WriteHive Mentorship Program

#HiveMentor

Zoe Zander

Mentor Expertise: Traditional Publishing
She/Her

Mentor Bio

Zoe Zander is an author of YA horror and thrillers. She lives in the gloomy Midwest with her darling cats, Wednesday and Trinket, where it’s either scorching hot or blisteringly cold. She spends her days doing data entry for a bank while daydreaming of fictional worlds. She was a 2021 Pitch Wars Mentee and is overjoyed to be able to pass on her experience now that she has survived the query trenches and has an agent.

Mentorship Expectations

As a previous Pitch Wars mentee, I completely understand what it’s like on the other side. The most important thing I want my mentee to walk away with is the confidence to query their manuscript in such a competitive and scary environment. Querying is tough right now! I’m absolutely going to be in your corner the entire time!

Getting your manuscript in tip-top shape will be a lot of work. The first thing would be either a Zoom, discord, phone call (or email if you prefer, whatever you’re comfortable with) to go over the initial edit letter and answer any questions. From there, I do want a mentee to be open to working toward deadlines that we decide on together. We’ll be really digging in deep to tap into what makes your characters—and your world—unique. I’ll be there to help brainstorm or answer questions along the way! I’m happy to help with query and synopsis review, as well as helping you get your agent list ready before you query.

Manuscript Wishlist

I’m primarily looking for queer horror, thrillers, and dark fantasy! YA is my bread and butter and I love anything with crossover appeal. If you have something in the new adult age range we can definitely have a chat about either aging it up or down (depending) because of market expectations (sorry NA truthers!) I’m also looking for a standalone to really polish and shine and help get ready for querying!

Horror:

  • I’m so ready to fall for haunting and atmospheric settings like Erica Waters’ THE RIVER HAS TEETH and one of my favorite podcasts of all time, ALICE ISN’T DEAD
  • Open to literally all subgenres. Gothic, cosmic, psychological, fantasy, contemporary, supernatural, etc, etc—bring it on!
  • I’d love to see battling grief but in book form like A24s TALK TO ME—honestly, I could write never-ending essays on A24, so on that subject! Give me unrepentant girl rage like THE VVITCH (dark folk fantasy, anyone?? Yes please!!) and MIDSOMMAR.
  • Slashers! It feels like we’re entering back into our slasher era, so slasher (from a feminist perspective, a la YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT) is welcome!
  • If you can comp to any of these other movies/shows/books, I would love to read: Jennifer’s Body, Bunny, The Salt Grows Heavy, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, Bodies Bodies Bodies, House of Hollow

Thrillers:

  • Hook! It’s so hard to say exactly what I’m looking for with thrillers—I never know until I find it.
  • Fast-paced and high tension is key for me! Pacing is hard to nail, though, so that’s something we can always work on together.
  • Dark academia is a fave of mine! If you can comp to A LESSON IN VENGEANCE, NINTH HOUSE, or THE SECRET HISTORY, I’ll be a big fan!
  • Love tight-knit friend groups (toxic or not)
  • Psychological thrillers are so fun and I always have such a good time with them! Unreliable narrators (and unlikable female main characters) are a definite bonus.
  • Again, queer characters/romance please!

Dark Fantasy:

  • Very specifically fantasy with a horror edge—think Ava Reid’s THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN, but YA.
  • Haunting atmosphere? Spooky forests? Monsters? Horrifying magic that comes with a price? Sign. Me. Up.
  • Retellings of lesser-known folk/myths
  • Heart-wrenching sapphic or achillean romance!

Not the best fit for:

  • MG—my focus is primarily on YA and I’ll consider select Adult work if it has crossover appeal.
  • Fae (unless you’re putting a horror spin on it!)
  • Traditional mermaids
  • Traditional retellings (scary/horror retellings are welcome, but I’m not interested in Disney)
  • SA or animal death (the dog or cat cannot die)

Zoe Zander

She/Her

Traditional Publishing

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