#Pitmad Is Coming on March 4!

Sadly, #Pitmad has come to an end.

#Pitmad, Twitter's most popular pitch fest, is coming this Thursday. Pitch fests are held for a limited period of time, usually one day, in which you can pitch your book to agents on Twitter.

Believe it or not, pitch fests actually work. Busy, overwhelmed agents and editors are more likely to read and respond to an interesting Twitter pitch than they are to a query. It takes less time and a lot less effort. (During last December's #Pitmad, a publisher contacted me.)

However, boiling your novel down to a short sentence is loaded with pitfalls. So, I would suggest that you read What's Your Book About? How to Make a Pitch for some useful tips.

It is also a good idea to read some pitches first. Get onto Twitter and type #Pitmad along with the category and genre of your own book into a search to read some excellent pitches. (See below for the list of categories and genres.) You can also generate pitches using the pitch tool on YA Writer's Toolbox.

Important: Make sure you read all the rules on the PitchWars website before participating in #Pitmad.

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From the PitchWars website:

#PitMad is the original twitter pitch event, where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. No previously published works. Agents and editors make requests by liking/favoriting the tweeted pitch.

Rules:

Your manuscript should be completed, polished, unpublished, and ready to query. If you’re not ready to send the full manuscript immediately, please wait until the next event. For non-fiction, you should have a polished proposal. Memoirs should be completed.

• Your pitch must fit inside one tweet. Do not thread tweets. You don’t have to include the title of your book in the pitch.
• Include the #PitMad hashtag and an age category sub-hashtag (see list at the bottom of this page).
• You may include multiple genre or additional hashtags as they apply (see list at the bottom of this page).
• You can pitch more than one manuscript throughout the day.
• You may only tweet three pitches for each manuscript throughout the day. They can be the same pitch or different pitches.
• We suggest spacing them out every four hours.
• Do NOT attach pictures unless it’s an illustration for a Picture Book, Graphic novel, or other material that includes illustrations.
• Do NOT include links. Many agents use search filters that will render tweets with links invisible to them.

If an industry professional favorites/likes your tweet, check their recent tweets for submission preferences.

If they haven’t tweeted #PitMad submission guidelines, follow their usual query submission guidelines on their website, but put “PitMad Request: TITLE” in the subject line of your email.

Send the request as soon as you can.

If the agent has already rejected your book through traditional querying you should still send the requested materials and include this history in the beginning of your email, as well as a note if you have performed significant revisions since the initial query.

What is considered “previously published?”

• Any piece of work that has been available for sale or free download on a retail site, no matter the amount of sales or type of publisher.
• Any piece of work that has been assigned an ISBN or ASIN, even if the title has changed.
• Any piece of work that has participated in a program that pays royalties, revenue share, or any other sort of payment structure.
• Any longer piece of work based on a published shorter piece of work that amounts to more than 20% of the word count of the longer piece. (e.g. a 100k word novel based on a 15k short story is okay, but a 100k novel based on a 30k novelette is not.)
• The above applies to previously published books that have been since edited or revised.
• Every unagented writer is welcome to pitch. All genres/categories are welcomed.

In an effort to amplify Black voices, we’ve added a #BVM (Black Voices Matter) hashtag. If you are a Black author, please feel free to include #BVM in your tweets so agents/editors can use it to search for pitches.

You can use the following sub-hashtags to categorize your book, making it easier for agents and editors to find your pitch. We only require the #pitmad hashtag and one age category hashtag. The additional hashtags are suggested as a courtesy and listed here in order to reduce confusion.

