Business 2020 Sweetheart Pitchfest

Love this event! This fall was my second Pitchfest, and it was just as great as the first one—well-organized, encouraging, and successful.

Quality agents and editors as always. Instructions clearly explained and easy to find.

This was my first ever pitch event, and I felt like it was well organized, structured clearly and I felt like I knew what was required of me in every step.

I really like this event. It's a great opportunity to make direct contact with publishing opportunities and to see what agents and editors are currently looking for. My only real issue with the event was the tags system for pitching. I think things would be way more efficient if it worked like pitching on Twitter where tags are clearly defined key words. As in, the editors/agents should have a clear list of tags they're looking for on their posts so writers can clearly match their projects to appropriate tags. In this event, it felt like I was negotiating about whether or not my project fits the tags for an editor/agent or not, because they were often more conceptual than clear descriptor tags.

I like the format of the pitching and the opportunity to approach agents in another format than just querying them.

The bookmarking feature doesn’t seem to take me directly to my pitch only to the thread, which isn’t that meaningful. Further, the instructions to remove it so that notifications didn’t keep coming in didn’t make sense. The overall directions for the event also made it seem like each agent or editor would have specific instructions listed on their links, which was not the case, so this could be clarified to note that only special wants would be denoted. Other than these items, I thought this first step of the process was excellent, and I really appreciate it!

This was a well organized and stress-free event. I enjoyed pitching here vs on social media which is very overwhelming for my neurodivergent brain. Thank you for helping authors be "seen" :)

Well-run as always. Rules clearly stated. I appreciate the prompts ie. Word count, genre etc. I persuaded my brother to pitch! Thanks for the opportunity.

It was wonderful, thank you! The only thing that was a bit confusing was when it said must add looking for tags- because the agents didn’t explicitly list anything called a tag/hashtag. I think it’s clearer if you say “must list at least one category/genre/key word the agent lists in their bio. Or have each agent list Looking for tags: (and then the writers can choose from there).

the guidelines were easy to follow and to find on the website. An excellent selection of agents and editors, with a wide variety of genres they are interested in.

I really liked this event and what it represents. I was also very happy with the format, as it was quick and easy to participate with multiple agents and editors. I was surprised at how few total agents and editors participated, but I'm still very glad to have been given the opportunity to pitch.

Awesome opportunity! This was my second time participating. Even if no requests come in, it's still a great chance to practice pitching.

Great opportunity. Thank you! I wish there were more editors and agents, but appreciate what you've done for the community.

I have had very little experience with pitching but I appreciate this opportunity. It gave me a chance to try something I haven't done much which I really appreciate. It was really easy to understand what to do and how to craft a written pitch. Very straighforward. Thank you.

The process of posting a pitch is too rule-focused and needs to be simplified. Instead of choosing an agent, I should be able to select a genre bucket, add 1-3 tags, and provide up to a 3 sentence pitch. Then let the agents have at it. Agents need to see the products that are out there. Not the other way around.

Always a great event. It is a great opportunity to polish up my pitches and get the down to 3 sentences. Thank you!

I loved this experience. Not only do I know that they'll actually see my pitch, (unlike twitter pitch fests) but I loved how easy it was to post. Of course, they may not like it or want to see it, but I could post and move on. Thanks!

It is nerve-wracking but a good experience. I appreciate this free opportunity. It allowed me to be brave!

This was a great opportunity, although I haven't had any nibbles. I would have liked more agents in my genre - but there were a few, so all good.
Will the list be posted soon? Thanks.

While I found the pitching format a bit quirky, I always appreciate the chance to pitch agents and editors. This is the second year I've participated and alas, had absolutely no bites on my pitches. For me, this time could be better spent with personal queries, so I won't be participating in the future. All best to everyone, and if anyone who pitched had a nibble, it would be encouraging to hear about it!