a summary Query A longer version of a pitch, usually in the 200 to 400 word range, sent to an agent along with a brief sample of the work and any other requested materials (such as a synopsis) per the agent’s requirements, as a way for the agent to understand your manuscript and hopefully offer to represent you and shop your work (to publishing houses)
to have them acquire and publish their manuscripts (Acquiring/Acquisitions) Editor Editors also participate in twitter events; these tend to be for digital-first or small/boutique presses Tip: Always look up the people requesting your query. Make sure to check the organization they work for etc. as these events do attract scammers as well.
(depends on the agent) sent along with the query to the agent Full (request) If an agent likes your first pages, they ask for the entire manuscript (the “full”) to make their judgment R&R revise and resubmit; if an agent likes the story after reading your full but doesn’t think it’s there quite yet, they may ask for the author to revise and resubmit; HOWEVER revising MAY end up pushing the manuscript in a direction the agent doesn’t like or doesn’t feel they can represent
usually agents or editors • Typically themed (diversity, genre, age group) • Authors post pitches; agents and editors “like” pitches to let the authors know they are interested in seeing a query from the author for that piece • Authors submit their query and first pages to the agent/editor by following the guidelines they put in a tweet, often with a jump on the regular queue because of the event Remember: “Likes” are not an immediate offer of representation
structured as such: Comps (optional), pitch, tags Hero (2002) x The Great Gatsby. Beneath the gilding of glitz and glamor of high society in an early Republic of China lies a web of greed and corruption that won’t let go of anyone. Not even the dead. #[event tag] #[genre tag] #[subgenre tag] #[age marketing category] Tip: Tweet each pitch individually, with the event tag and category tags, and not as replies to your initial tweet. Replies do not show up in the tag feed.
or two unique aspects of your story per pitch because they’re so short, but since most events allow more than one tweet for the duration of the event, you can compose several pitches for the story; some may be more successful than others! Some aspects of the story to concentrate on: • character identity • character motivation/hopes/aims/goals • internal conflict or external conflict • Causes-consequences • Setting • twists/contradictions Keep in mind Specificity is important, but terms and names made up specifically for your novel might be hard to explain in the space of a tweet. e.g. it may be more important to know the character is a chef than that their name is Szvarga.
bought his way into high society Setting 1920s, Beijing Motivation His desire to fit in Internal conflict Negotiating his queer feelings versus his obsession with a girl External conflict Zombies, imperial conspiracies Comps Hero (2002), Kingdom (2019), The Great Gatsby Twists Nonstop party meets literal zombies; the old imperial line made them
The Great Gatsby. Beneath the gilding of glitz and glamor of high society in an early Republic of China lies a web of greed and corruption that won’t let go of anyone. Not even the dead. #[event tag] #[genre tag] #[subgenre tag] #[age marketing category] Kingdom (2019) x The Great Gatsby. Beneath the gilding of glitz and glamor of high society in an early Republic of China lies a web of greed and corruption that won’t let go of anyone. Not even the dead. #[event tag] #[genre tag] #[subgenre tag] #[age marketing category]
1917 Ten children of party leaders found dead at the opera. No evidence of foreign interference. They appear to have been... eaten. #[event tag] #[genre tag] #[subgenre tag] #[age marketing category] Kingdom (2019) x The Great Gatsby. Beneath the gilding of glitz and glamor of high society in an early Republic of China lies a web of greed and corruption that won’t let go of anyone. Not even the dead. #[event tag] #[genre tag] #[subgenre tag] #[age marketing category]
doesn’t have to be in a traditional sentence format. Barring images, the spacing etc. can be any way you want it. For example: However, it’s best practices to start with the comps, if you have any, and end with the genre and event tags. Thor: Ragnarok x Good Omens Step 1: Meet god Step 2: Kill god Step 3: ??? Step 4: Prophet #[event tag] #SF #HA #A
in the third person limited • Include the character’s name • Be in a conventional format • Include a lot of information However, it should: • Be as specific as possible • Emphasize the aspect or aspects of focus (from that trait list) • Be a hook, interest the agent or editor in reading the manuscript ◦ Advice for hooks: often, a reversal or contradiction is a key selling point to a hook; those make a reader want to find out how it happened or whether/how it will be resolved
write something you think represents the story and sounds intriguing. 1. Break all the separate elements into bullet points. Create cause-consequence pairs and then compare that list to your pitches—are the causal relationships expressed? (prepositions are your friends here!) 2. Create several versions with the character count in mind and a strong emphasis on the main character—goals/motivations, feelings/emotions, inner conflict, struggle—really emphasize that with the use of precise vocabulary. 3. Finally, take whatever pitches you just created and play with the punctuation and grammar. Think outside the box. Cut words. Add (or remove) line breaks. Then synthesize. Try to fit everything in 240 characters. Remember: tags are part of the character count.
pitch events Pitchwars hashtag list (Although not universally accepted or formatted like this, most events will have a list of accepted genre tags to use during the event) List of twitter pitching events in 2021 (not written by me)
baasie
iamctodd
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helenjbeal
brettharned
holman
jonoalderson
kastner
eileencodes
rkendrick25
marktimemedia
reverentgeek
