I’m happy to provide you this tidy list of winning tweets for #PitchMAS!
If you’re not sure what #PitchMAS is, I’ll explain. There are a few Twitter Pitch contests each year, with #PitMad and #SFFPit being among the largest. Authors will write a short pitch of their novel, small enough to squeeze into a tiny tweet with hashtags, and hope for the best. If a publisher or agent favorites the tweet, then that means they’re interested and would like to know more! The author will then submit to said agent or publisher (assuming they want to), according to any special submission guidelines the agent or publisher has tweeted. Special consideration is usually given to such pitches in an otherwise hard-to-stand-out slush pile. The other benefit is to network with editors/agents/authors that you wouldn’t have had a chance to meet!
This list, while large, may not include all winning tweets. If your awesome tweet was not included and received a favorite from a publisher or agent, please feel free to let me know and it’ll be added!
I am also proud to announce my winning tweets, which drew the attention of 1 agent (Mike Hoogland from DGLM) and 1 publisher (Pandamoon). It was a great opportunity to correspond with Mike Hoogland and gain feedback that while my novel was not his cup of tea, he felt the premise and narrative voice were strong. Invaluable feedback to know whether or not I’m going in the right direction!
AJ Flowers winning tweet:
When you know you’ll be reborn, is giving your life really a sacrifice? Ask Sarah’s father, if you can find him before the gods do.#PitchMAS
Other notable tweets (in no particular order):
(All hashtags and twitter handles are clickable)
The Cauldron Bearer is a #retelling of the Welsh folk story “The Spoils of Annwfyn” set in 4th-C Britain #Pitchmas #HF Mists of Avalon+Hild
Cora, on assignment at a snake handling church, uncovers demonic possession.What wakes is older than the devil. And hungry #PitchMAS #horror
Trevi wants the lead in the musical. Someone wants her heart in a jar. She must uncover the mystery or lose her heart forever. #YA #PitchMAS
Fighting to survive prison, a 17-yo girl risks escape w/ a borderline sociopath, not expecting love to jeopardize freedom #PitchMAS #SF #YA
When her homecoming crown transfers to her nemesis, dead girl won’t RIP til bitch gives back her bling #YA #ghost #comedy #LGBTQ #PitchMAS
In #YA retelling of Ivan and the Firebird, the daughter of death must save her kingdom by finding legendary bird #PitchMAS
A witch w/ powers she can’t control must trust a demon w/ a past he can’t escape to rescue her dad’s soul. CHARMED + AIRBENDER #PitchMAS #YA
Is father lying to her? The only way for Anais to find the truth is to break his rules, but defying Death may lead to hers. #PitchMAS #YA
(DarkAngel+Xmen) Evie must hide powers from military she serves or be weaponized. Handsome fellow soldier vows to protect her. #PitchMas #NA
Folklore+mythology lead sick 16yo girl to explore magic in Nepal+Morocco+Romania and more in her dreams STILL ALICE+NARNIA #PitchMas #YA #F
#PitchMAS #R Almost-billionaire/MMA star + plain librarian have fake relationship…in a town full of romance novel characters. #romcom
16yo girl with neurodegenerative disease explores folklore & mythology around the world as she spirals into dementia. #PitchMas #YA #SFF
The world sleeps but Alex is awake. He can see the injustice, the horrors of this place. He will wake us all. He has to. #SFF #pitchMAS
Gwen, Lance, Art and a deranged murderer meet in Orange County. A killer twist on Camelot. Book 1 of 7 Deadly Sins series. #PitchMAS #A #T
Young woman must stop those who want to destroy Olympus before war ignites between men and gods. #PitchMAS #YA #SFF
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY meets THE MATRIX: Ragtag group of friends travel the galaxy to find a way out of a videogame #PitchMas #Ya #SF #LGBT
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AJ Flowers Comments
It was interesting to see the kind of favorites that popped up for #PitchMAS, since it’s a contest held very shortly after the other major contests such as #PitMAD and #SFFPit. I feel a lot of authors pitched the same or similar pitches as they did for other contests, since there are different agents who attend per contest. But at the same time, there are going to be many who’ve participated in all the contests, and this is your second chance at the agents or publishers who weren’t interested the first time around.
It’s difficult to come up with new pitches for the same novel, trust me I know, but if you can even come up with one good new one, it’s a chance to connect and network. In my case, this is what happened for me. It’s the third pitch contest I participated in during December and I still connected with someone new and got valuable feedback! Nothing is harder to get in this industry than feedback, and if you participate in these contests for no other reason, at least do it for that.
Looking for professional advice to construct your pitch, in the world of Twitter, in-person workshops, or query letters? I highly recommend these resources:
For the “Elevator Pitch”
Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read
For the Presentation of your Manuscript
Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript
For sample material when querying, and the most common, fixable reasons that’ll get you rejected (Written by a Literary Agent)
The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
For the Query (Free at the time of this post)
How to Write a Great Query Letter: Insider Tips and Techniques for Success
And of course, you need to know who to pitch to. While you can exhaust resources such as AgentQuery.com and QueryTracker.com, a trusted and large list has already been compiled for you:
Guide to Literary Agents 2016: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published (Market)
A.J. Flowers 
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