas with suggestions on how to fix them. The second pass, after your revisions, will be an intensive in-line edit, to dig deeper and show you specific areas that still need work. I may also have you do some worksheets at points, if I feel the exercises will benefit your revisions. If you’re looking to be traditionally published, we will then tackle your query letter and synopsis.

 

During the above time, we’ll communicate as needed to hammer out any issues.

 

Although I’m no longer super knowledgeable on the agent marketplace, I would seek outside assistance to provide querying resources, if required.

 

HOW TO QUERY ME​

Both of the below steps need to be completed.

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Step One is to fill out this form: MENTEE FORM

Step Two is to email the below information to kellysiskind@gmail.com, with the two indicated attachments.

  • A query letter in the body of the email.

  • Attachment One: a synopsis, no longer than three pages, as a Word document, double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman

  • Attachment Two: your full manuscript as a Word document, double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman​

 

PLEASE NOTE: I will not necessarily read your entire manuscript, but this saves me the time of asking for it, if required. My aim is to respond to all queries within a few weeks.

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