Hey! Nice to meet you all. I'm Jillian and I write Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as write and illustrate picture books. I'm currently querying in hopes of finding an agent. I'm a bit shy when it comes to interacting online, so I've actually never participated in any pitch events or writing clubs, etc. before! But I'm trying to break out of being a habitual lurker and interact more with the writing community.

This is the second most frequently asked question, so I figured I would post the answer here.

Two ways!
1) Many but not all the agents and editors post directly as a reply to your pitch that they are interested. This can be as a request or simply to ask a clarifying question about your pitch. So definitely keep an eye on your pitch. The easiest way to do that is to open your Profile (your image at the top right of the screen)


Then choose "Postings"

That will show you all the posts you have made recently:

You can check your posts and see if any have been responded to.

2) Once the pitchfest is over we ask that the editors and agents provide us with the full list of requests. We publish that here on the site.

FYI, after that (usually within the same week) we remove all the pitches from public view. That is to protect everyone's privacy and content.

Happy Pitching!

Hello everyone!
We are just super thrilled to get this year's Autumn Pitchfest started! Just to catch everyone up, yesterday I posted all the threads for Pitchfest.
you can access them here right from the front page feed or you can access them from the Pub Pros bios on the Agents and Editors profile pages.
Right now you cannot reply to these threads. That is because Pitchfest won't open for two more days (Wednesday, 9AM EST). But once I turn on the replies, you will be able to post. Please do review the FAQ. And feel free to ask questions here.

Remember your pitch must have the following:

1. Your pitch must be:
   1. Three lines (sentences)
   2. Less than 250 words (honestly this is a LOT!!! )
   3. Be aligned with what the agent or editor requests.
   4. Must contain at LEAST ONE of the agent or editor's "Currently Looking for" tags (NEW THIS YEAR!!)

NEW FOR THIS 'FEST: Currently Looking For tags!
Our agents and editors have challenged us to find a better way to make it easier for them to find the best pitches. That is the only complaint we get: that they have to sift through pitches that are not exactly what they are looking for. This is not great for anyone. If you have the perfect story for them, they must look even harder to find it! It's far better to target your pitches to the pub pros who are looking for exactly your story!

To help you better target your pitch to the right agent or editor, we are adding Currently Looking For tags as a requirement for all pitches. Now, besides our normal pitch information, you are required to add at least one tag from the agent or editors Currently Looking For tag list.

NOTE: If you do not have a Currently Looking For tag, we will remove your pitch so you can add the right tag or maybe realize you are not pitching to the right person.

This should reduce the number of what we call "spam pitches" where someone just pitches the same story to all the agents and editors no matter what they are requesting. We've had adult-themed books pitched to agents only looking for kids' books. Most participants take the time to ensure they are pitching appropriately, but this should reduce the added "noise" from the rest.



So your pitch should look like this:

Questions? Let us know!

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, so be gentle.

I've written my first book - it's a gritty MG. More of a teen book really - I'd say between MG and YA, but hey ho. It's 88K words long, and I've used hashtags #DF, #FA #TT #MH

The title is LORD RHYS AND THE DEVIL DOG. There's plenty of action, murders, kidnap, secrets, clues, threat, strange characters, demons, Medieval warriors, Aztecs, local police, drugs gangs, and more...

I'm a new writer - only started seriously about 18 months ago and work full-time in my seaside shop.

I'd love to get any tips you may have, insights I may be unaware of, etc.

I'm probably going to jump into the pitch event this Wednesday [26th?]. So again, any tips would be gratefully received.

Thanks / Diolch.

I am wondering if there are any examples of successful pitches from past PitchFest events. I have already read the Pitch Rules page from beginning to end, but it only provides a single example of what a pitch may look like, and I'm having trouble applying it to my own story. My own attempts at writing pitches in the past have never proven successful. Examples of what has already worked for various agents and editors would be amazing.

Looking forward to hanging out.

Hello everyone,

Audrey Dowling here (aldowling)! Glad to be here. I write YA Mystery; YA Thrillers; and Historical Fiction. I’m currently querying for an agent. I have participated in writing clubs, pitch events, conferences, developmental edit, and beta critiquing. Introvert with moments of Extrovert tendencies!

I read in numerous places this fall that it's taking 12 months for agents to open an unsolicited query. If that's the case, what is the benefit of doing a three line pitch? Thanks. Just trying to save some energy and re-appoint it to other things if my work is going to gather dust in the slush file. Laura, Ohio, author of cyberpunk fiction

Hey, everyone!

Recently registered here and I thought it would be cool to introduce myself, since I'm looking for long-term critique partners!
So, my name is Aimee, I am 22 years old and I've been writing stories since I was very, very young, but I've only recently realized that I want other people to read my stories too. I'm currently in law school, so I don't have as much time to write as I would like, but I try to write a little bit every week. Currently working on two different projects, one is a Young Adult (ish??) contemporary thriller, and the other is also Young Adult Urban Fantasy (leaning more towards magical realism).
Looking forward to meeting new people!

