Sunday, September 6, 2020

THE MAGICAL DAY KNOWN as #PITMAD


By Kasie Whitener
 

This past Thursday was #PitMad. Not sure what language that is? It’s Twitter speak and the “#” is called a “hashtag.” When put before a word or phrase, the hashtag connects tweets from unrelated users into a single conversation.

 

When we use the hashtag in a tweet, we are making our tweet visible to anyone who looks at the hashtag. This is as close as Twitter comes to a magic wand. If you’re watching a football game and go to Twitter to read tweets with the hashtag #CLEMvsOSU you’ll find conversations (tweets) about the NCAA playoff football game last December between Clemson and Ohio State University.

 

In the writing world, hashtags are used for a few different purposes: 1) to organize an event such as #wschat or #LitChat, 2) to identify genre such as #YA or relevant character groups such as #LGBTQ, and 3) to create communities of writers such as #WritingCommunity and #amwriting.

 

Writers are all over Twitter and for the most part, they’re friendly, supportive, and enthusiastic. During events like #PitMad, writers are given the chance to bridge the divide between their own wild ambition and the gatekeepers. Agents read #PitMad. Publishers troll #PitMad, too. (Troll like in the boating use of the word, not the hideous online bullying.)

 

Sponsored by PitchWars.org, the #PitMad event is a single day during which writers are encouraged to tweet the pitch for their manuscript complete with comparable titles and relevant hashtags. A few examples:

 

@Lydia_Writing tweeted:

Dee can't stop talking to her dead ex-boyfriend, Cam. When Cam's siblings recruit her to help clean out his apartment, she fears that grief might just be driving all of them mad. Little do they know that a messy apartment isn't the only thing Cam left behind. #PitMad #WF

 

@EvelynHail tweeted:

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE + LOST IN TRANSLATION Two commuters. Two trains. Iris and Evan randomly see each other through the ups and downs of a year, misunderstanding the other's gestures. Still, a bond forms. Once they realize it, time is running out. #pitmad #A #R #RS #HA

 

Lydia received 14 “likes” and Evelyn earned 20 and this is where #PitMad works its magic. Those “likes” – signified by a reader clicking the heart icon on the tweet – are supposed to be from Agents. Those agents are saying they want the writer to send them a query. Sometimes people who don’t know what #PitMad is will like the tweet, so that might not be 14 agents asking Lydia for a query, but it might be.

 

The regular querying rules apply and writers should visit the agent’s site get that query letter instruction. But #PitMad opens the door. It’s yet another channel for writers to reach agents who might be able to shepherd their work to publication.

 

I didn’t participate in #PitMad this week but I learned a lot: what agents want, what people are writing, and what makes a good pitch. Query on!

2 comments:

WritePersona said...

Can't say I understand Twitter, though your blog is helpful. Maybe it's the hashtag that trips me up. More like Sanskrit than English.

Sharon Ewing said...

Interesting! Thanks for the info. I’m just finding my way around twitter. It did seem like a foreign tongue at first but every bit of knowledge moves me forward.