Twitter pitches in publishing

Twitter is a wonderful tool for writers.  It creates interactive communities and allows extremely customized newsfeeds. Twitter also opens doors between authors, agents, and publishers, through intermittent pitch contests like #pitmad (Pitch Madness), #AdPit (Adult fiction pitches), or #SFFpit (science fiction & fantasy pitches).

In general, contests like these allow participants to post their novels’ short hooks in a common public forum on Twitter. Agents and editors who ‘favorite’ a particular post indicate they’d like to see more of it in a formal query letter, expedited when the author mentions that the agent saw the hook in a pitch madness contest.

It’s not an offer of representation or a publishing contract. Just a request to see more of that story. Theoretically, this is another way for authors to bypass the query slushpile, or at least jump ahead. The professional participants can be editors from world-class publishers, or well-known literary agents who might not be open to most unsolicited queries.

I’ve heard of some heartwarming success stories. They’re fun events, and I like seeing how other writers create one-sentence hooks.

Here’s the dark side to pitch contests: they also allow inexperienced, ineffective, or frankly predatory agents and publishers* to hunt for new authors. In many cases, the selected authors are so thrilled by the attention, they query with the requested material…without properly researching the requesting agent or editor first.

In a recent contest, I was startled to see the names of some agents and publishers already assessed negatively on community watchdog groups like Preditors & Editors, AbsoluteWrite, Making Light, Hi Piers, and other sites.

A twitter pitch favorite or request is simply an online handshake at a business party. Would you buy stock, open a bank account, or trust your potential livelihood to a stranger you met at one social function?

You shouldn’t. Respected agents and editors won’t mind if you do some background checks before submitting a requested query. It’s easier and more polite to simply never query someone, than to retract a query after realizing the recipient is not someone you want as a business partner.

* Added March 2, 2015: In a lovely roundabout way, a diligent researcher can narrow down such publishers, agents, etc. by their participation (either directly or through sock-puppets) in online sites that oppose some of the aforementioned watchdog groups. I won’t name names 1) to avoid giving the former bandwidth, and 2) as per Filigree’s Rule, I think new authors need to learn how to do their own research.

But the clues, they are out there.

Added February 4, 2016: Here is one big clue about agencies and publishers to possibly avoid…if they seem to be favoriting everything they see. Especially if those likes spread across many genres. This can be an indicator of a vanity press, a new small press that hasn’t narrowed down its focus, or a fee-charging agency.

Added March 20, 2016: Same caution goes for the admittedly wonderful tool of #mswl (Manuscript Wishlist), along with every other helpful online or printed list of ‘publishers/agents seeking X genre’. Very few of those lists are vetted for accuracy or professionalism. The bottom feeders know this is a great way to snag unwary authors. The list organizers likely have no interest in the controversy that would erupt if they policed their lists better – or the time to do so, in the first place.

On these lists, I keep seeing names of literary agents, agencies, and publishers I would not trust based on their previous reputation and shenanigans, ranked alongside known and respected professionals. Again, authors, do your own research! Remember, heartbreaking as it is: the best agent in the world < a bad agency. 

You need me to be even more blunt? Okay. If an agency already has a wide, repeated, and multi-agent rep for shotgun submissions, lack of communication, arbitrary edits, unrealistic expectations, litigious behavior, failure to provide submissions lists to outgoing authors, and/or poor contracts with bad publishers…why the hell would you think a new agent there is going to be any different?

Fortunately, many agents move around over their career. If you see superstars in scary agencies, just wait a couple of years. If they’re great agents, they’ll probably go to a better agency sooner or later.

Added June 24, 2017: But what about new publishers and agents? I keep getting asked this by folks caught up in the giddy whirl of a successful Twitter pitch. What if the person who favorited or liked your pitch has no track record?

What are their industry credits? Did they apprentice with another publisher, or have applicable job skills? Do they have the capital and business plan to survive their first couple of years in the business? Do they know what they’re doing?

Take a chance on a new publisher or literary agency, if you can afford the risks. It might be safer to ask them up front about their skills and background. If they’re honest, they’ll answer. If they lash out in histrionic offense, you have a big clue about their business style.

What you don’t do: ask the just-signed authors of a new publisher. They’re probably still in the honeymoon period, and they more than likely have even less of a clue about the publishing industry than their publisher. Ask them a couple of years down the line. If they’re still happy, they’ll tell you.