Age Categories (one is required):

#PB = Picture Book

#C = Children’s

#CB = Chapter Book

#MG = Middle Grade

#YA = Young Adult

#NA = New Adult

#A = Adult

Genres/Sub-genres (optional):

#AC = Action

#AD = Adventure

#BIZ = Bizarro Fiction

#CF = Christian Fiction

#CON = Contemporary

#CR = Contemporary Romance

#E = Erotica

#ER = Erotic Romance

#ES = Erotica Suspense

#F = Fantasy

#FTA = Fairy Tale Retelling

#GN = Graphic Novel

#H = Horror

#HA = Humor

#HF = Historical Fiction

#HR = Historical Romance

#INSP = Inspirational

#MR = Magical Realism

#M = Mystery

#Mem = Memoir

#MA = Mainstream

#LF = Literary Fiction

#NF = Non-fiction

#P = Paranormal

#PR = Paranormal Romance

#PM = Poetry Collection

#R = Romance

#RS = Romantic Suspense

#STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

#SF = SciFi

#SHRT = Short Story Collection

#SPF = Speculative Fiction

#SH = Superhero

#S = Suspense

#T = Thriller

#TT = Time Travel

#UF = Urban Fantasy

#VF = Visionary Fiction

#W = Westerns

#WF = Woman’s Fiction

Additional hashtags (optional):

#BVM = Black Voices Matter (to be used by black creators)

#POC = Author is a Person of Color

#OWN = Own Voices

#IMM = Immigrant

#LGBT = LGBTQIA+ subject matter

#IRMC = Interracial/Multicultural subject matter

#MH = Mental Health subject matter

#DIS = Disability subject matter

#ND = Neurodiverse subject matter

Loglines and Pitches - How to Reduce Your Book to a Sentence

Updated 7/12/25

When my agent asked me for loglines for my book, I had no idea what she was talking about. I pretended I understood. (FYI, "faking it" is a required skill for writers.) Once I was off the phone, I immediately looked it up.

Loglines, I discovered, were a way of pitching movie ideas when a filmmaker only has a minute (or less) to pitch an idea to a producer.

In brief (no pun intended), a logline is a one- or two-sentence summary of your book's plot.  If someone asked you, "What's your book about?" and you only had a few seconds to describe it, that would be your logline (also known as a pitch).

Loglines are becoming increasingly important in the age of Twitter. (Now known as X, but it will always be Twitter to me.) Agents have realized that reading a tweet takes less time than reading a query. As a consequence, Pitchfests, or Pitch Parties, have gained considerable traction. 

So, on to some examples of loglines:

a) An unwilling wife who despises her roguish husband eventually comes to adore him. (Taming of the Shrew)

b) A young FBI cadet must confide in a manipulative convicted killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. (Silence of the Lambs )

c) The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. (The Godfather)

Notice that in each of these examples, we have a main character, a goal, and a source of conflict.

Now, try it yourself. Pick a book that you know well, and boil it down to one sentence. Now do another. Now try your own book. Not so easy, eh?

Writers are simply abysmal at reducing their books to a sentence. That's because we are too close to our own work. A typical logline from a writer would sound like this: "My book is an exploration of the nature of love in modern times encompassing the pitfalls of friendship and romance in an academic setting."  No conflict, no goals, no protagonist, no antagonist ... sounds of snoring.

Fortunately, there are some online tools that can help you. (I would suggest that you try both the YA Writers Toolbox and the Killogator. Between the two, you will have some great loglines.)

YA Writers Toolbox has a pitch generator that is absolutely fabulous. You can choose between Character Journey, High Stakes, Romance, and World/Setting. The pitch generator form asks a series of questions. Plug in a word or two, and the generator gives you several pitches.

Graeme Shimmin also has a great tool for generating loglines. He calls it the Killogator. It’s a simpler tool to use than the Toolbox, but just as valuable.

Helpful articles:

Book Logline: What It Is & How To Write It

How to Write a Logline that Sells

What's Your Book About? How to Make a Pitch

#PitMad is coming this week!

Sadly, #Pitmad has come to an end.

Pitch fests are a limited period of time, usually one day, in which you can pitch your book to agents on Twitter.

Believe it or not, pitch fests actually work. Busy, overwhelmed agents are more likely to read and respond to an interesting Twitter pitch than they are to a query. It takes less time and a lot less effort.

