Thread by @BrigittaBlair

Last year, I got several offers of representation and my amazing agent through #DVPit, so wanted to share some tips I found helpful on Twitter pitching. 🧵 (1/10)

Include subgenre hashtags! A lot of agents/editors search for books based on the subgenre hashtags so the more you have that relate to your book, the easier it is to find. Ex: #OWN (own voices), #YA (young adult), etc. More can be found here: dvpit.com/rules-guidelin… (2/10)

Pitch in the style of the way your book (or portfolio) is. For example, if you’re writing a humorous picture book, write a humorous pitch and add #PB. If you’re pitching as an author-illustrator for a graphic novel, include a sample of a page or spread and add #DVArt #GN. (3/10)

Make sure in your pitch to set up your book, mention the dilemma, and what’s at stake. You want to SELL your story, not TELL your story. Here’s a great resource: makeyourbookamovie.com/building-the-p… (4/10)

Include what makes your book *unique*. There are a lot of stories about friendship, but what makes YOUR story about friendship different from the rest? (5/10)

Ask for feedback from others (preferably in publishing). If you have critique partners, see what they think. If you have an agent or editor friend, ask them if what you’re pitching is working. Sometimes, people on Twitter will even offer to look at your pitch for free. (6/10)

(Bonus!) Comps (comparison titles) can help agents/editors understand your story better and know how to sell your book. If you’re including comps, make sure to include book titles from the last five years. You can also include well-known movies/shows/etc. (7/10)

Finally, engage with the community! If you think someone’s pitch is great, tell them! The Twitter algorithm will work in your favor the more you engage, and the more you engage, the more likely someone will engage with your post too. (: (continued…) (8/10)

Prior to DVPit, you can also make lists of people to support. Just search for the DVPit hashtag and you’ll find several people who already want to support each other’s pitches. You can even save them to a Twitter list. (9/10)

Good luck and have fun! Even if you don’t get interest, take it as a learning lesson and opportunity to connect with others. My first few pitches I got zero interest, but studying what other pitches did well really helped me for future pitch events. (: (10/end)