Thinking of Entering PitMad? There Are Some New Rules You Need to Know

It’s that time again and the first PitMad session of 2016 is only 10 days away. And if you’ve never participated or heard of PitMad before, then I’m here to help you. First let’s get into a bit of history about PitMad.

PitMad is a pitch party on Twitter to help writers like yourselves get out of the slush pile. And into the hands of agents interested in your manuscript(s). Now remember your manuscript must be completed, polished as polished can be and unpublished. And you only have 140 characters to pitch it.

You can thank its creator, Brenda Drake, for this opportunity.

In the past you can pitch your book twice an  hour from 8am to 8pm on the day of the pitch party. And that you can RT your favorite pitches to show support to the writer. Well things have been a little different since the last PitMad in December. There are some new rules:

• You can only tweet 3 different pitches per manuscript. Or the same pitch 3x. But I suggest that 3 different pitches will work better in your favor. Maybe one or two of your pitches is stronger than the other and might get you a favorite from an agent. Also, if you have another completed manuscript, you can pitch that as well. The same rules apply, only 3 pitches for each. eg. Twitter pitches I’ve made for my work in progress, Nadia the Fire Witch:
  • Everyone has secrets but Nadia’s secret can rip away what she wants most. Having friends and a happy school life.
  • 16yo Nadia the new witch in town. But settling in won’t be easy. Someone’s after her magic. And she has to catch them first.
  • 16yo Nadia’s the new witch in a town full of secrets. And those secrets are coming for her.

• As always do not favorite a twitter pitch. That’s for agents to let writers know they’re interested in their manuscript. Now, you can no longer RT your favorite pitches either. If you want to support a writer tag them without attaching their pitch and sing them praises. Trust me, it melts our hearts to receive your support. eg. @malika22 I love your pitch. Definitely would read a book like that! 😀
• Pitch every four hours. It used to be twice an hour. But as PitMad has grown in popularity the Twitter feed has become overwhelming. I also suggest you schedule your pitches. You can use social media tools like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
• Be cordial. Do not abuse #PitMad. For example, using more than one Twitter account to pitch. Do not tweet agents and publishers directly. And if you’ve received a favorite, research the agent/publisher. The decision whether you want to submit your manuscript or not is yours. Follow their submission guidelines. Also, remind them in the subject line as to why you’re querying them. eg “PitMad Request: TITLE”

 

Now with the new rules out the way, here’s some genre hashtags to include in your pitch. Making it easier for agents and publishers to find the type of manuscripts they’re looking for:

SUB-HASHTAG GENRES

#AD- Adventure	#Mem- Memoir
#CF- Christian Fiction	#LGBT
#CON- Contemporary	#LF- Literary Fiction
#CR- Contemporary Romance	#NF- Non-fiction
#E- Erotica	#R- Romance
#ER- Erotic Romance	#P- Paranormal
#ES- Erotica Suspense	#PR- Paranormal Romance
​#F- Fantasy	#RS- Romantic Suspense
#H- Horror	#SF- SciFi
#HF- Historical Fiction	#S- Suspense
#HR- Historical Romance	#T- Thriller
#INSP- Inspirational	#UF- Urban Fantasy
#MR- Magical Realism	#W- Westerns
#M- Mystery	#WF- Woman’s Fiction

 

SUB-HASHTAG AGE CATEGORIES

#PB– Picture Book	#MG– Middle Grade
#C– Children’s	#YA– Young Adult
#CB– Chapter Book	#NA– New Adult
#CL– Children’s Lit	#A– Adult

Hint: To fit in your hashtags to your pitch I suggest creating a 130-135 characters pitch.

Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, are you not sure what genre your manuscript falls into? Then read Connor Goldsmith’s Science Fiction & Fantasy sub-categories definitions. Also, there’s another PitMad session just for SF/F writers. It’s called #SFFpit and it happens twice a year typically in June and December. If #PitMad was a bust, you might be able to boost your chances in the SF/F pitch party. The next date hasn’t been finalized. But you can keep yourself updated by visiting Dan Koboldt’s site. They have new rules as well. Check them out here.

Not interested in #PitMad or haven’t much success with it. There are plenty of pitch parties you can take part in. There’s Pitch Wars, Pitch Madness and #PitMatch. #PitMatch is a matchmaking pitch party. An author, agent team, and an editor team, work together. Finding the connections between authors, agents, and editors who accept direct submissions. And match them. It’s a new pitch party that first debuted last month for Valentine’s.

What are your thoughts about pitch parties? Have you participated in one? How was the experience? Will you be taking part in it again?

PS Last week I had two tour stops where I guest blogged about building my poetry platform at Quanie Talks Writing. And guest blogged  and did an interview at CG Cuppola. Feel free to hop on by. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter and Goodreads giveaway!

This week, I’ll be stopping by UrszulaHumienik.com tomorrow and on Elements of Emaginette on Friday! See you then. 😀

PSS Not busy with the A to Z Challenge? Foregoing the 30 poems in 30 days Challenge for National Poetry Month? Don’t know what to blog about for April? Well, I’m still looking for at least 6 tour hosts for the Can You Catch My Flow? blog tour for April. And if you would like to take part, follow this link or click the banner below to the sign up form. Looking forward to hearing from you! 😀