Twitter Pitching Madness

Yesterday I participated in the Twitter pitching event #PitMad. Basically you post a short pitch of your story and agents and editors are able to read it. It didn't take me very long to figure out that as hard as writing a regular pitch is, whittling one down to less than a 140 characters was even harder, particularly since I was trying to accomplish the task at the last minute.

I got a tiny nibble from an agent who, sadly, doesn't handle YA, but it was encouraging, as was the nice feedback some of the other writers on my Twitter feed posted.

When the dust settled, I'd posted 3 micro-pitches. My personal favorite was the 3rd one, which I think I posted about 10 minutes before the event ended.

Here's what I managed to come up with.

Dwarf teen, Grace, is more than a mark on a measuring stick. Convincing others, including the local farm boy, proves difficult #PitMad YA   (I already have a few ideas about how I'm going to clean this up and make it a bit more concise.)

Dwarf performer, Grace, finds convincing people, she's a person and not a doll an overwhelming challenge. #PitMad Contemp YA

Being a 4’ teen dwarf is tough. Teaching magic to a pig, tougher yet. Hiding her feelings for the local farm boy ... impossible. #PitMad YA

Get Your Pitch On-Ignite

The #PitchOn activities are underway. If you meant to enter the workshops and lost track of the date, don’t panic. You still have time. You only need two things, a completed YA manuscript that’s ready to be pitched to agents, and a 50-70 word pitch to go along with it. Information about how to enter can be found right here.

Do you want to know what you’re up against? You can check out the other pitch’s that have been entered in the workshops by visiting the host blogs.

Entering your pitch shouldn’t be your only interest, you also need to wander around to the participating blogs and leave a comment. For every comment you leave, you have a chance to receive a 10 page critique from one of these great people.

 Sharon Johnston

Larissa Hardesty

Stephanie Diaz

Catherine Scully

Jodie Andrefski

Paula Sangare

Talynn 

Kaitlin Adams.

To date, I’ve gotten 1 pitch.

IGNITE

YA Paranormal Suspense

70,000

In the care of WitWatch—a top-secret witness protection bureau operated by supernatural agents—seventeen-year-old Alison Summers and her fire-wielding Watcher are determined to discover who murdered Ali’s grandmother and prove she’s not crazy. But, when a discharged agent with an antibody to eliminate powers learns Ali possesses the element, Water, she becomes next on his to-cure list.

I’m going to start off by saying that I like the idea behind this story. Based on the premise, it’s something I would pick up and read. However, and this is just my opinion, the pitch could still use some work. To me it’s kind of muddled, and a tiny bit confusing. My favorite part of the pitch is the final sentence, which seems to be the heart of the pitch, though I’m not sure about starting the sentence with but. I think it would be just as good if you started with when a discharged. 

My big problem with this pitch is the first sentence. I think it needs to be rewritten. This is just my opinion, but I think you could drop the part about WitWatch, and launch into how Alison Summers is trying to solve the mystery of her grandmother’s murder, and add a few words about how she’s going about it, and the challenges she’s encountering, attach that to your current second sentence, and have a powerful pitch.

Good luck!