A PSA for writers in multiple genres with query-ready manuscripts (finished & polished): if you and/or your characters meet certain qualifications, you can participate in tomorrow’s #DVpit contest on Twitter.
It’s being sponsored by agent Beth Phelan, and looks to include a lot of well-known literary agents and editors (usual caveats apply).
This is a very encouraging sign of publishing professionals actually doing something about representing diverse authors and books, so it needs as much community participation and support as possible! (But do follow the rules about the actual event, because they’ll help streamline the chaos.)
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My #DVpit experience was fun and useful. Honing my tweets ultimately helped me improve my query letter. It let me see what works were getting multiple notices, and probably why. I reconnected with an agent whom I’d queried before, but that ultimately led to an expected rejection on genre. I’m still unsure about the utility of editors boosting unagented authors’ pitches when they can’t take unagented pitches…it’s a long shot whether any eventual agent will be able to place the mms on the basis of one retweet months back. Especially for a book already rejected by the publisher in question.
Will I do #DVpit or other pitch contest again? If I have a book more in the YA camp, maybe…it seems that diverse YA gets more traction and notice than adult work. I notice that YA often seems to get more attention and space in other online pitch contests, too.