In the last couple of months, I've had to take a pretty intensive crash course on "Twitter pitching", i.e. the "art of trying to pitch a 125,000-word novel with 120 characters". Not easy, but a WHOLE LOT OF FUN, and a great way to pitch your creative writing (novel) to the right people. Here's how it works: Someone organizes a "Twitter pitch event", and they create their own unique hashtags. They then invite as many agents and publishers to participate as possible. On the day of the event, you Tweet your book pitch using the designated hashtag. Each event has its own rules of how many times you can tweet per day (make sure to follow those rules CAREFULLY!). If an agent or publisher sees something they like, they will "Favorite" your tweet. You pop over to their Twitter page or submissions page, find out how they want you to submit, and send them the submission. Pretty simple, right? Yes and no. I've participated in three of these Twitter pitch events, and I've gotten a few bites on a novel I'm using to query agents. Here are my Tweets:

1. The Night Guild tolerates no weakness. Innocent girl must survive thief training and steal to pay her way. Succeed or die.
2. An innocent girl sold to thieves guild and tortured to erase her identity. Failure as a thief means death…or worse.
3. Sold to the Night Guild, a young girl must endure harsh training and abuse to earn her place among thieves and murderers.

SO SHORT! I can hardly say anything in those pitches, as I have to leave space for hashtags. But these events have been a good way to get my work in front of more agents and publishers, and I've got a few positive responses. It's a worthwhile investment of time, with the potential to lead to a lot more. Here are a few of the Twitter pitching events I know are taking place this year:

• PitMad
• SFFPit
• DVPit
• PitchCB
• PitDark
• Pit2Pub

And there are so many more that I don't know about! You can find a long list here on Kristin D. Van Risseghem's blog. Want to participate in these events? There's a lot to learn, and I've collected some resources to help you out: The Ultimate Writers’ Guide to Twitter Pitch Contests How to Write a Great Twitter Pitch The Art of the Twitter Pitch Use these to help you craft a good Twitter pitch that can put your work in front of the right agent or publisher.