However, it will not take less effort on your part. Boiling your novel down to a short sentence is loaded with pitfalls. So, I would suggest that you read What's Your Book About? How to Make a Pitch before attempting one of these contests.

Before you pitch, it would also be a good idea to read some pitches first. Get onto Twitter and type #PitchCB into a search to read some excellent pitches. You can also generate pitches using the pitch tool on YA Writer's Toolbox.

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From the PitchWars website:

When: March 8, 2018, 8AM - 8PM

What: 3 pitches on Twitter

Why: Agents pay attention to PitMad pitches

#PitMad is a pitch party on Twitter where writers tweet a 280 character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. Because #PitMad has grown over the years, industry professionals are finding it overwhelming to search the feed. It goes by so fast now, it’s a little mind-boggling. And we don’t want to scare off the industry professionals.

You may only tweet three (3) pitches (they can be different pitches or the same pitch) per project for the day. You may pitch more than one project. I suggest every four hours or so tweet a different pitch. Or tweet during breakfast, lunch, & dinner breaks.

Do not include pictures, unless you are an author-illustrator!

Rules for #PitMad 

Everyone is welcome to pitch. All genres/categories are welcomed. Must be completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. You can pitch more than one manuscript. You may only tweet three pitches total for one project for the entire day. We suggest every four hours tweet a different pitch. Make sure to include the hashtag #PitMad and your age category, and genre/category(s) (if they fit).

Due to Twitter’s new character increase for tweets, pitches can be 280 characters or less. Keep in mind, a tight, concise pitch is best and will help the agents read through the feed faster. But if you need more characters, use them.

The pitch must include the hashtag #PitMad and the category (#YA, #MG, #A, #NA, #PB etc.) in the tweet. The “#” is important to include. It will sort the categories to make it easier for the agents/publishers.

The agents/publishers will tweet their submission preferences and favorite your tweet if they want to see more. If you get a favorite from an agent or publisher, follow their submission preference and send them their request as soon as you can. They should have tweeted what they want you to send, so check their twitter feed for that information. If they haven’t listed it, follow their submission guidelines on their websites. Make sure to put “PitMad Request: TITLE” in the subject line of your email when sending your request.

Don’t tweet agents and publishers directly unless they tweet you first.

Don’t favorite friends tweets. The agents will be requesting by favoriting tweets. so let’s keep that for requests. We allow Retweeting of your friends tweets. Please use Quote-RT and add a comment to the retweet to express your support if possible.

If you can’t be there, you can always schedule your tweet by using Tweetdeck or some other application that schedules tweets.

And finally, be nice and courteous to each other, and especially to the industry professionals. We’ve had some success stories come out of our previous #PitMads and we’d hate to have it canceled due to abuse. If you do see abuse, please report it to Twitter or notify one of the hosts of the event. Thank you!

Below is a list of sub-hashtag categories and genres to separate your pitch from the main #PitMad feed.

Hashtags

Age Categories:

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

Genres/Sub-genres:

#AC = Action
#AD = Adventure
#BIZ = Bizarro Fiction
#CF = Christian Fiction
#CON = Contemporary
#CR = Contemporary Romance
#DV = Diversity
#E = Erotica
#ER = Erotic Romance
#ES = Erotica Suspense
#F = Fantasy
#FTA = Fairy Tale Retelling
#H = Horror
#HA = Humor
#HF = Historical Fiction
#HR = Historical Romance
#INSP = Inspirational
#MR = Magical Realism
#M = Mystery
#Mem = Memoir
#MA = Mainstream
#MH = Mental Health
#LF = Literary Fiction
#NF = Non-fiction
#P = Paranormal
#PR = Paranormal Romance
#R = Romance
#RS = Romantic Suspense
#STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
#SF = SciFi
#SPF = Speculative Fiction
#SH = Superhero
#S = Suspense
#T = Thriller
#UF = Urban Fantasy
#VF = Visionary Fiction
#W = Westerns
#WF = Woman’s Fiction

Other hashtags:

#POC = People of Color
#OWN = OwnVoices
#LGBT
#IRMC = Interracial/Multicultural

PLEASE VISIT THE SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

2 Pitch Contests in August

Sadly, #Pitchwars has come to an end.

