XpoNorth Tweet Pitch is back for its eighth year on Friday January 21.
XpoNorth is Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s (HIE) specialist year-round support mechanism for creative industry businesses based across the Highlands and Islands.
Its annual Tweet Pitch event, produced alongside the Association of Scottish Literary Agents, gives writers in Scotland the chance to pitch their work via social media to a panel of Scotland’s leading literary agents and publishers.
Shout out to all writers – Remember you can tweet yourself a book deal this month!
The XpoNorth Writers’ Tweet Pitch returns, Fri 21 Jan to give #writers from across #Scotland the chance to pitch their work to a panel of literary agents & publishers.https://t.co/HfhDXfdnUf pic.twitter.com/Fo7fkq9bt4
— XpoNorth (@XpoNorth) January 10, 2022
How to pitch
Writers of all levels and genres have the chance to land a book deal by pitching their work in 280 characters or less and tagging #XpoNorth in a Tweet.
Completed work or projects still in development will be considered from writers living and working in Scotland, with the only requirement being for the work to be unpublished.
Last year’s Tweet Pitch attracted submissions by hundreds of writers throughout the one-day event, with #XpoNorth appearing in the top five Twitter trends across the UK for the majority of the day.
Success stories
Success stories from previous years include Leonie Charlton who had her debut story, Marram, published last year by Sandstone Press and is currently working on her second book.
Shetland PhD student Catherine Munro took part in 2019. Her pitch was picked up by agent Jenny Brown, which then saw a three-way auction for her debut memoir The Ponies at the Edge of the World, due to be published in May 2022.
The event also coincides with the release of several publishing sessions from XpoNorth 2021 Creative Industries Conference, which are now available to play back on the XpoNorth YouTube channel.
‘So much talent’
Literary agent Jenny Brown, who has been involved in XpoNorth Tweet Pitch since its inception, said: “I’ve seen it grow year on year which is fabulous. There’s so much talent out there.
“A sense of community forms as a result of XpoNorth Tweet Pitch – it brings together all of Scotland’s publishers, agents and writers and there’s such a generosity of spirit.
“There’s lots of advice online about how to pitch and distill the essence of what you want to write.
“But the most important thing is to know what your book is about. What are you writing? And how do you convey that?”
Celebration of Scottish writing
Peter Urpeth, publishing sector specialist advisor at XpoNorth, said: “The annual Tweet Pitch has become a major date in the calendar of Scottish publishing.
“It is a real celebration and display of the depth, diversity and spirit of writing in Scotland.
“The day offers writers a chance to kick-start their writing year with a pitch to agents and publishers, and is an opportunity that has been proven, time and time again, to work.”
Visit www.xponorth.co.uk for more information.