Friday, March 5, 2021

What is #pitmad?

March 5, 2021                                                                                                                                              

Recently my Twitter feed blew up with the #pidmad tag. What fresh hell is this, I asked myself. As with all things, Google knows too freaking much. Here's what I learned from Google.

Pitmad is a quarterly event, on Twitter, where writers with unpublished manuscripts attempt to catch the notice of an agent or editor. You only get 280 characters so you need to be concise and leave room for hashtags. Once you've tweeted with the appropriate hashtags, you pin the tweet to your profile to make it easier for others to find. If you're lucky, your peeps will give you a lot of retweets, but remember they've got their own tweets out there so do your due diligence and do some retweeting for them. 

And do not like or click on the heart of anyone's pitch, either. On Pitmad day, that's reserved for the agents and editors so you know who to query. 

There seems to be a set of hashtags to use, but this poor writer is out of the loop. That's what happens when a writer allows real-life to intrude on the muse. But since we writers have our own language, here are a few I think should work.

#F for fiction
#SF for science fiction or speculative fiction
#M for mystery or #CM for cozy mystery
#S for suspense or #T for thriller
#P for paranormal
#YA for young adult
#LGBT and #BSDM need no explanation

It can be a bit daunting to jump into the fray, but in reality, you've got an equal shot with the other thousands of writers going #pitmad crazy. Just remember that catching the notice of an agent or editor, while exciting, may not mean a thing to your career. It may or may not get your published. BE CAREFUL. 

Before you give out any personal information to someone on Twitter, be sure to check them out. Make Google find you an agency phone number and make that call. Take your conversations off the Internet and make notes. Do your due diligence to protect yourself. 

I don't write this to discourage anyone. We need your voice. You deserve your shot. Just be cognizant of those who are waiting to take advantage of inexperience. You deserve fair treatment above all else.

So sayeth this writing elder. 



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