Pitching your book is the most important aspect of getting representation. A query letter is essentially a pitch. It contains a brief summary of the plot, a "hook" to get the agent interested, and comparative titles, to let the agent know that your book already has a market. You can also pitch your book in person during a conference that includes pitch sessions to agents.

If you can't make it to a conference, and are getting the cold shoulder on your queries, you may want to consider entering a virtual pitch fest. These can take a number of forms, from simple tweets that pitch your book's central idea, to longer excerpts.

The most popular of these virtual pitch fests is Pitch Wars. Every year, writers submit their query and first chapter of their manuscripts to four mentors in their age category, who then choose one writer as a "mentee." The mentors help their chosen writers create a compelling pitch, as well as assisting them with their manuscripts. The advantage of Pitch Wars, or any pitch fest, is that agents are alerted, and dozens will be waiting for the upcoming pitches in the genres they are seeking.

Entering a virtual pitch fest costs nothing, so you have nothing to lose by participating. Even if you don't "win," pitch fests are a golden opportunity to hone your pitch.

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Pitch Wars

August 2 - August 6, 2017

Fiction only

Pitch Wars is a contest in which published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for the agent showcase. The mentor also helps edit his or her writer’s pitch for the contest and his or her query letter for submitting to agents.Writers send applications (query and first chapter of manuscript) to four mentors who best fit their work. Mentors read all their applications and one mentee is chosen by each mentor or set of co-mentors, and together, mentee and mentor spend two months revising the manuscript and pitch.

You can find the mentor who best fits your work on the site. Mentors are categorized according to the age group (not genre): Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, Adult. Read the bios of the mentors in your age group, and make a list of the ones that either write in your genre, or who share a common interest or background. Narrow those down to four.

From August 2 - 6, submit your query (follow instructions on the site for your query) and first page to those four mentors.  After mentors read all their applications, one mentee (writer) is chosen by each mentor or set of co-mentors. Writers spend the next two months revising the manuscript and pitch with their mentor. In November first chapters are posted for agents to view. Last year more than 50 authors were offered representation.

Submissions can be made HERE. (Follow the instructions! You will only get one chance to enter!)
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Pitch America

August 30 - September 3, 2017

#PitchAmérica was created by Laura Pohl to focus on submissions and books produced by Latino voices. "Latinxs being such a large population and so diverse themselves, we’re often grouped in a single place. We have white, black, hispanic, native and Asian Latinxs, and I’d like to open a space where we can welcome all as well as have more discussions about diversity, coming from a different culture, and what it means to be Latinx."

This contest will feature the first 500 words and the 35-word pitch of completed and polished manuscripts written by Latinos. Please keep it in mind that this exclusively for Latino writers.

The entries will be open on midnight August 30th, until 11:59 pm of the 3rd of September. Read their submission guidelines here.

PitchMAS is coming up fast! Writers, pitch your books directly to agents

PitchMAS is a biannual pitch fest for writers held in December and July. It is co-hosted by Jessa Russo, a native Californian who describes herself as "the most extroverted introvert you know."

Most pitch fests are for screenplays, so this is a rare opportunity for those who write books to present their pitches directly to agents. (For a list of agents participating in December's pitch fest click HERE.)

Does PitchMAS actually work? 

The answer is yes. Vicki Leigh found an agent, and subsequent publisher, through participating in PitchMAS. (Read her story HERE.)

From the PitchMAS website:

FRIDAY 12/5/14

*PITCH-HONING WORKSHOP*

(A blog post will go LIVE on 12/5, right here on the PitchMAS blog, where you will post your pitches in the COMMENT SECTION. Your peers will then hop around and critique/advise you on what works/doesn't work. Tamara and Jessa WILL NOT be participating in the workshop; this is for peer critique/help only.)

