Pitch Wars is no more.

[EVanMoore]

I wasn't sure if anyone else had seen the news that Pitch Wars will not be happening anymore.

I thought it was a cool idea, but never submitted to it myself. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on this? Are you sad? Disappointed? Feel like it was a good choice?

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong section. It seemed so Social Media heavy that I thought this was the right forum for this post ....

 

[Cobalt Jade]

It was a good idea at first, then, like so many social media things (like bucket challenges) it just got out of hand and became Too Much. I can see how it would suck up huge amounts of an agent's time and energy.

I pitched a work just for fun and got one or two offers to send a manuscript, one from a problematic publisher that isn't around any more. The manuscript wasn't complete so I didn't follow up.

 

[gtanders]

@Woollybear pointed out to me that it was getting weird. Agents looking for mentors as writers seeking agents...

 

[Woollybear]

That was so bizarre. The agent stepped down from being selected and the mentors then picked a fantastic writer (who is not an agent) as their mentee.

But it was a weird day on twitter, that day was.

 

[Nether]

Yeah, that's an obvious eligibility issue even if a lot of agents aspire to write themselves.

Anyway, there was another topic about this somewhere. I believe either the consensus -- or maybe just my opinion -- was the whole thing got too big and it'd slowly stopped working.

It sucks because I only learned about relatively recently and subbed one thing to it. I'd hoped to have another go but then it closed.

 

[EVanMoore]

That was so bizarre. The agent stepped down from being selected and the mentors then picked a fantastic writer (who is not an agent) as their mentee.

But it was a weird day on twitter, that day was.

Ooooh I missed all of this tea. Can anyone fill me in?

 

[Woollybear]

I mentally blocked the names and much of the story shortly thereafter (early last November, if that helps), but it definitely was a sticky situation for a few days.

Here's a different thing entirely: A kind of pitch wars data analysis that I've always wondered about.:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1437119793816088579

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

A shame, but not a surprise. Pitch Wars and Pitmad got too big to be beneficial to most people. They were fun for a while, and we got some good books out of it, no doubt, but it's outgrown itself.

 

[EVanMoore]

I mentally blocked the names and much of the story shortly thereafter (early last November, if that helps), but it definitely was a sticky situation for a few days.

Here's a different thing entirely: A kind of pitch wars data analysis that I've always wondered about.:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1437119793816088579

Very interesting! I never thought it would immediately lead to representation. I'm a tad surprised at the 43(ish)% rate, but I don't know what I was expecting.

 

[gtanders]

Very interesting! I never thought it would immediately lead to representation. I'm a tad surprised at the 43(ish)% rate, but I don't know what I was expecting.

That's... incredible. I work in marketing, and that conversion rate is to die for.

 

[Woollybear]

Very interesting! I never thought it would immediately lead to representation. I'm a tad surprised at the 43(ish)% rate, but I don't know what I was expecting.

Right? I have no idea what to expect. I think it fits with the idea of 'you need to reach a certain level, and after that it's out of your control.'

It helps me to know that plenty of the unselected manuscripts were also published without Pitch Wars.

 

[Woollybear]

That's... incredible. I work in marketing, and that conversion rate is to die for.

But it's a conversion rate after the thousands of potential products (hopeful writers) are culled for the top few percent....

Does that pertain to the analysis?

 

[gtanders]

But it's a conversion rate after the thousands of potential products (hopeful writers) are culled for the top few percent....

Does that pertain to the analysis?

I think so. In marketing terms, a conversion rate that high is usually only found at the bottom of the funnel, where the sale is close to closing. That's what's so surprising. It makes me think Pitch Wars was happening way closer to the bottom of the funnel than I realized.

Dang, why'd it have to end?

 

[Nether]

Dang, why'd it have to end?

Because we can't have nice things

 

[Brigid Barry]

I wasn't sure if anyone else had seen the news that Pitch Wars will not be happening anymore.

I thought it was a cool idea, but never submitted to it myself. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on this? Are you sad? Disappointed? Feel like it was a good choice?

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong section. It seemed so Social Media heavy that I thought this was the right forum for this post ....

I am quite bummed about it. Not because I really got anywhere but WOW was it great for building your Twitter feed to connect with other writers like that! Most of my Twitter connections happened because of PitMad.

ETA: Here's the link to the announcement.

 

[EVanMoore]

I am quite bummed about it. Not because I really got anywhere but WOW was it great for building your Twitter feed to connect with other writers like that! Most of my Twitter connections happened because of PitMad.

ETA: Here's the link to the announcement.

I'm new to Twitter but the writing community on there is AMAZING. I love it!

 

[Woollybear]

Here's another new opportunity. Write Hive is fantastic.

http://writehive.org/home/mentorship-program/

 

[Woollybear]

I forget all the threads that we use to track new online pitching opportunities but evidently Savvy Authors has put one together.

https://savvyauthors.com/community/help/pitchrules/

Next one is fall 2023.