So the idea of Pitch Wars is basically pairing unagented authors with a more experienced author to tackle improving their manuscript before submitting to agents. (extremely short version there)

In years past, hopefuls selected the mentors they thought would be a good fit and submitted their query and first chapter to them. You had a limited number of names you could choose, but the mentors were allowed to do some swapping behind the scenes – so you could, theoretically, end up with a mentor you had not chosen.

This year, there will be no behind-the-scenes swapping of submissions. So, as a hopeful, you’re stuck with the four (or six if you donate, or win extra submissions) you selected.

Which brings me to the madness…

I keep thinking I have the list narrowed down to six names. Then something changes. Currently, I’ve got eight possibilities. Three are pretty much a given. Which means I’ve got three slots left, but five names with which to fill them. I’ve read the mentor wish lists umpteen bazillian times. I’ve Tweeted at them with questions and clarifications. I’ve scoured their blogs, and read sample pages from their books. And I’m still no closer to cutting two names than I was when I started.

So I decided to check their favorite books. Maybe getting a feel for the stories they like to read would help narrow my choices a bit.

Brilliant idea.

Or not.

One of my top choices, one I thought was a hands-down-gotta-sub, lists a book as their all-time, absolute, love-it-to-death piece that I not only cannot stand, but I find repugnant beyond words. As in, everything about it makes me cringe. As in, it is everything I do not like about a genre I normally love. As in, it represents some of the most unhealthy, codependent, romanticization of abusive behavior I’ve ever scene. As in, it makes 50 Shades of Gray seem like a good romance.

Cue freak out. Cue panic moment. Cue frantic scrambling to decide how important this information is and how to weight it in my choices. I mean, this mentor is one of my top choices otherwise. Harrumph.

Enter salvation from the PW community in the form of words of calm and wisdom from other hopefuls, and a few mentors.

Deep breathing ensued. Analytical thinking resumed, replacing the blindass panic of moments before.

OK. I can deal with this. It’s not a big deal. It’s just one little factor among many. And not everyone has the same literary tastes.

Crisis averted, but it still doesn’t help narrow my damn list down any!

On the plus side, one mentor who I adored beyond all possible belief (and whose favorite books I also love), but thought was not a good fit for my manuscript turns out to be more open than I’d thought, and is now among my top three.

Happy dance.