SUNDAY 12/7/14 - MONDAY 12/8/14
*SUBMISSION WINDOW*
For this event, we will be accepting your 35-word pitch submissions VIA EMAIL ONLY--email address will be posted when submission window OPENS. Submission window will be open from Sunday 12/7/14 at 9:00amPST until Monday 12/8/14 at 6:00pmPST. 

We will delete any submissions received before or after that submission window, and it isup to you to figure out your own time zone differences.

THURSDAY 12/11/14

BLOG PITCH PARTY
{35 Words or Less}

The TOP 50 pitches will go live on the PitchMAS blog at MIDNIGHT on Thursday, 12/11/14. Agents and editors will have the entire day (as well as all day Friday!) to comment and make requests. 

Please do NOT comment if you are not an agent or editor. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE is if an agent/editor has asked a SPECIFIC question. Any other non-agent/editor responses or comments will be deleted. 

FRIDAY 12/12/14
TWITTER PITCH PARTY
{140 Characters or Less}

All day long on Friday, 12/12/14, we will have our PitchMAS Twitter Party! Agents and editors will follow the hashtag #PitchMAS, reading your awesome pitches. ANYONE can participate, even if you didn't make it into the 50 selected blog pitches. However, your manuscript MUST BE COMPLETED and POLISHED. 

Twitter pitches MUST BE 140 Characters or Less and HAVE TO include the hashtag. Don't make the agents and editors work by breaking your pitch into more than one tweet. That will just annoy them and your fellow pitchers. We also advise against making them click a link to get to your pitch. Guess what? They won't.  

Please keep your Twitter pitching to no more than TWO PITCHES PER HOUR. Do not fill up the feed with your pitch over and over again. This will annoy the agents and editors involved, as well as ruining it for everyone else and people WILL remember you for it. 

Follow along with the hashtag: #PitchMAS

Click HERE for more information.

Valuable Tips for Pitching to an Agent or Editor

Hi! I'm your new client!

The best thing you can do for your career as a writer is go to a conference. Conferences not only give writers a chance to talk to agents and editors, they allow people who are otherwise somewhat isolated to make connections.

No amount of texting, tweeting, or emailing can substitute for a handshake and a smile, even if they are virtual.

See Writing Conferences for a month-by-month list of conferences and workshops

See Shmooze or You Lose for how to find conferences in your area.

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7 Tips for Pitching to an Agent or Editor at a Conference

By Peggy Eddleman, Writer's Digest, June 1, 2015

I'll admit: I was scared to death to live-pitch my book the first time, and I almost didn't. I figured I was better with words on a page, so I'd just query the agents I met at conferences. I am a huge proponent of pitching your book in person to an agent, though, because it's incredibly beneficial.

Here are seven tips to keep in mind:

Tip #1: If you can get a pitch session with an agent/editor, do it!

Agents get tons of queries every single day, and a good 90% of them come from people who haven't worked very hard to perfect their craft. Agents know that if you go to conferences, you're likely in the 10% who have. If you go to a conference and pitch, you're likely a top 10% writer who has a book close to being worthy of representation. It also gives both of you a chance to meet each other, and that's invaluable.

Tip #2: If you don't register in time to schedule a pitch session, get on a waiting list.

Pitch sessions fill up quickly. People get nervous, though, or don't get their book ready in time, so they cancel often. They shouldn't, but they do, and this is good for anyone who is on the waiting list.

Tip #3: Figure out what you want to cover during your pitch session.

Don't memorize a script, but do memorize the points you want to cover. Then you can talk like a normal person about it. And definitely practice talking like a normal person about it to everyone who will listen. The more comfortable you feel when talking about your book, the better your pitch session will go.

Tip #4: Go with other questions in mind.

