Welcome to #PitDark, the only Twitter pitching contest for dark literature!
#PitDark is the first and only Twitter pitch event to highlight literature of a “darker” nature. Importantly, this is not limited to horror works; however, any pitched manuscript must contain an element of horror or darker writing. Examples of such categories include pure horror novels, dark fantasy, murder mysteries, psychological horror stories, non-fiction works about darker subjects, etc. MG, YA, NA, and adult age categories are welcome.
The next #PitDark will take place on May 20, 2021.
You can find the agents and publishers that participated in previous #PitDark events here.
Contents
The Basics
The contest will happen on Twitter under a common hashtag (#PitDark). During a 12-hour window on the chosen day, authors with completed manuscripts who are seeking representation or publication can tweet a pitch for their books (at most, once per hour).
Agents and publishers will make requests by marking pitches as a favorite on Twitter. If your tweet is favorited, please follow the agent or publisher’s submission guidelines.
General Pitch Party Rules
- Pitch limit. Please do not pitch more than once an hour, per manuscript.
- Time-frame: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Please do not pitch before or after this twelve-hour period.
Please follow these guidelines to keep this event fair to everyone involved!
When to Pitch
This event happens biannually. The next #PitDark is scheduled for May 20, 2021. On pitch day, we will go from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.
What to Pitch
Participants get one pitch per hour, per manuscript.
This contest is for completed, unpublished manuscripts. Complete means that it’s proofed, polished, and ready for submission. Unpublished means you haven’t self-published it online, on Amazon, or in print. For more information on genres, please see below.
Genre mashups, such as dark fantasy, are welcome, as long as you’re not just trying to pass off your book as something that doesn’t contain “darker” themes.
How To Pitch
Your pitch should contain four elements:
- First and foremost, the hashtag for the contest, #PitDark.
- An indication of the book’s age category.
- An indication of the books’s genre in existing terms. See below for hashtags. A genre hashtag is mandatory.
- A pitch for your book. Ideally, it should tell us character, desire, obstacle(s), and stakes
You should tweet your pitch no more than once per hour throughout the day. Make sure each tweet is slightly different, as tweeting identical text is a violation of Twitter’s guidelines.
Please use these hashtags to indicate the target age group for your book:
- #MG – Middle Grade
- #YA – Young adult
- #NA – New adult
- #A – Adult
Please use a hashtag to indicate the genre of your book. The following are example hashtags that may be relevant to your manuscript:
- #H – horror
- #PH – psychological horror
- #GH – gothic horror
- #CSH – cosmic horror
- #BH – body horror
- #CH – comedy horror
- #DC – dark comedy
- #DR – dark romance
- #SFH – science fiction horror
- #PNH – paranormal horror
- #ZH – zombie horror
- #MH – monster horror
- #GRH – graphic horror
- #MM – murder mystery
- #FA – fantasy
- #DF – dark fantasy
- #T – thriller
- #EF – epic or high fantasy
- #HF – historical fantasy
- #LF – literary fantasy
- #AH – alternate history
- #PN – paranormal
- #PR – paranormal romance
- #UF – urban fantasy
- #MR – magical realism
- #SF – science fiction
- #AF – apocalypse fiction
- #ML – military science fiction
- #PA – post-apocalyptic SF
- #CP – cyberpunk
- #SFT – sci-fi thriller
- #SH – superhero / superhuman
- #SO – space opera
- #DS – dystopian
- #SP – steampunk
- #TT – time travel
- #WW – weird west
- #SPEC – speculative fiction
- #NF – non-fiction
Feel free to use two genre tags, as long as they’re compatible (e.g. #FA #DF), but there’s no pressing need to have more than one. For a description and some examples of these subgenres, see the Genre Subcategories post by Connor Goldsmith of Fuse Literary. Please let me know — by e-mail or Twitter — if I haven’t specified your subgenre!
Pitching Guidelines
Here are some general guidelines to ensure fairness and respect during the contest.
Please DO:
- Pitch completed, unpublished manuscripts that represent your best work.
- Include the contest hashtag, #PitDark.
- Use appropriate hashtags for age category and genre/subgenre.
- Pitch your book once an hour to give everyone a chance to see it.
- Make sure that your tweets are not identical. Twitter will block multiple instances of the same tweet, so be sure to move the hashtags around or change a character each time.
