Success Story: Lauren T. Davila

We’re excited to share Lauren T. Davila’s #LatinxPitch success story! Lauren answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing work, with which Lauren signed with an agent after the #LatinxPitch 2021 event. Congratulations, Lauren!

1. Tell us a little bit about your experience with #LatinxPitch – where did you hear about the pitch event from, how did you feel the day of the event in terms of expectations, and how did the event lead you to sign with your agent?

I sent out my #LatinxPitch tweets sporadically throughout the day in between classes and work! So I probably wasn’t as nervous as I could’ve been considering I wasn’t super online. I had heard about it through my Latinx writer friends network and just on my timeline on Twitter. I have always loved pitch contests and think they are amazing! So I loved being able to try my hand at one specifically for the Latinx/Latine community! I had some really great responses to my pitches for my YA Latina supervillain book, which my agent ended up liking. I had eight agent likes and one editor like for my pitch, which was seriously amazing!

2. What was your recipe for the perfect pitch?

Here’s my tweet just for posterity’s sake!

I had quite a bit of engagement on this tweet and I think it boils down to the comps and the high concept. When this was tweeted WandaVision had just come out and it was allllll over social media with commentary and edits and theories. Great time for the superhero genre honestly. It was kismet I was able to focus in on a story which was about female trauma and relationships and expectations in an authentic way. My biggest advice would be to find comps that work but don’t be so stressed about finding the perfect ones! You can also pick and choose elements from certain things too: “the trauma exploration from X with the found family from X” or “the slow burn romance from X with the political dystopia elements from X.” Don’t be afraid to be inventive!

3. What would you say to writers who aren’t sure if they should pitch?

My advice is always to go for it! Often, we are our own worst critics so don’t count yourself out. Even if the agent or editor engagement is low, these are great opportunities to find beta readers or CPs for future projects. And most importantly., to find friends in the industry! I have made some life-long friends just by simply interacting through pitch contests.

4. What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

At the end of the day, it’s about celebrating us and our stories and our lives. It’s representation at the base level. These diverse pitch contests are opportunities to finally close the gap in the querying process. It’s an opportunity to find “our people,” so to speak. With something as wide and vibrant as these pitch contests, we have the ability to get our stories in front of the masses and start drumming up support even before finding agent rep! #LatinxPitch is one of the best ways I have found to widen and deepen my personal writing community! And I found my amazing, wonderful, supportive agent through this process!

5. Finally, tell us about the project(s) you signed your agent with!

It’s a bit nontraditional! So while Susan liked my YA supervillain manuscript, that isn’t what she signed me with. Right now, I am in the process of a rewrite for a novel titled AT THE STILL POINTE. It is an adult standalone gothic/speculative MS that follows three professional ballerinas at a cutthroat dance academy with nothing in common but competition. When soloists start turning up dead, they decide to try to uncover the killer before they become the next victims. It just so happens they have a little help with the addition of some unexpected mythical powers – furious, vengeful powers.

Other than this MS, I am also working on a short story collection, the YA supervillain series, and multiple YA and Adult anthologies. I have been an anthologist in the indie sphere for a bit but I may be cooking up a few projects for the more traditional publishing world as well!

Lauren T. Davila is a Pushcart-nominated, Latina author, anthologist, and editor. She has edited multiple short story anthologies. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared online at Granada Magazine, The Paragon Journal, Ghost Heart Literary Magazine, Peach Velvet Mag, Voyage Journ Lauren is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English at Claremont Graduate University. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from George Mason University. After completing her studies, she plans to teach at the collegiate level while working in publishing.al, Second Chance Magazine, Headcanon Magazine, In Parentheses, and Poets Reading the News.

She lives in the greater Los Angeles area where you can find her swimming, walking her golden retriever, and drinking one too many rose lattes.

