Coming up is a twitter pitch contest called PitMad (short for “Pitch Madness”, I think), in which authors can tweet three times in a single day a pitch for their new novel. The hashtag for the contest and genre (in my case, #SF for sci-fi) must be included. Literary agents will “like” the twitter pitches that they want to see more from, and this “like” serves as an invitation to query the novel. I need to pick the three best twitter pitches from the following that I’ve come up with – some include the title (SPINDOWN), and some include the main character’s name (Cy), and all of them are within the 140 character limit of twitter:
In SPINDOWN, top cop Cy must unravel conspiracy that threatens lives of thousands onboard first colony spaceship to leave earth. #PitMad#SF
In SPINDOWN, murder leads top cop Cy to investigate conspiracy that threatens thousands on first spaceship out of solar system. #PitMad#SF
In SPINDOWN, a suspicious death leads to conspiracy and disaster aboard the first colony spaceship to leave the solar system. #PitMad#SF
After suspicious death aboard first colony spaceship, top cop Cy must unravel conspiracy that threatens lives of thousands. #PitMad#SF
Top cop Cy must unravel conspiracy that threatens thousands of lives after murder aboard first spaceship to leave solar system. #PitMad#SF
A conspiracy threatens thousands aboard first colony ship to leave solar system while top cop Cy investigates suspicious death. #PitMad#SF
Conspiracy threatens the first colony ship to leave solar system after suspicious death breaks the calm of decades-long journey. #PitMad#SF
In SPINDOWN, thousands of lives are threatened aboard the first spaceship to leave the solar system after a suspicious death. #PitMad#SF
In SPINDOWN, the calm of a decades-long journey in space is broken by a suspicious death, leading top cop Cy to a conspiracy. #PitMad#SF
Which ones are best and most intriguing? I won’t say anything else about the book, since the tweets will be all the prospective agents will see.
Good for you, iiandyiiii! Is your ms. already complete?
I agree with 4. I think the most unusual aspect of the premise–that it’s on the first colony ship–should be very close to the beginning rather the end. And the title wastes precious space without being elucidating so I wouldn’t include it. Also, it’s good to mention the protag, which is why I’m not quite as keen on 7.
To save more characters, you could also omit “space” from “ship” when you’re talking about leaving the solar system. Unless yours is a universe where planets are surrounded by water, the “space” part can be taken as read. Also, numbers can be shortened. What about something like…
Murder strikes the 1st colony ship to exit our solar system; top cop Cy races to unravel a conspiracy threatening 1000s aboard. #PitMad#SF
Ultimately, it’s unlikely in the extreme that any legitimate agents or publishers will pay any attention. Basically, they field so many pitches in the course of their job that they don’t go out looking for others. Also, 140 characters is far too short (not that it has to be that much longer.)
You’re better off querying an agent directly. I got my agent by sending them an email with two pitches – one four sentences and the other seven. (Admittedly, I have a track record.)
Any more thoughts? Anyone like the ones that included the title? I’m certainly biased, but I thought my title might be cool enough that I should put it in the pitch.
Not to put a damper on things, but the plot sounds a great deal like the Vernor Vinge novella Marooned in Realtime, only instead of a colony ship there’s a plot device on Earth.
The pitch contest is happening as we speak – thanks to everyone who gave me their input. So far I’ve already gotten two query requests that looked legit, so my fingers are crossed!
I went with #4 (the most liked one), #9, and choie’s recommendation in post #3. I tweeted #4 this morning (and got the two query requests), #9 about an hour ago (no likes yet), and choie’s will be tweeted late afternoon (east coast USA time).
Got two more query request “likes”, one from an agent with a big literary firm! Queries are being sent, and my fingers continue to be crossed!
I’ll note that the #4 tweet, and choie’s tweet were both “liked” twice, while the other got zero likes. So apparently I was wrong that including my title would attract interest.
“Likes” in these contests are gold, because they’re warm leads. They tell you exactly which agents will be receptive to your MS. I’m no authority on the publishing world, but it seems like a waste to send out cold queries when opportunities like this exist.
Regarding opportunities to pitch to agents, I attended the Chicago Writer’s Conference in May of this year and that’s basically what the event is – speed dating for writers and agents. 10 minutes to sit down and make your pitch, and then they tell you if they want to see a query. (There are also seminars and interview panels with agents as well so it’s worth going even if you aren’t going to pitch. Their sci-fi/fantasy agent panel was quite eye-opening.) Maybe pitching in person is a little more nerve-racking than sending a tweet, but they featured agents of all genres from all over the country.
My MS revision is not finished yet so I didn’t pitch this year. I plan to pitch next year.
Congratulations on your PitMad success. I learned about this event by reading this thread, pitched my novel, and got one agent like, so thanks for the help, and best of luck in the future.
Also, numbers can be shortened. What about something like…