Twitterfest

My novel has been sent to forty literary agents that deal or are currently looking for thrillers. I have followed all the submission guidelines to the letter, so I should be safe from that aspect. Within hours, I received my first three rejections. Two were form letters stating my story would not be a good fit.

Okay, I’m good with that.

The third one, although a rejection, got me excited. Rather than not replying or sending a form letter, this one agent wrote back and told me that she loved the idea of my story and that she would not be able to do it justice.

Rather encouraging.

Now it’s a waiting game. Right?

No way.

This is a good time to start or continue the next one, get involved on social media so that you and your name is out there, or look at Pitchfests.

Never heard of Pitchfests? Well, it is this neat idea. These events are held on Twitter and certain events are staged around the calendar. During these events, those with completed, ready to submit manuscripts are able to sell your story to a group of agents with a 140 character pitch.

And you thought the query and synopsis was fun? Once you take a look at a few of these pitches, you’ll quickly figure it out. It really is not that difficult. My first pitchfest was the other day, called #PitMad and was put on by Brenda Drake. Below are a few examples of my pitches.

In HOMEGROWN, can a mother save her son from being used by the Islamic State to attack an American target? #PitMad #T – @DaveWickenden

Radicalized by ISIS, Dalton needs his family to escape a global terror plot bent on revenge. #PitMad #T – @DaveWickenden HOMEGROWN

Is the Islamic State tough enough to take on a single mother who is determined to protect her only child? #PitMad #T @DaveWickenden HOMEGROWN

If an agent sees something they are interested in, they will “Like” your tweet by hitting the “Heart” button. This signifies that you are able to submit directly to the agent following their submission guidelines. You thereby pass all the other queries that are ahead of your story.

It fast tracks both the agent’s process and your sell job. Everyone is happy.

To be honest, I did not get a nod from an agent during the fest, but also did not see many agents searching for thrillers. The #T is for thrillers. There is an entire list of short forms for the different genre.

Here is the link for the #PitMad pitchfest. http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitmad/

There are others like the monthly Curtis Brown International, held on the 4th Friday of the month found at #PitchCB

For Science Fiction and Fantasy writers get ready, because on Dec 08/16 you can drop you story in front of a pile of agents looking for your type work at Dan Koboldt’s #SFFPit

One last twitterfest before the end of the year is #PitchMAS Check this one out early as it is a three day event.

Have Fun!