Lauren T. Davila is represented by Susan Velazquez Colmant at JABberwocky Literary Agency

You can find Lauren on:

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Success Story: Jackie Morera

We’re excited to share Jackie Morera’s #LatinxPitch success story! The PB author answered some of our most pressing questions about her experience with #LatinxPitch and her amazing picture books, with which Jackie signed with an agent shortly after the #LatinxPitch 2021 event. Congratulations, Jackie!

I follow many Latinx writers on Instagram and Twitter, so in the weeks leading up to the event, it felt like #LatinxPitch was everywhere! I believe the first I heard of it, though, was on the Las Musas Podcast (Ask A Musa, Ep. 10: LatinxPitch). I listened to the episode in the car and then immediately ran to my computer once I got home to research as much as I could about the event. I spent a lot of time on this very blog!

On the day of the event, I felt anxious! I was new to all things publishing, querying, and pitching and only recently rejoined Twitter about two months before. Thankfully, I had one round of Twitter pitch events under my belt (#PitMad) and had help from some friends in the writing community to refine my pitches by the time #LatinxPitch rolled around. I went into that day planning to make new connections with other writers, read great pitches, and have fun. I never expected the incredible response from agents, editors, and publishers alike! Tara Gonzalez liked the pitch for my picture book, THE MAGIC ISLAND, one of four projects I was pitching, and then later that day asked me to send her my other stories. I signed on with her in early December!

2. What was your recipe for the perfect pitch?

There’s a lot of excellent advice out there about how to craft a strong pitch, and I tried to apply as many of those tips as I could, but what it came down to for me was asking myself two questions: 1. Is this clear? 2. Is this compelling? No small feat when you only have 280 characters, I know! But, what I found worked best, was to write multiple pitches for each of my projects, ask myself these questions, tweak them, and then ask someone else to read my pitches and answer these questions. I also played with formatting, white space, emojis, comps, and delivery, so I had a lot of variety in my pitches by the time the event rolled around.

The pitch that Tara liked was the least traditional of the group:

WHERE ARE YOU FROM x VIVO 🇨🇺
A magic island 🏝️An Abuela’s sacrifice ❤️An enchanted painting 🖼️
When Abuela’s grandchildren ask about THE MAGIC ISLAND, she must decide if she wants to share the whole story–the sol y sombras of her magic home.
#LatinxPitch #PB

3. What would you say to Latinx writers who are querying?

Well, to start, please be my friend! I want to support your journeys and lift your voices!

But the honest advice is not too far off: lean into the Latinx community! Find other Latinx writers, join groups like the Kidlit Latinx Facebook Group, listen to podcasts like Las Musas, attend events like Latinx Kidlit Book Festival, try to find CPs who also identify as Latinx, and then engage with the people you meet in a meaningful way. All of this will take your mind off the emotional roller coaster that is querying while also establishing the foundation for beautiful friendships!

4. What does an event like this mean to you as a Latinx writer?

Is “everything” too obvious an answer? Because it honestly means that, everything! Whenever someone asks about what led me to finally pursue publication, I often tell people that I was content to write for “an audience of one” for the rest of my life. While true, there’s a deeper layer there that I only recently unveiled. And that’s: is there even an audience? If I put myself out there, and I tried, would people care to read about Cuba, or about an Abuelo who sells flowers on the side of the road, or about Latinx princesses in space? Is there too much Spanish in my books? Does that Vivaporu reference make sense? And on, and on! So when I eased my way into putting myself out there, I was pleasantly surprised to find a community ready to embrace me and even more relieved to learn about events like this one! There is hope yet for the bookshelves of the future.

5. Finally, tell us what you can about your manuscript and the stories that you write!

I mostly write picture books right now, but I enjoy writing YA and some adult fiction. The pitch that connected me to Tara, THE MAGIC ISLAND, is for a picture book inspired by my experience as a girl listening to my grandparents talk about their lives in Cuba and describing this special, seemingly mythical place with a heavy sadness. It’s very near and dear to my heart, as one might imagine!