1. We're always day-dreaming fantastic things.
2. We're always researching and skill-building - it's a way of life.
3. We're always trying to find more time to write.
4. We're always spotting another typo and pondering how to reword things.
5. We're always sneaking off to read.

Hello! I'm T. L. Ford - I go by T or Theresa. I've self-published 8 books, and helped 3 other authors format, finalize, and upload their own books. I have fantasy, sci-fi/speculative fiction, thriller, art, and math books. I'm variegated - also a programmer and an artist. I'm looking forward to learning new skills and making new friends.

- T

Hi, all. I'm brand new to this and I have a question about the etiquette of pitch events like the one that's coming up. If there are agents I currently have a query out with, should I avoid pitching to them? Or should I make sure I *do* pitch to them? If I'm querying someone else at their agency, could I still pitch to them? If they've rejected an earlier query but my project has changed drastically, could I still pitch to them? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Just discovered this awesome site! Looking forward to connecting with new people! I’m currently querying my debut novel, The Cupcake Standard, a contemporary NA romance.

Hey everyone,

I'm attending a conference after publishing my first eBook with a traditional publisher. Not sure what to bring to the signing table, but here's what I have so far:

• postcards with my logline and book cover that I'll sign
• a large poster board with my book cover and QR code
• a bowl full of candy related to my book's theme
• a basket for entries to win a grand prize of items related to my book's theme

Anyone else done this? Got any tips?

Thanks in advance,
Tessa

Hi all! We had a little glitch when running the crit match. Our developers are in the UK at the moment - but we will be running the match as soon as they fix the bug. Thanks for your patience!

Dawn McClure

Hi all
Our great devs found a fix and now you can drag and drop your genre choices!
@Dawn_McClure will send out more details later but feel free to opt in and rank the choices that you want for your match!
:-D

Since I've been MIA for about 5 years, I thought I'd introduce myself, again.
I live in New Orleans, Louisiana and have been writing off & on for 13 years, never published. Have manuscripts in paranormal, historical, and contemporary romance. Currently working on a NA contemporary sports romance and never been more inspired. Glad to be writing again and to be back at Savvy.

I saw this and immediately thought of this group. I hope you all get a laugh out of this like I did.

I don't remember which tortured soul said this, but someone told the world that artists create their best when they're in pain.​

This past week, I lost a dear pet water turtle who had been with me since she was a mere quarter-size hatchling in 1988. She went to college with me, stayed with me through a ridiculous marriage, moved across a country with me, and was that constant shelled companion through more than three decades of life.
There's a hole in my world now.
And I've been writing poetry like a FIEND since I discovered Tuesday morning that she'd passed during the night.
I'd rather not have this kind of motivation but I recognize what it is.
And I share this space with any other writers/poets who have experienced grief writing...

Hi! Just joined and looking forward to participating here. I’m a short story writer turned YA writer and into Spec Fiction, sci fI, fantasy, horror, and queer stories. Here for all of it!

I have reached level 21 and don't know what that means. Could someone enlighten me? I'm a newbie to Premium Membership.

Thanks, Jeanne

Hello all,

I just joined as a premium member and am looking forward to participating and learning. I am currently preparing a collection of historical stories for publication. I write historical and contemporary women's fiction and have also learned to design my own book covers with GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)). It's like Photoshop, but it's free.

I look forward to meeting and interacting with all of you!

Jeanne

On Monday, April 18, I paid $40 and upgraded my account so I could join the Partner Matching Program and get a Critique Partner. My account is now showing that I upgraded and have a premium account. I have tried to join the Partner Matching Program every day since then and keep getting the response that I'm not eligible because I need to upgrade my account. I DID upgrade my account. I have submitted the Contact Us Form asking for help in rectifying this and have gotten no response.

Does anyone have an suggestions or a solution for me? I'd really like to join the program and have a critique partner. That's the whole reason I upgraded my account.

Thank you so much for any help anyone might be able to give me.

Jeanne

Not sure if anyone has seen this, but it could mean that some of the really horrible terms that we get from Amazon might get better.
It essentially prevents the big tech companies to use their specific information gleaned from owning the marketplace to preference their own offerings.
KDP seems pretty clearly to me to be one. Forcing you to not sell anywhere else if you participate in KDP.


Folks, this is one to keep an eyeball on!
Leslie

Hi all
So, RJ, Dawn, Walker and I have been noodling on an event that would be fun and educational for the summer. We had been running bootcamps but those did not seem to do as well over the summer as our NaNovember and One Scene a Day camps. So we ditched them last year. But we have had a devil of a time trying to come up with another idea to keep us all writing over the summer when we'd rather be outside around the pool, on the hiking trails or working in the garden. So, we did come up with one idea that I would like to bounce off you.

The Summer Writing Slacker's Book club.
It works pretty much like a normal book club:
We choose craft or marketing, or any other kind of book that has to do with becoming a better writer and/or selling more books. We read it as a group and the admins and moderators would pose discussion questions each week or more so we can talk about what we think, how we could apply this, or anything else that strikes our fancy. We could do three books a summer: June, July, and August. We would nominate and vote on the books that we would read next.

Does this sound like something that you would like to participate in?
If so how would you like to see it run and what book would you like to read first?