Should You Pitch Your Manuscript On PitMad?

I took part in Twitter's PitMad for the first time this December. Having worked to finish my manuscript during the last few months, I thought I'd enter the quartely event on Twitter.

But was it worth the time and effort?

What Is PitMad?

PitMad is a quarterly event on Twitter when writers can pitch their finished and unpublished manuscripts to agents. This event is open to all genres and books for all age groups.

This year's final PitMad took place on December 3rd and the next one is on 4th March 2021.

Anyone who has writtem a book can enter the pitching event with three tweets per book. Any writers with more than one book to pitch, can have three tweets for each book. The agents will show their interest by liking the pitch. If an agent has shown they liked your pitch, you can then submit your manuscript to them following their submission guidelines.

The Positives of PitMad

If you want to pitch your manuscript to the agents during the event, you must have a finished manuscript. I have been proscrastinating with the final round of edits to my book. Knowing that I wanted to take part in December's PitMad gave me a deadline.

I might have come away empty handed from the event, but at least I now have a manuscript that is ready to go.

Taking part in the event is also great pitch writing practice. You only have 280 characters per pitch to catch an agent's attention. That's though, but creating three separate pitches helps you to improve your pitch.

As does reading through the pitches from other writers. I read through dozens of pitches and while some got me intrigues, others should not have seen the light of day.

During the event, only agents are supposed to like your tweets to show their interest, but other writers can retweet any they like.

Out of my three pitches, this one got the most retweets.

After 20 years, Kati returns to her hometown hoping to find solace in her new home. Instead, she discovers her home comes with its own dark secrets. Will Kati be able to slay the demons of the past to find peace and happiness again?

Since this one was the most popular, it is the one I will work on futher as I take the next step towards finding an agent.

A big positive was also the support from the Twitter writing community. Most writers are very supportive of each other and retweet pitches they like. It is uplifting to have other writers retweet your pitches and know that

The biggest positive I took away from the event was the support of the Twitter writing community. It's a great lift to have lots of other writers retweet your pitch.

The Negatives of PitMad

The number of pitches is astonishing and it is easy for your pitch to get lost among them. During the day, I tried my best to retweet pitches I liked and show my support to other writers. However, with new pitches tweeted almost every second, it was hard to catch them all.

And if I missed great pitches, I'm sure agents did, too. It is hard to imagine any of them spending the 12 hours solidly on Twitter reading through tweet after tweet. There are bound to be times when they take a break. What if you tweet fell into one the gaps when a potential agents wasn't looking?

Knowing when to pitch is also a challenge. I posted my first one a few minutes after the event started at 8am EST. I wasn't the only one with the same idea. Within minutes there were already hundreds of tweets.

I know that this might come across like I'm finding excuses. I promise that is not the case. I freely admit that my pitch wasn't as good as some of the others I read and therefore needs more work.

My Conclusions

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. I was a great opportunity to connect with others in the writing opportunity. It was also a chance to learn and improve.

Will I take part in it again? Yes, I will. It's a fun event that connects you with other writers. I might not have been favourited by any agents but that doesn't matter. It isn't a reflection of my book, just a reflection on my pitch.

Will I rely on PitMad to find an agent? No way. With the huge numbers of writers taking part, even the best pitches can slip by unnoticed.

Which is why, in the interval until the next PitMad, I will use more traditional methods of finding an agent.