- Follow submission guidelines. Scroll up in an agent or publisher’s tweets to see what they are, and be sure to follow them.
Please DON’T:
- Pitch more than once an hour, per manuscript. This ensures that no one spams the hashtag, and gives everyone a fair shake.
- Pitch directly to agents or publishers (unless invited to do so). In other words, don’t use @ at the beginning of your pitch.
- Use weird formatting or images to get attention. No ALL CAPS or multiple lines. These are annoying.
- Use the hashtag to self-promote. This is not the place to hock your e-book, editorial services, etc.
- Favorite other pitches unless you’re an agent or publisher. There’s nothing more disappointing than getting notification that your tweet was favorited, only to find out it was just another author.
Who Is Participating?
See below for a list of a few of the participating agents and publishers. This is not an exhaustive list as some participating agents have asked to not be listed, and since #PitDark is a public event, many more agents and publishers are likely to join in on the day! Please be sure to research any agent or publisher that likes your pitch. There is no obligation to submit your work to anyone you don’t want to.
Agents:
Annie Bomke Literary Agency
- Annie Bomke, @ABLiterary
Birch Path Literary
-
Alyssa Eisner Henkin, @AgentHenkin
CMA, Inc.
- Shannon Snow, @ssnow_lit_agent
Dystel Goderich & Bourret LLC
- Amy Elizabeth Bishop, @amylizbishop
- Michaela Whatnall, @mwhatnall
The Friedrich Agency
- Lucy Carson, @LucyACarson
Europa Content
- Tess Callero, @TessCallero
Folio Literary Management
-
Katherine Odom-Tomchin, @odom_tomchin
Fox Literary
- Isabel Kaufman, @isabeljka
Handspun Literary
- Ben Miller-Callihan, @AgentBenMC
Harvey Klinger
- Analieze Cervantes, @author_analieze
- Andrea Somberg, @andreasomberg
- Jennifer Herrington, @jl_herrington
Irene Goodman Agency
- Lee O’Brien, @LeePaigeOBrien
- Maggie Kane, @CallMePog
Jane Rotrosen Agency
- Amy Tannenbaum, @aftannenbaum
Janklow & Nesbit
- Paul Lucas, @canonizer
JD Literary
- Amy Giuffrida, @kissedbyink
- Erin Clyburn, @erin_clyburn
John Hawkins & Associates
- Moses Cardona
Kathryn Green Literary Agency, LLC
- Kathryn Green, @kathygreenlit
KT Literary
- Hilary Harwell, @HilaryHarwell
Ladderbird Agency
- Stefanie (Stevie) Molina, @fiction_tech
Marsal Lyon Literary
- Jill Marsal, @jillmarsal
- Jolene Haley, @JoleneHaley
Martin Literary Management
- Adria Goetz, @adriamgoetz
P.S. Literary Agency
- Claire Harris, @claire_m_harris
The Seymour Agency
- Lynnette Novak, @Lynnette_Novak
Stonesong
- Madelyn Burt, @madelynvburt
United Talent Agency
- Dan Milaschewski, @DMilaschewski
- Jen Nadol, @jennadol
Westwood
- Emmy Nordstrom Higdon, @emmy_of_spines
Wolfson Literary Agency
- Amy Stapp, @AmyStappNY
Writers House
- Alexandra Levick, @AllieLevick
- Mark Gottlieb, @Mark_Gottlieb
Publishers
Black Spot Books
- Lindy Ryan, @lindyryanwrites
- The Reader, @Toni_The_Reader
Pandamoon Publishing
- Ashley Hammond, @THEalhammond
- Cheri Champagne, @CheriChampagne
- Jill Crosby, @ElCroJi
- Rachel Schoenbauer, @RASchoenbauer
- Saren Richardson, @SarenRichardson
- Zara Kramer, @zarakramer
The Parliament House
- Malorie Nilson, Senior Editor @malorienil; Email: malorie@parliamenthousepress.
com
Pitching Tips & Advice
The following are a few great articles for Twitter pitching advice:
- Dan Koboldt’s brief guide to Twitter pitching
- Shira Hoffman’s The Art of #TwitterPitching
- How to PitMad by Heather Burnell on Sub It Club
- How #PitMad Helped Me Get A Literary Agent and tips for the next one, by Diana Urban
Please contact me if you have any questions about the event.
–Jason Huebinger