Pitch Contests

A lot of people like things that make their lives easier. For agents and editors, this can be pitch contests. They get hundreds of emails from potential authors a day. The time it takes to read and sort through them (considering the number with incorrect formats, genres that aren’t represented, or big warning signs) – is insane.

Pitch contests make sorting far quicker. Want a genre? Search the hashtag. Want to know if there’s an audience – crowds of authors are going through the pitches too and marking the ones they like. This pushes them to the top, making it even easier to sort through them. When they request material, it’s marked and can be pushed to the top of their lists. All in all – pitch contests are great.

They’re great for authors too. People we know get to shout about how they’ve read our book, loved our book, think our pitch is interesting. We get a visible line (or no line) from agents and editors. It puts us more visibly in the process. Not to mention, it helps build a platform. Authors who pitch in contests often get an influx of followers during that time. It’s like a networking party but better. Mainly because I can’t go to networking parties in my pajamas, or set up all my talking points in advanced like I can do with TweetDeck.

In fact, my debut HIGH SUMMONS, and its sequel, GRIMM REMAINS, were published because my pitch was discovered by Clean Reads through #Pit2Pub! Linking with them also led to my upcoming NA paranormal romance – AISLING. I even learned about my current internship through a recommendation by a friend I made in #PratPit.

I’ve been lucky with the online author community, and I hope the same if not better for all of you.

Good luck.