I took part in my first #PitMad yesterday and thought I’d talk a bit about it! For those who don’t know, #PitMad is a twitter contest which runs for 12 hours in which you tweet 140 character pitches for your novel in the hopes of attracting an agent or editor.

How it Works:

(full set of rules and explanation: http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitmad/)

You can post twice an hour per project and must include the tag #PitMad and genre/age tags such as #YA.

If an agent or editor likes your pitch then they will favourite it, meaning they are requesting a submission from you. You then just have to follow their guidelines and submit however much of your manuscript they have requested.

Research any agents before sending to them to make sure they are legit and that they are what you’re looking for.

Remember only take part if you have a completed manuscript!

You can retweet other writer’s pitches if you like them but don’t favourite any as that is only for agents/editors!

Stuff I learnt from doing it / Advice:

Have a prepared load of tweets that you have planned in advanced. Then you won’t be sat there trying to come up with them on the spot. Make sure you have plenty because twitter doesn’t always let you post the same tweets.

Don’t be worried you’re spamming. I was worried at first about tweeting my pitches twice an hour but it is genuinely advisable and everyone does it. Hundreds of pitches are tweeted every minute so the more you tweet the more likely an agent/editor is going to see and favourite you.

Summing up your book in 140 characters is super hard, and making it sound interesting is even harder. Even if you don’t get any favourites it is good practice. As I went along I found looking at other peoples pitches gave me ideas and I think I got better at it.

Upcoming PitMad contests:

September 10^th 2015

December 4^th 2015

I’ll definitely participate again next time around. I think it’s really worthwhile doing if you’re looking to publish. Lots of people get picked up through it including someone I know and even if you aren’t successful it is a fun experience.

Exciting news is that I got one favourite on one of my tweets and have sent my synopsis and first two chapters of The Water That Sings. Fingers crossed!