So here I am.

Some 65,000 to 85,000 words later (not including the 65,000 words cut, changed or revised during rewrites) my book is finished.

Actually, I have three of them ready for readers. A historical fiction set in 1783 Annapolis and two contemporary romances I wrote while taking a breather from all that time travel. Sometimes, you just need your MC to use her cell phone.

So, with a quarter of a million polished words, sympathetic characters and happily-ever-afters, I am on the verge of presenting these works of love and craft to the world.

I’ve done all the prep work for querying. My loglines and blurbs are short and snappy. My synopses and query letters (mostly) are done.

So why have I been trying to craft 140- to 280-character sentences that sum up the very essence of my book?

Because any minute now, three different organizations are sponsoring Twitter sessions devoted to writers and the agents and publishers looking for new talent and fresh stories.

Coming up in the next thirty days or so are

#carinapitch

#kisspitch

and #pitmad.

Plus next week’s Savvy Author’s Sweetheart Pitch. This three-day extravaganza doesn’t rely on Twitter, but gives over Savvy Author’s blog for authors to pitch three lines about their finished works. A few more words than Twitter pitches, but not much!

There are similar pitch days throughout the year—some focusing on diverse voices, LGBTQ+ writers and other underrepresented groups. I keep watch for them on Twitter and have marked plenty of dates on my calendar for the ones that fit me and my stories.

For my three romances, these Valentine’s Day special events are the ones I can’t miss.

Good luck with writing those tweets. It’s way harder than I expected. And I’ve been crafting them for three years now.

Imagine: take your carefully crafted characters and state their conflicts, goals and motivations in one sentence. Then add #hashtags to grab agents’ attention. (That’s 160 characters, BTW)

Want to pitch your own stuff? Or cheer on your favorite writers? (Retweet, don’t “like” tweets–they’re only for agents who want more info.) Here are some guidelines from Carly Watters, writing for Writers in the Storm, my favorite writing blog.

Wish me—and Rosalind and Alexander, Donna and Scottie & Amanda and Luke—luck!