Mentor: Erin Hahn

by | Mar 8, 2018 | Mentors (R4) | 0 comments

www.erinphahn.com
@writer_ep_hahn

AGENT
Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency

WRITES
YA Contemporary Romance

DEBUT
YOU’D BE MINE (April 2019)
Wednesday Books/Macmillan

BIO
Erin started writing her own books when her little sister gave her shade about a country music-themed Twilight fanfic. By day, she gets to share her favorite stories with her elementary students. By night, she writes swoons. Erin married her own YA love interest whom she met on her first day of college and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Michigan, aka the greenest place on earth and has a cat, Gus, who plays fetch.

PUBLISHING BACKGROUND
I wrote six (!) books over a three-year period and queried four of them (probably 150 total queries). I signed with my agent 8 weeks after I started querying the book that became my debut (You’d Be Mine), went on submission a month after that and sold a month after that! So years of angst followed by a whirlwind of AWESOME that I’m still processing, tbh. 🙂

EXPERIENCE
I mean. I love kissing in real life, if that helps??? I have some pretty incredible (read: Bestselling) CPs who no one in my real life can believe I actually know, and who I like to think I help on occasion. Of my five CP’s, two have Big Deals and three are on submission and will be on my shelf in no time, of this I have no doubt. Also, I teach reading and writing to Elementary students, so I know my way around words. As far as mentoring experience, I have held a few query/pages critiques on social media.

OVERVIEW
I want to be a mentor because I HAVE BEEN THERE. For all of it. From pitch contests with no love, to R&Rs with mixed messages, to 9 rejections in a single week, to selling a debut to a Big Five publisher in a month. The path is so windy for all of us, but the key is persistence and probably a killer voice doesn’t hurt. 🙂

Make me laugh, make me swoon, make me want to draw your characters’ names in little hearts in my notebook. It’s all I ask. If you do this, I will do everything in my power to get your name on the shelf of that cute little Indie Bookshop on the corner that smells like baked goods and parchment and happiness.

 

  • Contemporary
  • Magical Realism/Fabulism
  • Romance
  • Urban/Contemporary Fantasy

I will read anything, but this round I am here for CUTE. GIVE ME YOUR MEET-CUTES. I want Hate-to-Love, Friends-to-Lovers, Opposites Attract. DO NOT GIVE ME YOUR LOVE TRIANGLES. Don’t make me chose, because I won’t. I write M/F because that’s how I roll, but I will read anything… Just being clear that it’s not my area of expertise.

I’m also a big contemporary fantasy fan. Give me your teenaged werewolves and witches, your fae and your magic… I wrote a FERNGULLY meets REIGN once upon a time and tree spirits and nature magic hold a very special place in my heart.

I WILL PROVIDE:

  • Edit Letter (Big Picture developmental feedback)
  • Line edit (dropping notes into a Word Document)
  • Freestyle in chat

WORKING STYLE
My plan may change depending on the mentee, but as it stands, I will likely send a Big Picture Edit Letter to start. From there, we can work on line edits, which I plan to do in-doc. Of course, I’m happy to answer middle of night queries in google chat or any other medium. I will give my mentee deadlines that we are both comfortable with, depending on when they hope to be ready to query. After the MS is ready, we’ll work on making sure the query and synopsis are in order!

IDEAL MENTEE
Someone humble and hardworking. We’re ALL talented writers, okay? That doesn’t mean you get to write a 300k dystopian fantasy and expect a major movie deal off the bat. I want someone willing to work their ass off for their dream. Also, a sense of humor is probably good. I’m dead sarcastic and communicate in Gifs.

SEND ME:
As I said before, give me all your cute. I don’t want to be too specific here because honestly, I might not know if I like it until I hear it! 🙂 But funny, light, sweet… I’m perfectly okay with cussing, sex-positivity and typical teenaged behavior. If you have a twist on any of the tropes, send it my way. I might fall in love with it!

DO NOT SEND ME:
LOVE TRIANGLES. Also, please no rape, sex abuse, physical abuse or Adult-Child relationships.

FAVES
Any and all music. If you have any kind of music featured in your story, I will love you forever. I am obsessed with Teen Wolf, The Office (Jim and Pam for LIFE), Empire Records, Once Upon a Time, Dramione Fanfiction, THE HATING GAME, CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET, SHOPAHOLIC, Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries 2, grunge music, Johnny Cash, 90s teen movies, SIX OF CROWS… I’m all over the damn place.