Upcoming dates for Aspiring Writers like myself!!!

So, if you're in the same sweaty,worn shoes I'm in from trying to write and send manuscripts, and basically cheese your way into the lives of agents/publishers every where, you're looking for any opportunity to get ahead.

One of those ways, that many aspiring writers might know of, is the Twitter pitch. Basically, if you're not aware of it, every so often, the great writing Gods come down from Olympus and bestow upon a lucky few the gift of instant submitting of your manuscript without even sending a query letter. The catch...you have to write a darn good pitch.

Just finishing up with #pitchmas, in which the Top 50 winners will be posted on the blog, it can be an exhilarating, yet hair-pulling sort of time. But I wanted to reference some of these contests, just in case you haven't heard of them...

#Pitchmas - Mid December - Consists of two portions, where writers will submit a 35 word pitch about your manuscript via email to be judged, and if judged worthy, your pitch will go live on a blog for editors/agents to see, where they can hand pick what they like. Great visibility! And decent odds. The second part takes place in the following week, and involves submitting a 140 character Twitter pitch (with the hashtag #pitchmas) where you may or may not grab the attention of the powers that be. The nice thing is that you can submit twice an hour, and it goes all day! It is a huge opportunity!

#SFFPit - For Sci-Fi/Fantasy, also just recently took place in December. It takes place twice a year, and consists of submitting a twitter pitch with the hashtag of the same. It's a good opportunity because there will be less submissions, since its restricted to the two genres of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

#Pit2Pub - Starts Feb 3rd next year. Same idea as #SFFPit, but open to all genres.

#PitMad -  From Brenda Drake, this is one of the bigger Twitter pitch parties nowadays, and represents an excellent way to get noticed, though you will have less opportunity to tweet, as twitter feeds are getting clogged like a bird fed too many gummy worms. Same rules, don't forget your hashtags! See the schedule below for 2016 dates.

From the blog -- 
2016 Schedule:

March 17, 2016

June 9, 2016

September 8, 2016

December 1, 2016

These pitch parties are fun, and I repeat, they are exhilarating, but can also be the most stressful thing ever while you wait to hear back, or see a little heart icon pop up that an agent liked your pitch. 

Good luck to all, may the odds be ever in your favor and that sort of thing! I can only hope Santa will leave me an agent request this year...

-C