Here's the general scoopage:
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.
Please use these hashtags to indicate the target age group for your book:
I struck through the target age groups that are NOT good for me.
- #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:
Again, I struck through the things that are not good for me, and bolded those that are.
#H – horror#PH – psychological horror#GH – gothic horror#CSH – cosmic horror#BH – body horror#CH – comedy horror- #
DR – dark romance#SFH – science fiction horror#PNH – paranormal horror#ZH – zombie horror#MH – monster horror#GRH – graphic horror#FA – fantasy#DF – dark fantasy- #
EF – epic or high fantasy#HF – historical fantasy#LF – literary fantasy#PN – paranormal#PR – paranormal romance#UF – urban fantasy#MR – magical realism- #
CP – cyberpunk- #S
H – superhero / superhuman#SP – steampunk#SPEC – speculative fiction
#NF – non-fiction
Because I am indeed That Person, I also organized What I Am Looking For in alpha hashtag order:
| #AF | apocalypse fiction | |
| #AH | Alternate History | |
| #DC | Dark Comedy | |
| #DS | dystopian | |
| #ML | military science fiction | |
| #MM | Murder mystery | |
| #NF | non-fiction | |
| #PA | post-apocalyptic SF | |
| #SF | science fiction | |
| #SFT | Sci-fi thriller | |
| #SO | space opera | |
| #T | Thriller | |
| #TT | time travel | |
| #WW | Weird west | |
Don't fret about this stuff though. I don't care if you query me for "the wrong thing" cause they stopped letting me chomp writers for query mistakes. The worst thing I can do to you now is say no. I promise you won't die. Really. Not even of mortification.
What I am more prickly about is getting the query promptly. I've set aside
After that the queries go in the incoming query mail box. The incoming query mailbox is, well...a picture is worth a thousand words:
Of course you have questions!
Post in the comment column, and I'll update this post if things need to be more clear, or clarified.
17 comments:
Dark Comedy -- Check!
Memoir -- No?
Bummer, I thought I had an in.
My memoir would be flash fiction anyway.
As long as your memoir isn't dino porn....
Those hashtags just about made my head explode.
How could anyone write a novel that didn't hit several of them at once?
Luckily, I am not on Twitter.
Every time I see #PitDark I think of Dirk Pitt and my mind wanders off . . .
The thought of pitching a novel in ONE tweet is daunting. I've never been tempted to try it. But then I look at that picture of what I'm sure is an accurate representation of an agent's query inbox and all I can conclude is that I'm doomed either way.
Best of luck to all of you who are pitching!
Sounds interesting. I've never done a twitter thing, so am always interested in how successful they are.
Possibly going to be chomped for this, but oh well...
Is there a difference between 'more clear' and 'clarified'? I thought they were the same?
Sorry.
Kae that's actually a very interesting question.
I think of more clear as improving the directions; clarified as adding to the directions.
Are they the same thing?
I think a case can be made for that.
This is not the hill I'm going to die on.
Safe deposit box: that's where I'm bringing out the knives.
(safety deposit box is incorrect. Always and forevermore.)
New adult?
Well, my current book is darkish. It is told from a demonic POV post-post apocalypse. But it's fantasy as well - only not in some medieval setting - more of a discombobulated society where technology is currency and magic is re-emerging because demons. And not ready to query yet - editing hard.
But I will be interested to see how our queen likes what she gets from this #PitDark exercise. And when I am ready to query, I must send her majesty a query even if it is doomed to get rejected because Janet is forever my queen. I am more than willing to lose limbs in this endeavor.
Ok, day job. I should do that. Good luck to all who participate in this pitch venture.
Wow, Janet. You have broadened your horizons! I know you've always had a "send me anything" policy, but your listed categories has never been this broad.
I hope you find something wonderful today. :)
Kitty: Are you unfamiliar with the New Adult age group? My observation is that it seems to be waning a bit, but it was supposed to catch that age group between YA and Adult. That college/just graduated age. Most of the novels I've seen advertised for NA tend to amp up the sex, though I think NA writers are trying to branch out more. However, I think efforts to be more than just "sexy YA" are either pushing the group either into YA or Adult, hence the waning (again, my observation). That's my take, I'm sure others have better thoughts. :)
Colin, thanks for that explanation. In our home you're either a minor or an adult. New adult sounds like an extended childhood to me.
Some of these genres (categories, sub-categories) I've never heard of.
Military science fiction I'm pretty sure I understand, but could someone give me an example of "space opera"?
Konnie: The Android of Seville? ;) OK, seriously, I always thought Star Wars was a "space opera" but others say it isn't. So I'm not sure... I'd be curious to know too. :)
Konnie space opera is a soap opera set in space.
I tweeted for #PitDark but only because my light-hearted Picture Book ms. about baby penguins is set at night time. I don't think I did it right...
Good luck to everyone participating. I got my agent through a Twitter pitch contest, so it does work.
I went ahead tweeted since my current query-able YA fantasy is rather dark. I'll probably tweet again throughout the day, and it makes me very thankful for the pitch help received earlier this year from the blog.
Konnie: If you're looking for a good space opera, STEAL THE SKY by Megan E O'Keefe is excellent. As far as YA space operas go, I also recommend BRIGHTLY BURNING by Alexa Donne.
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