I don’t know about y’all, but last week I felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me when Pitch Wars announced they would no longer be hosting #PitMad. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have after they had waited so long to announce the next event. But I’ve met so many wonderful authors during these events where the writing community comes together, and I’m definitely mourning its loss.
Lucky for all of us, there have been several communities who have decided well before now that they’d like to host their own pitch event… with blackjack and hookers (jk). Fortunately, they haven’t forgotten the importance of these events for authors and agents. So, we’ve put together a list of verified agent-visited pitch events from past years to help:
This is a great pitch party if you’ve got a finished sci-fi or fantasy novel. Not only that, it’s coming up quick! Thursday, to be exact. So, if you’ve been gearing up for #PitMad, you can still make it one week earlier. #SFFPit allows 10 total pitches in that timeframe. So, you have the opportunity to spread them out over the day or maximize your volume during peak periods.
When: Thursday, February 24th, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET
Tips for this pitch party:
Creators would like users to consider quote tweeting with encouraging messages for your friends over a regular retweet. It can catch eyes by being different!
Genre mashups like sci-fi and romance are welcome, but non-SFF novels won’t see much traction. (The invited agents are targeted to these genres!)
Include #SFFPit as well as your age category at minimum, and take a look at the other identifying hashtags on their list to stand out from the crowd.
This is the first of many author-identity-focused pitch events on our list with the goal of promoting more diversity in publishing. #LGBTNPit will be hosting their second annual event focused on authors who self-identify as a member of the alphabet mafia.
When: Thursday, April 14, 2022, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
Tips for this pitch party:
Agents and editors show interest in the work both by liking and retweeting in this event, so only quote tweet or comment to show support for your friends!
Four total pitches can be made during the event, but only one per hour.
Include #LGBTNPit as well as your age category at minimum, but it’s worth taking special care to look at their other identity hashtags as well—they’re the first to include more specific identifiers for the LGBT+ community.
If your unpublished novel contains darker themes, this is the twice-yearly pitch party for you. One especially nice perk of #PitDark is that they keep an updated list of confirmed participating agents and acquisition editors. Of course, it’s a public event and others may join day-of, but there’s nothing more exciting than seeing one of your dream agents on the list!
When: Sometime in May 2022, last event was 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
Tips for this pitch party:
This pitch event has a strict rule of one pitch per hour per manuscript. So, you can get 12 pitches in if you time them perfectly, but don’t oversell yourself. Agents don’t like working with pitch party poopers.
Genre mashups like horror and romance are welcome, but non-horror novels won’t see much traction. (The invited agents are targeted to these genres!)
Include #PitDark as well as your age category at minimum, and take a look at the other identifying hashtags on their list to stand out from the crowd.
#APIPit is a new pitch event for self-identifying authors of Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent for any genre or age group. Though participants will not be policed for their participation, the creators remind participants that misrepresentation could damage relationships with participating agents.
When: Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
Tips for this pitch party:
Watch out for your friends! This pitch event (at least for now) discourages retweets and instead requests you quote tweet or comment on your favorite pitches to show support.
Be careful with your pitch limits. You’re allowed one per hour, and three total for each completed, unpublished manuscript.
Include #APIPit as well as your age category at minimum, and take a look at the other identifying hashtags on their list to stand out from the crowd.
Much like #APIPit, #PitchDis is an event for self-identifying disabled authors, neurodivergent and chronically ill inclusive. While the community surrounding this event is excited to have more #OwnVoices stories published, participants don’t need to be pitching an #OwnVoices story to participate.
When: The inaugural event will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2022, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
Tips for this pitch party:
Number of pitches is a little complicated for this one. You can only pitch a total of three projects, up to four pitches per project, and one pitch total per hour.
This pitch event (at least for now) discourages retweets and instead requests you quote tweet or comment on your favorite pitches to show support.
Include #PitchDis as well as your age category at minimum, and take a look at the other identifying hashtags on their list to stand out from the crowd. Note: at this time, they only include #PitchDis as their recognized diversity tags.
#DVPit is probably the most inclusive of the non-PitMad pitch events for the year. It is for traditionally marginalized voices. This includes but is not limited to authors who identify as BIPoC, disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill, marginalized cultures, marginalized religious affiliations, LGBT+, and more with no need for disclosure.
When: Sometime in October 2022, last event was 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
Tips for this pitch party:
Note: This pitch event usually takes place over two days. The first is for children’s fiction, and the second for the adult fiction. Take care not to post your pitch on the wrong day!
You’re welcome to pitch as many as six times per project over the course of the event, but creators ask you don’t pitch more than once per hour.
Include #DVPit and at least one other identifying hashtag in your pitch at minimum.
The creators of this event have also included a killer pitch party user guide that will answer all of your questions about how to participate if you’re new to these kinds of events.
Back to Cold Querying
Your last option when it comes to what to do next now that #PitMad is over is to double down on cold querying. Though this can be a time-consuming, painstaking process, cold queries are actually the most reliable way to find an agent for your work. But there’s very little feedback in the process to help you improve, so it’s a good idea to find someone who knows when to get help. And if you want more help querying, keep watching this space! We’ve got a new blog on what it means where you’re getting stuck in the querying process coming March 8.
So, as you can tell, now isn’t a great time to be a straight, white, cisgender, middle-class man from the U.S. trying to pitch nonfiction, but for most of us there is still a pitch event out there that will accept our stories. Even better, these events are much less crowded, which gives you a likelihood of being seen more easily! And even if you are exactly the writer I described above, don’t fret. Some agencies and publishers are even hosting their own events these days. As always, getting published is going to require a little bit of luck and a lot of persistence. Keep going strong.