Getting your writing in front of acquisitions editors and agents is a daunting thing, isn’t it? There’s putting together all your pitch materials, finding the right people to send them out to, then sending everything out and waiting for people tell you what they think.
Luckily, that step of finding the right people to send your work to — publishers or agents — doesn’t have to be too difficult. I’ve got some resources that can help you with that, and a tracker that can help you systematize things.
A Little Context First
Knowing a bit more about the publishing process can give you a sense of where you fit in it and give you insight into what people in publishing are looking for from writers.
Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer has a great overview of the publishing industry and how writers fit in it. I recommend reading the entire thing. For pitching, the following chapters can give you great context.
- “Chapter 5: Trade Book Publishing” will give you some insights into publishing as a business.
- “Chapter 10: Understanding Literary Agents” will give you a basic overview of the function of agents in the publishing industry.
- “Chapter 11: Researching Agents and Publishers” will give you an idea of what to consider when looking for agents and publishers who could help you get your book out into the world.
Places to Find Publishers or Agents
Some writers will send out pitch materials to the first agent or publisher they hear of, then find another when that doesn’t work out. And that’s a valid approach if it works for you and your goals. If you prefer a more methodical approach, I’ve created a tracker spreadsheet where you can create a list of publishers or agents you think might be a good fit for your novel. It includes fields to help you keep track of a bunch of relevant details about them, a way to sort them so you can prioritize your favorites, and stuff you’ll want to use to personalize your query letters.
Here are some places you can find publishers and agents. When going through these, you’ll want to keep an eye out for people/places with books similar to yours in a number of ways, like genre, subgenre, tone, types of characters, types of story arcs, etc. You’ll also want to consider if the people sound like the right fit for you.
- Publishers Marketplace
- Literary Marketplace
- Writer’s Marketplace (Australia)
- Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (UK)
- The Writers Union of Canada’s Literary Agents
- The Writers Union of Canada’s Directory of Canadian Publishers (accepting direct submissions)
- The Big, Big List of Indie Publishers and Small Presses (accepting direct submissions)
- The Manuscript Wish List website
- The Association of American Literary Agents
- Query Tracker
- Agent Query
- Duotrope
- Literary Agents Who Represent Graphic Novels
- Disability in Publishing’s Agent and Editor Directories
- Poets & Writers: Small Presses
- Poets & Writers: Literary Agents
- Acknowledgements in published books similar to yours
- Imprints that put out books similar to yours
- Social media bios of authors who write books similar to yours
Evaluating Publishers
Before you decide to pitch your work to a publisher or agent, it’s worth doing a little research on them first. Check out:
- Jane Friedman’s article How to Evaluate Small Publishers—Plus Digital-Only Presses and Hybrids
- SFWA’s Writer Beware
Pitch Events
Pitch events are another great way to get your work in front of people who might be interested in helping you publish it.
Some of these events involve sharing your pitch with a larger group of agents and editors, and if anyone’s interested they’ll reach out to you. And some of these events allow you to pitch to editors and agents directly.
Pitch Events at Conferences
There are lots of pitch events at writing conferences you can participate in. They’re great opportunities to get in front of agents and editors to gauge interest and to potentially get feedback. It’s worth looking at conferences, cons, or literary festivals local to you, or in places you’d like to travel to, and seeing if they have this kind of opportunity available. Some online conferences have pitch events too.
If you don’t already have some conferences in mind, here are some directories you can check out:
- AWP’s directory of conferences and centers
- Indies Today’s list of writers conferences, book fairs, and festivals
- Poets & Writers’ database of conferences and residencies
- Wikipedia’s list of writers conferences
Online Pitch Events
Online pitch events (also sometimes called pitch parties) are planned days where you can post a very short pitch online and get it in front of a group of agents and publishers. They’re often specific to a type of book or author.
Pitch events used to be huge on Twitter. But with so many recent changes on Twitter/X, many established online pitch events are in a state of flux. Some are on hiatus, some are still on Twitter/X, some have moved to Discord or Bluesky, some are self hosted. And as Bluesky gains in popularity, lots of new ones are surfacing there too.
Here’s a list of some active pitch events hosted outside of Twitter/X. Most of them are on Bluesky:
General Pitch Events
- #BluePit — a hype/pitch event for fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry
- #CheerPit — a general pitch event focused on spreading holiday cheer
- #P2PPit — a fiction hype/pitch event
- #QuestPit — a hype event for fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and poetry
- #ShortPit — a pitch event for short stories
- #SmallPitch — a pitch event for small and indie presses
- #WIPPit — a pitch event for works in progress in fiction and creative nonfiction
- #YouDeservePit — a pitch event primarily focused on fostering community and connection
Pitch Events with a Specific Pitch Format
- #CastPit — a pitch event where you cast actors for your characters
- #PlaylistPitch — a pitch event where you use songs and lyrics to pitch your book
- #PosterPit — a literary pitch event for query-ready manuscripts in the form of movie posters
- #MoodPitch — a moodboard-based pitch event
Pitch Events Based on Genre, Mood, etc.
- #CuPit — a pitch event for romance
- #MiseryPit — a pitch event focusing on mysteries, thrillers, and true crime
- #GhostPit — a Halloween-related pitch event
- #JoyPit —a pitch event for light-hearted feel-good books
Kidlit Pitch Events
- #KidLitGN — a pitch event for writers and illustrators of kidlit graphic novels
- #LatinxPitch — a kidlit pitching event for creators of children’s literature who belong to the Latinx community
- MG Hub — an annual pitch event held off social media and often open to all kidlit age categories
- #SkyPitch — a pitch event for picture books
Pitch Events Based on Author Demographic
- #LatinxPitch — a kidlit pitching event for creators of children’s literature who belong to the Latinx community
- #PicantePit — a hype and pitch event for self-identifying Latinx/Latine authors writing Adult and NA fiction.
- #PitBLK — a literary pitch event to amplify and celebrate Black Writers
- #PitchDis — a pitch event for authors who self-identify as disabled, neurodivergent, and/or chronically ill
- #QueerPit — a pitch event for 2SLGBTQIA+ writers and their stories
- #SEAsianPit — a pitch event for self-identifying Southeast Asian writers and illustrators everywhere
I try to update this list regularly. It was last updated in June 2026.
Remember that tracking spreadsheet for publishers and agents? It’s got a tab for pitch events too. If you want a place to keep track of pitch events, you can throw them in there.
Writing Pitches and Pitch Packets
I’ll be putting together a resource list for queries, pitches, and synopses soon.
If you don’t want to wait, and you’ve already picked up Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer, check out “Chapter 12: Book Queries and Synopses.”
If You’d Rather Self-Publish
If you’re interested in getting your book into the world with the assistance of people you hire and retaining full creative control, that’s awesome too! A great place to start figuring out how to do that is Joanna Penn’s Successful Self-Publishing.
Want to Make Your Book Stronger First?
Want to give your novel a better chance of capturing someone’s attention? I can help! Check out my editing services. I also help my editing clients develop and polish their pitch materials. And I’ve got a self-paced course that can help you shape your novel into a stronger version of itself: the DIY Developmental Edit.