I’m not sure if you remember, but several posts back, I mentioned that sometimes, something out of the blue happens that provides me with the encouragement I’ve been needing?
Well, that happened this past week.
I was randomly scrolling through Twitter (I refuse to call it X), and I saw that there was a pitch event happening. I decided to go ahead and participate, because what could it hurt?
Pitch events occasionally happen on Twitter, where writers tweet out pitches. (Is it still called “tweeting”?) The format is always a little bit different from pitch to pitch, but this year, I saw that a lot of writers created mood boards or bulleted lists of things found in their story. Each pitch event has slightly different rules, but usually you are encouraged to tweet up to three versions of your pitch periodically throughout the day.
Not only is this a fun time to connect with other writers out there (and I saw some really incredible stories that I can’t wait to read), but it’s also a chance to catch the notice of an agent.
Literary agents don’t always participate in these, but it’s a great tool for them to find new stories. The ones who join will peruse the pitch contest specific hashtags, and if they “like” one of the tweets, that means that they are interested and is an invitation for the writer to query them.
I’ve participated in these in the past, and honestly, I’m just not on Twitter often enough to be very effective at them. However, I figured I could make a mood board and tweet a couple times and just see what happened. The ol’ throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks method.
So here’s a screenshot of my tweet:
Readers, I don’t think I can adequately describe how excited I am about this mood board. The way it starts with bright colors and moves into something darker just feels *chefs kiss* to me. (And yeah, okay. I know that I’m the one that made it, but I’m really proud of how it turned out.)
I decided to use my second tweet to tease a couple of lines from Veritas, but still use the mood board I created.
Every time I checked my posts, I had more and more engagement. I tried to take some time to interact with my fellow writers, and at one point, as I was scrolling through my likes…
There was a like from a literary agent.
There was a like from a literary agent.
THERE. WAS. A. LIKE. FROM. A. LITERARY. AGENT.
I almost fell out of my chair.
When I went over to her page, she had a post pinned with query instructions from the pitch event, and she works with a well-known literary agency that I’ve had on my list to query. I did a little bit of research into the types of stories she’s looking for, and she is very selective about the young adult projects she takes on. However, she thought my premise sounded interesting enough to want a query from me.
Either way, it was really encouraging! There are so many writers who participate in these events that it’s really hard to stand out or to even have your pitch seen, so even getting just one like is a huge deal. From what I saw of writers who received agent likes, it seemed like only getting one or maybe two was standard–and a lot of writers didn’t receive any.
Even if this agent decides that Veritas isn’t for her, I feel incredibly grateful. Her simple “like” on my post was exactly what I needed this week.
Britnie Jenkins 