Pitch Your Picture Book through a Twitter Party!

“For what event would you pack an ax, a vial of serum, and dog booties? Racing in the Iditarod! Find out what else mushers pack. #PBPitch #NF” “Jersey wishes she had spots like the other cows, so she knits herself a spotted sweater, and all the other cows want one too. #PBPitch #H” The above are just two of many pitches made to agents and editors during a past picture book Twitter party. If you have a Twitter account and a completed but unpublished picture book, join the fun of making your Twitter pitch! If you aren’t on Twitter, now’s the time to dive in and learn how to tweet so you can participate too! Here are the rules:

1. Be succinct. Twitter gives you only 140 characters to describe your story. You must include the hashtag #PBPitch so agents and editors can easily find your tweet.
2. You may pitch each completed picture book twice: once before 2 p.m. and once after 2 p.m. (Your second tweet should be reworded slightly from the first.) The party lasts from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.
3. Likes and retweets should come only from agents and editors. That makes it easy for each author to see whether an agent or editor wants him or her to submit a manuscript for further consideration. So even if you want to show a fellow author some love for his or her picture book idea, don’t do it!
4. You can include a genre hashtag if you have room. Here are some hashtags suggested by the PBPitch people: #F (for funny), #CD (for character driven), #NF (for nonfiction), #C (for concept), #L (for lyrical), #I (for interactive), and #FT (for fairy tale/folk tale).
5. Illustrators can participate too! You must have a completed manuscript to go with the illustration you choose to share.

There are other pitch parties on Twitter, but this is the only one devoted to picture books. Participation is free and takes very little time, so what’ve you got to lose? The next PBPitch party is scheduled for June 22, 2017, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST. You can learn more and read success stories at PBPitch.com. Good luck!