Round Table Mentor

Graphic of an open envelope with a letter promoting an event. Text: You're invited! Round Table Mentor Panel: navigating publishing while marginalized. YouTube, June 17, 5pm ET. Graphic includes the URL for the RTM YouTube channel, @RoundTableMentor.

Join a selection of RTM mentors next Tuesday, June 17 at 5pm EDT for a panel on navigating publishing while marginalized!

The panel will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel, with the recording posted afterwards.

Pie chart with breakdowns of age demographics: Adult: 39.5% Middle grade: 7% New Adult: 11.6% Picture Book: 4.7% Young Adult: 37.2%

Pie chart with breakdowns of genre: Fantasy: 53.5% Horror: 14% Mystery: 2.3% Romance: 11.6% Thriller: 4.7% Contemporary: 14%

Pie chart breaking down applications by race: Black or African American: 19.2% Hispanic or Latino: 3.8% Middle Eastern or North African: 3.8% White: 42.3% Other: 5.8% American Indian or Alaska Native: 3.8% Asian: 21.2%

Pie chart breaking down a percentage of Writers of Color: Person of Color: 77.8% Non-person of color: 22.2%

And our cohort this year:

Pie chart with breakdowns of age demographics: Adult: 47.8% Middle grade: 8.9% New Adult: 10.4% Picture Book: 1.5% Young Adult: 31.5%

Pie chart with breakdowns of genre: Fantasy: 49.6% Historical: 3.7% Horror: 7% Literary fiction: 3.3% Mystery: 2.6% Romance: 7% Science Fiction: 9.3% Thriller: 3.7% Contemporary: 8.1%

Pie chart breaking down applicants by marginalized community: LGBTQ+: 23.4% Queer: 14.1% Transgender: 1.7% Non-binary: 3.5% Neurodivergent: 16.6% Autistic: 6.6% Chronically ill: 5.8% Mentally ill: 10.2% Deaf/HOH: 0.4% Blind/Visually impaired: 0.6% Chronic pain: 5.6% Disabled (other) 1.5% Other: 4.4%

Pie chart breaking down applications by race: Black or African American: 10% Hispanic or Latino: 8% Middle Eastern or North African: 2.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.3% White: 58.2% Other: 5% American Indian or Alaska Native: 1% Asian: 13.7%

As we approach another quarter of Round Table Mentor, we’re taking a look at who applied for our program! As a reminder, here at RTM, our goal is to ensure that at least 50% of mentees and mentors are People of Color. Here’s how the numbers shook out for applicants.

you won't want to miss this 🙂‍↕️

Text: Heads Up! You're invited to our debut panel. April 30, 12pm EST, Youtube. What do you need to know before your book emerges into the world? Join our RTM mentors for a panel about their road to debut, pulling back the curtains on their journeys so far. Join us: https://www.youtube.com/@roundtablementor

Join a selection of RTM mentors TOMORROW for a panel on debuting! The panel will stream to our YouTube channel!

A huge thank you to everyone who shared their stories; our mentors had an absolute blast reading them. While we can't take every applicant, please know that we were blown away by the quality of storytelling, and we’re so excited to see where your next journey might take you!

Honorable mentions: B.L. Jasper selected Ben Watson. Shalini Abeysekara selected Maya Kara. Eunice Kim selected Julia H, Grace Zhu, Hadiyah Sama, and Luna.

Lilly Lu selected Effie Seiberg and Emma Finnerty. Olivia Sun selected Mary Huynh and Estephany Reyes. Laura Galán-Wells selected Jackie Yap.

Our honorable mentions are below! A quick note for honorable mentions: You will receive a query package critique, so please keep an eye on your inbox for next steps!

Middle grade and picture book mentees: Bayley Mae is mentoring Elise Blaauw and Samira Lari. Taylor Pitts is mentoring Megan Donnelly. Rosario Martinez is mentoring Shanelle Webb and Tiffanie Leung Abbott.

Here are our mentees from the Middle Grade and Picture Books category:

Young Adult mentees: Birdie Schae is mentoring Ornella and Sonja J. Kaye. Bita Behzadi is mentoring Ethan Rubin. Camille Chong is mentoring Natalia Wikana. Cass Biehn is mentoring Cindy Chen. CL Montblanc is mentoring Rachael Allysa.

Eunice Kim is mentoring L. Amariti. Helen Z. Dong & Solar Hoàng are mentoring Brian Patrick Byrne. Jill Tew is mentoring Jada-Kai Meosa John. Karis Rogerson is mentoring Melonie. Laura Galán-Wells is mentoring Shylin (Shaye).

Noelle Monét is mentoring Ashley B. Olivia Sun & Vishaka Sriram are mentoring FT Zahra. Raven Traylor is mentoring Kimani Key. Samantha Chong is mentoring Briana O'Neal. Sofia Aves is mentoring Emily Bennett and Megan McCuen Witt.

Here are our mentees from the Young Adult category:

New Adult mentees: Camille Chong is mentoring Kar Chi. Hien Nguyen is mentoring Jessica Tsang. Lilly Lu is mentoring Taylor K. Owens. M. Stevenson is mentoring Natasha Grace. Quinton Li is mentoring Perla Zul.

