Author Mentor Match (AMM) pairs aspiring writers with completed manuscripts with experienced authors (agented and published) for mentorship. The mentor/mentee pairs work together over the lifetime of a book project, and sometimes longer. Every mentor/mentee relationship is individual, but we are proud to have many success stories and long-term peer relationships forged over many years.

No. AMM is 100% free and always will be. All our mentors and the entire admin team are volunteers.

AMM mentors are agented, and/or have a book deal or books published traditionally.  They have gone through the gauntlet of traditional publishing and are able to offer insights into the industry and its challenges.

AMM mentors offer all mentees at minimum one complete manuscript read and comprehensive edit letter, query assistance, and ongoing guidance and support for the life-cycle of your AMM book. Many mentors offer additional reads, line edits, brainstorming sessions, career advice, and beyond. We cannot promise mentees will become agented or get book deals, but every mentor endeavours to offer insights that will help their mentees become strongers writers who are better equipped for the industry.

Currently AMM specializes in completed works of fiction, and is open to middle grade, young adult, and adult manuscripts across a wide variety of genres.

The vast majority of our mentors are interested strictly in narrative/prose fiction, however we do have some mentors very excited to receive graphic novel and novels-in-verse submissions. You can find more information on the mentors page on their individual manuscript wishlists.

Up to 4 mentors in one category only. Ie: 4 YA mentors, not 2 YA and 2 adult mentors, or 4 YA and 4 Adult mentors. We do not recommend only applying to one mentor–do your best to apply to at least 3!

We cannot technically stop you, but we strongly recommend that you do not. You should have a strong sense of where your manuscript sits in the marketplace. If it were on bookshelves tomorrow, what would it be next to? That should tell you if your book is MG, YA, or adult. Of course some crossover books may apply, however consider the “anchor category” of that book–in most cases a YA crossover is anchored in YA. An MG crossover is anchored in MG. Adult crossover is anchored in adult. And so on. Mentors firmly rooted in each category will be the best people to guide you on crossover appeal for that anchor category. 

Absolutely. The best way is via social media. We will be holding Twitter chats, Instagram lives, and YouTube livestreams leading up to the submission window which we hope will help. You can also always use the #AskAMM hashtag on Twitter, send us a DM, or email us at authormentormatch@gmail.com

AMM supports mentors sharing promising manuscripts that aren’t a fit for them with other mentors. So it is possible to be chosen by a mentor you didn’t apply to! We always run it by the mentee before making a match, and thus far no one has said no. Thus, while you can only apply to 4 mentors, it is possible to have a shot with additional mentors.

Yes, your manuscript should be complete at the time the submission window opens. 

We suggest you revise at least once, with or without critique partners, however we have no hard and fast rules.We recommend at least one developmental pass, and ensuring your manuscript is free of excessive spelling and grammar errors. The aim is not perfection, but polish!

Again, technically yes… but we always advise no. You should focus on your strongest manuscript in terms of market potential, freshness (whether it has been queried), and your passion for the work.

Yes, though we kindly request you use your best judgment in terms of how heavily a project has been queried. Mentors will have a more difficult time assisting with something queried to, say, over 100 agents. However, we never want to be overly prescriptive–you are welcome to submit and see! We do ask you be forthcoming on the application about how many times the manuscript has been revised and queried, however. 

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it! Every year there are mentees chosen who submitted in previous rounds… and we love that! It’s why we endeavor to bring in new mentors each round to increase opportunities to find the right fit for your manuscript.

Yes, though we do ask/recommend that there have been significant time between rounds and that you have a new manuscript for consideration. But we completely understand that sometimes a previous round’s manuscript ends up shelved and your mentor is no longer available, and so we are always happy to consider new material. We cannot make guarantees of being chosen, but we have had success stories of mentees who have been chosen twice. 

There is a mentee/hopeful-run private Facebook Group you can join. You can also participate in #AMMParty on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, or any other AMM event to make friends.

We are on Twitter, Instagram and now YouTube!

The #AskAMM tag on Twitter or sending us a Twitter DMis the best way to direct general questions toward the community and AMM admins to answer. You can also email us at authormentormatch@gmail.com.

Please let us know right away. First off, congratulations! Second off, we’re happy to help if we can. If your manuscript is under strong consideration by one of our mentors, we can let you know so you can make a decision moving forward. We will also be happy to offer advice/insight into your agent offer, if you’d like it. In most cases mentees choose to withdraw and sign, but in some cases a mentee has chosen to work with an AMM mentor on next steps. 

Generally yes. In fact, if you want to participate in an online pitch event as an AMM mentee, your mentor can help you. What we do request, however, is that you not participate actively in pitch events leading up to and during the AMM submission window, if at all possible. We also kindly ask that you not apply to AMM with the intention of entering Pitch Wars in the same calendar year with the same manuscript. AMM is not a free editing/polishing service for another intense mentorship program. (Existing AMM mentees from previous rounds, however, are always welcome and encouraged to explore options with other programs, including Pitch Wars.) It is also fine if you have been a mentor in other programs! We just ask if you’re actively being mentored in another program that you run it by that mentor so as to avoid any hurt feelings/conflicts of interest.

The word counts on the application are a general guidelines, not an absolute rule. When in doubt, submit, though we do strongly recommend being aware of industry norms in terms of what is considered too short and too long depending on category and genre.