Twitter pitches

Marc Joan

Managing IP in the book-publishing industry

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Erica Verrillo

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I've given these a go on a couple of occasions. It's certainly a good exercise distilling the essence of your novel to the length of a tweet - really makes you think about theme etc, but most of my likes came from porn sites! I did get a few agent and publisher likes which I followed up on (but more often not after I checked out the liking publisher or agent - lots of dodgy ones in the mix). I did get one offer but ended up turning them down because I wasn't happy with their (lack of) marketing strategy and also some other aspects of their contract that weren't particularly author friendly.

Still its interesting checking out the pitches that agents are liking, gives you a feel for their tastes. :)
 
Interesting that you mention theme. 140 characters is very little to write about them isn´t it? What should I be focusing on when writing the pitch? character? them? plot? place? Sometimes plot doesn´t come across as exciting as maybe place of theme does.., i don´t know.
And backing up a bit ( whaaaatt???) porn sites? YOU write for porn sites? That´s new information for me! I didn´t know that. And you tweet your work to porn sites? Wow, I learn something new every day!
 
I follow a few writers who post on Twitter, very low key. They have regular posts from WIPs with #midweeksentence or #booksthatinspiredme, links to helpful articles on writing. They follow other writers, book clubs, publishers and reviewers so those are the people who will read their tweets.

No idea if it helps with marketing. I like looking at their writing sheds, lines from their work, their cats and links.
 
No no no @Quillwitch I don't write porn!!!! I'm talking about twitter pitch events such as #pirmad where agents like your tweet as an invitation to submit - and several times I've been all excited when someone has liked my tweet - only to discover when I go to their profile that they're, err, not an agent!
 
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Mind you, having said that the porn market is, i believe, a healthy one that pays very well. It's just not my thing :)
 
LOL! That's cheered up my Saturday! Kitty, you don't have to justify your work to anyone, okay? Just send it out in discreet packaging please, for your readers' convenience....:D:D:D
 
MaryA said:
I follow a few writers who post on Twitter, very low key. They have regular posts from WIPs with #midweeksentence or #booksthatinspiredme, links to helpful articles on writing. They follow other writers, book clubs, publishers and reviewers so those are the people who will read their tweets.

No idea if it helps with marketing. I like looking at their writing sheds, lines from their work, their cats and links.
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It is fun, but I meant pitching your WIP to an agent through twitter.
 
Kitty said:
No no no @Quillwitch I don't write porn!!!! I'm talking about twitter pitch events such as #pirmad where agents like your tweet as an invitation to submit - and several times I've been all excited when someone has liked my tweet - only to discover when I go to their profile that they're, err, not an agent!
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LOLOLOLOLOLOL! Hey, to each his own! ;):oops:
Whaaat? really--that is awful! Wow! They´ll go through any venue, won´t they! That´s too bad. And what did you pitch? Theme? What did you find works in 140 characters?
 
Marc Joan said:
LOL! That's cheered up my Saturday! Kitty, you don't have to justify your work to anyone, okay? Just send it out in discreet packaging please, for your readers' convenience....:D:D:D
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I was seriously wondering about what you would tweet for a porn site. Lots of this, little of that and, boom, you´re in!
 
I've done SFFPIT before. Have had a couple of legit hits from them. I actually find them fun. And I find it curious how different pitches are received--gives you a feel for what agents are after. When I've done them, I've written about a dozen different pitches, each one emphasising a slightly different aspect of the story--plot, characters, theme, etc. Equally interesting is looking at others' pitches to see how they do.
 
Robinne Weiss said:
I've done SFFPIT before. Have had a couple of legit hits from them. I actually find them fun. And I find it curious how different pitches are received--gives you a feel for what agents are after. When I've done them, I've written about a dozen different pitches, each one emphasising a slightly different aspect of the story--plot, characters, theme, etc. Equally interesting is looking at others' pitches to see how they do.
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Ok, it´s a bit intimidating. So you can actually tweet several times? And you can tweak the tweet?
 
Theme, motivation, as @Robinne Weiss says, if you can tweet more than once it's a good idea to do so. Often if a tweet piques an agent's interest they will visit your profile to see your other tweets to get a batter feel for what you are pitching!
 
Agent AM Heath are inviting twitter pitches this coming week, starting tomorrow, when they are looking for pitches re crime/psychological thrillers. Friday = wild card day.
 
Don't forget that you can include images with tweets - even animated gifs. 'A picture is worth a thousand words' etc. I don't pitch on twitter, but I do use it for promotion - with pics. A pic could just be an image of your detailed pitch (probably precis'd a little). Here's one I did earlier (not a pitch) e.g.
James Marinero on Twitter

You cannot re-use a tweet word for word, but you can change the hashtags - or the image. Do monitor the takeup of the tweets and the hashtags used.

I find that literary quotes work well for a tweet, along with an image of what I'm promoting. I usually add a quip. e.g. 'A writer is a world trapped inside a person' - Victor Hugo. Sometime I feel trapped in a world #amwriting You? Sometimes I #giveaway books

It's just part of the marketing mix.
 
So, btw anyone care to share their twitter handles so we can follow each other? Mine is ClaudiaCVArias@badwolfgirl2768.

If any of you are planning to tweet to AM Heath--good luck and see ya there!
 
There are usually rules for twitter pitches, listed somewhere on the host's website. For SFFPIT, you're supposed to tweet no more than once per hour, but you're encouraged to tweet every hour, with different pitches, because not all agents will be paying attention the whole time, and some may be attracted to your plot, while others will be attracted to the character development. The pitches I've been part of strongly discourage photos. They're great on Twitter in general when you're wanting to stand out as a whale amidst the 140 char fish, but they're considered tacky in a pitch. Good luck!
 
It's really interesting reading through the tweets on the #tellAMH feed on twitter. Especially seeing what the agents are liking! Definitely gives you a feel for what's hot right now in the crime thriller genre
 
Kitty said:
It's really interesting reading through the tweets on the #tellAMH feed on twitter. Especially seeing what the agents are liking! Definitely gives you a feel for what's hot right now in the crime thriller genre
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There are some really good ones. It´s pretty quiet though.
 
It is indeed. I was expecting more, but maybe that's because they're mainly getting UK pitches. It will be interesting to see what the next few days throws up. :)
 
I'm interested by Friday wild card. They say you can pitch on more than 1 day if you straddle 2 genres- but does that mean you can pitch again on wild card Friday? Don't want to irritate them by doubling my number of tweets (to 2!) but would like to pitch twice if poss. I've asked them; hopefully they'll reply.
 
I'm not ready to pitch right now, but reading the posted tweet pitches has been fascinating. Some are so flat even though the gist of the fiction might be intriguing. Other sound enticing, but I can't work out what they're actually about.
 
Reading through today's tweets and, is it just me or do most seem really vague and dull? Or is it simply that it's a difficult genre to bring something new to?
 
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Marc Joan

Managing IP in the book-publishing industry

  • Marc Joan
  • Replies: 0
Erica Verrillo

37 Great Writing Conferences in October 2017

  • Erica Verrillo
  • Replies: 0
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