Here are our mentees from the New Adult category:

Adult mentees: Audrey Goldberg Ruoff is mentoring Jamie Su. B.L. Jasper is mentoring Cee Jordan. C.J. Subko is mentoring Elif Sinem. DeAndra Davis & Yuvashri Harish are mentoring James Gemmill. Eunice Kim is mentoring Hanna Hoshino and Katrina T De Los Reyes.

Fabiana Muñoz is mentoring Zara Zanzi. Fatiha Rais is mentoring Ara and Chelsea Hollerud. Helen Z. Dong & Solar Hoàng are mentoring Akiho Murata. Lara Ameen is mentoring K.M. Archer. M. Stevenson is mentoring C.T. Wood.

Lauren Shade-Rivero is mentoring Alyson Greene. Shalini Abeysekara is mentoring Rihdara Klay. Taylor Grothe is mentoring E.S. Huberty. Tzeyi Koay is mentoring Meagan Cleveland. Val Robles is mentoring Jane Perry.

IT'S HERE!!!! Our newest Round Table Mentor cohort has landed—and we're excited to get started. Remember to browse the whole thread for the full list of mentees, and please check your inboxes for next steps from your mentor. Congratulations!

Here are our mentees from the Adult category:

Beige background with yellow confetti. Text reads Mentee announcements, 1 day to go, 12pm EST, TOMORROW. the URL reads roudntablementor dot com.

ONE. MORE. DAY. Are you excited? We're excited!!! Our mentors are buzzing, and we can't wait to open our doors tomorrow, Feb 1!

Text: When you have to wait two more days before you can tell your mentee you loved their novel. Image: Penguin is crying holding a card with a pink heart and red glitter on it.

We’re so excited to announce our 2025 mentees on February 1st!!! Watch this space at noon Eastern time.
#WritingCommunity
#RoundTableMentor

A blue background with yellow confetti, and the number 3 outlined with text says that "3 days to go, 12 pm EST, Feb 1". The URL at the bottom is roundtablementor.com

Only three more sleeps until mentee announcements. As we inch ever closer, can you feel the excitement in the air? #WritingCommunity
#RoundTableMentor

Top panel. Image: Person with long pink hair and cat on head holds a calculator. Text: According to my calculations. Bottom panel. Image: closeup of top panel. Text: Ur mentee. 4 more days!

Mentors are making their final mentee decisions, and some are additionally choosing an honorable mention. Four days until announcements!
#WritingCommunity
#RoundTableMentor

The opposite of 'warmth' is coolth.'

Image Text: EVENT ALERT! Join us on our YouTube channel (@RoundTableMentor) Jan 15, 7pm EST for a panel on querying, featuring a selection of this year's mentors. Got a burning question? You can either DM us or leave it in the comments below.

Join us in about an hour for a @roundtablementor.bsky.social querying panel ☺️ It will be live on the YT page

www.youtube.com/@RoundTableM...
#amquerying #writingcommunity

Reminder that this is TONIGHT! Join us on our YouTube channel, @/RoundTableMentor, at 7pm EST!

Text: EVENT ALERT! Join us on our YouTube channel (@RoundTableMentor) Jan 15, 7pm EST for a panel on querying, featuring a selection of this year's mentors. Got a burning question? You can either DM us or leave it in the comments below.

Mark your calendars for RTM's first event of the year! Join a selection of this year's mentors for a panel on all things querying.

The panel will be recorded, so don't stress if you can't make it live!

I’m on this panel so…please do drop questions and I’ll try to make sure I address them.

sooo excited to help moderate @roundtablementor.bsky.social's first panel of 2025! it's all about querying and we've got some incredible mentors lined up to share their experiences + take any questions!

got querying questions? boy do we have the event for you

I'll be on this panel! Ask me your questions about querying for the long haul and/or returning to the trenches after getting an agent!

Text: EVENT ALERT! Join us on our YouTube channel (@RoundTableMentor) Jan 15, 7pm EST for a panel on querying, featuring a selection of this year's mentors. Got a burning question? You can either DM us or leave it in the comments below.

Mark your calendars for RTM's first event of the year! Join a selection of this year's mentors for a panel on all things querying.

The panel will be recorded, so don't stress if you can't make it live!

Please keep checking those inboxes and spam folders--we are very much still requesting manuscripts!

That would be great! Thank you!

Hello! We are trying to get in touch because we sent you a full request and a follow up email several weeks ago--please let us know if you received them!

Text: Check your spam folder. Image: a can of SPAM meat inside an envelope with an arrow pointing at it.

Text: The professor makes the horrifying discovery that messages sent across the universe by advanced alien civilizations in unknown solar systems have all been going into her junk mail folder. Credit: Tom Gauld for New Scientist. Image: Woman in white lab coat sits at desk and stares at her monitor screen. Her computer is plugged into a wall of servers.

Oh no 🙀 Some full requests have been going to spam. Please search for RoundTableMentor
@gmail.com

Text: Check your spam folder. Image: a can of SPAM meat inside an envelope with an arrow pointing at it.

Text: The professor makes the horrifying discovery that messages sent across the universe by advanced alien civilizations in unknown solar systems have all been going into her junk mail folder. Credit: Tom Gauld for New Scientist. Image: Woman in white lab coat sits at desk and stares at her monitor screen. Her computer is plugged into a wall of servers.

Oh no 🙀 Some full requests have been going to spam. Please search for RoundTableMentor
@gmail.com

Check those stockings--ahem, those spam folders! We have it on good authority a few full requests have ended up there!