I speed-talked my way through my first pitch session, because when I'm nervous I don't ramble - I leave things out. So my pitch was done in less than 30 seconds. After asking me a few questions, the agent requested my full. Then she said, "Do you have any questions for me?" I hadn't thought about questions for her! I sat there, feeling awkward, said, "Um.... Nope?" then shook her hand and left, with seven minutes of our meeting unused.

Don't do what I did! Use that time to ask about their agenting style. Ask about the industry. Ask about the process. Ask about craft. Ask questions about your plot. Ask about anything writing related. Chat. See how your personalities mesh. Just don't leave seven minutes early. You paid for that time- use it .

Read the rest of these valuable tips here.

What's Your Book About? How to Make a Pitch

"I think I've got a bite ..."

When my first novel was complete, I sent it to an academic press. (You could do that then.) The editor liked the book, but decided it would be better placed in a trade press. She gave me a “for example” that I took as an actual suggestion. I called the exampled publisher, and asked for a random editor.

The editor answered the phone. (They could do that then.) She demanded, somewhat breathlessly, who had given me her name. I mumbled the name of the editor at the academic press, which seemed to calm her. Then she said, “What's it about?” That was my chance. And this is how I blew it.

“Uh,” quoth I, “it's about life on the US/Mexico border.”

She hung up.

If you are at all savvy about the realities of publishing, you are laughing right now. If not, I will spell out, step by step, why that was the stupidest thing I have ever done. In my life.

What I Did Wrong

An editor at a major publishing house had asked me, asked me, mind you, what my book was about, and I came up with the above godawful lame description. After all, my book was complex. I couldn't just sum it up at the drop of a hat. It was about many things: peace, justice, equality, life. Writers think like that. But editors don't. (And neither do agents.)

Before I made that fatal call, I should have prepared a one-sentence pitch that would have snared that editorial fish with irresistible bait. This is what I could have said:

“It's about a ghostly bridal gown that walks the streets of a forgotten village, forever seeking her lost love.”

“It is about a boy who falls in love with a mermaid in the driest desert on earth."

“It's about two invisible towns that nobody can ever leave, one of which has no past, and the other of which has no future.”

How do those compare with: “It's about life on the US/Mexico border”? Tell me, truthfully.

What I Should Have Done

The reason you need to perfect your pitch before you talk to people or, god forbid, before you write to them, is that the pitch forms the basis of your query letter, your proposal, and any other form of communication you will have about your book forever.

So, before you tell anybody that you have written a book – agent, editor, your mother – come up with a one-sentence summary of your book that will hook them. This, not surprisingly, is called a hook. The hook does not have to accurately reflect the entire concept of your book, nor does it have to convey deep inner meanings. The only purpose of a hook is sum up the story in a way that will pique the interest of everybody within earshot.

The best way of coming up with a good hook is to write one about someone else's book, or, better yet, a movie. Ask your friends over and make a game of it. Someone picks the book (or movie), and everyone writes down a one-sentence summary. These are passed to the “moderator,” who reads them out loud. The person whose hook is the least interesting (gets the most boos or gagging sounds) has to drink a bottle of Jack Daniels. In this Darwinian manner, those with the least successful hooks are eliminated from the gene pool.

Or, if you have no wish to kill off your friends, you can simply go to the library, pick up a book at random, and read the flap copy. If the first sentence of the flap copy makes you want to read the book, stop and figure out why. Then do that - not for your book (yet), but for someone else's. Once you have mastered the one-sentence hook for Shakespeare, you can do it for your own work.

The important thing to remember is, once you've dangled the baited hook, the person on the other end will bite. Now, you have to come up with a second sentence. Make it as good as your first. And so on. After each sentence, anticipate what you would say if Steven Spielberg was asking, “Then what?” and your whole career depends on your reply. (This is what is meant by “practice.”) Do that until you can talk for three minutes about your book without losing Spielberg's attention. Finish it off with a sentence that implies that your story will change the world as we know it.

That's a pitch.

Unfortunately, I will never have another chance to cold call an editor, but the next time someone asks me, “What's your book about?” at least I won't be cold cocked.