How I Took Advantage of PitMad

March 6, 2020/emilyrae

The goal of PitMad is to write such an amazing book pitch that literary agents around the globe want to know more about it. They’ll tap/click that little heart, validating your idea is decent, and wait for your query letter and pages to hit their inbox. But… how do you gain the interest of a literary agent in 280 characters?

After a few failed attempts at PitMad, I decided to do something different. So, I changed up my pitches this time around, which got the interest of a few agents. All it took was some pre-planning, and a willingness to open my mind.

Here are the steps I took:

  1. I made sure my pitch contained my main characters goal, the obstacle in the way of achieving that goal, and the stakes.
  2. I sent my pitches to trusted fellow writers, who helped me craft it into something that made sense.
  3. I took advantage of Twitters algorithm, and a couple weeks before the contest, I made a point to be active on Twitter.
  4. I increased my followers. The more followers I had, the more people would see it and retweet it, increasing the chances of the right agent laying his or her eyes on it.

There are so many ways to write pitches, but luckily you get three chances to post your pitch on Twitter (using the hashtag #PitMad, despite it taking up precious characters).

If you haven’t participated in PitMad yet, start thinking about your pitches early. It makes a world of difference!

For full information on what PitMad is, check out the rules from the one’s who created it: https://pitchwars.org/pitmad/

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emilyrae

Emily Rae spends most of her day fighting with characters in her head. She controls their bickering by attending writing critiques and write-ins at her local bookstore. Luckily, she’s surrounded by a tight-knit group of writers who are just as crazy as she is. She has attended multiple university-level courses exploring various aspects of creative fiction writing. While she writes all year round, she has participated in National Novel Writing month eight years in a row, and nothing will stop her winning streak. She has also worked as a journalist and wrote several published news articles. Emily currently owns a marketing firm, which entails producing websites, videos, and brand strategies.