The first story Tara and I are working on, ABUELO’S FLOWER CART, is a picture book that gently explores grief and death. It was also inspired by my time with Abuelo visiting his flower cart in Miami. His home, his flower cart, the colorful Miami street where he lived—they all felt like an extension of “the sad place,” a beautiful gated garden across the way. The story is about understanding that these places, where we go to remember and miss our loved ones, can be beautiful too.

Jackie Morera is a second-generation Cuban-American writer who was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She lives with her husband, their son, and their two neurotic pups in Central Florida. Jackie writes picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. When she’s not writing or spending time with family, she works as a Career Advisor for an online Business Apprenticeship Bootcamp where she helps young people take their first steps in their career journey.

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Making the Most Out of the #LatinxPitch Experience

There’s a whole community behind the #LatinxPitch event and we want you to be a part of it!

One common question that new writers and illustrators, or even writers and illustrators who have been around on Twitter for a while, ask is how to make more connections and build a stronger presence within the publishing community.

A way to do this is by making the most out of Twitter pitch events like #LatinxPitch.

So how do you do that?

#LatinxPitch is a great way to find critique partners! You can search the day of and connect with others who write in your same genre and for the same age group. Simply comment on their tweets and mention that you want to connect. It’s normal to start by exchanging three chapters (or a PB book draft) of a work in progress with a potential/new critique partner to see if you both connect with one another’s work and critique style.

If you end up with minimal or no likes during the event you can still connect with agents or editors by searching for other projects/artwork they liked that are similar to yours. This is a great way to build a cold querying list. Even if you get likes from agents or editors this is still a way to supplement your list and cast a wider net when querying (and when you eventually go on submission to editors).

A third way to make the most out of the event is to connect with established writers and illustrators beforehand. Or even during the event when many writers and illustrators hop on to uplift and support those who are pitching.

Have a question? Use the hashtag #LatinxPitch or send a tweet to @LatinxPitch and we’ll help!

Beyond Twitter, we also have other online resources on our blog where you’ll find lots of useful information to help build your industry knowledge base. Some of our other blog posts include the agent call as well as how to put together a strong query letter.

We hope that #LatinxPitch is as social as it is helpful for Latinx writers and illustrators of all levels. Our aim is to not only make it easier for editors and agents to connect with Latinx writers and illustrators, but also to make it easier for the Latinx publishing community to find each other, unite, and move toward more kidlit books being published by Latinx writers and illustrators.

Preparing #LatinxPitch Submission Materials

LatinxPitch Submission Materials - Twitter Literary Pitch Event

You’ve saved the day to your calendar, you’ve finished your manuscript(s), but what else should you have ready before participating in #LatinxPitch?

A QUERY LETTER AND A SYNOPSIS

Most of—if not all of—the time you’ll need to submit a query letter with your manuscript sample pages. We recommend having a few people read and offer feedback to help you with a final version.

Although less commonplace, some agents might also want a synopsis, or a short version of a story outline that shows your character’s complete arc. Having one already handy that has also been read by a few people is also a good idea!

A WAY TO KEEP YOUR QUERIES ORGANIZED

If you’re participating as a writer looking for an agent, whether you get one like from agents or thirty, one easy (and free) way to keep track of requesting agents is to organize a folder on your desktop for the event. Inside of it, you can add a folder with the names of each requesting agent and add in copies of the materials they’ve requested. This will help keep varying requests separate from one another and help you avoid sending the wrong files. Having this type of filing system also allows you to keep track of who you’ve queried by color tagging files and folders and it gives you room to move agent folders around as you hear back. Even if you’re participating as an unagented writer, it’s also good to have a file that includes the names of any editors that interact with your pitch for the future!

A FULL MANUSCRIPT AND A 50-PAGE PARTIAL

Having these two files prepared before participating in #LatinxPitch can save you time later on—a full manuscript and a 50-page partial (the most common partial). Spruce up your manuscript files up by adding in a placeholder page for your query letter addressed to each requesting agent at the beginning of your file, making sure your pages are numbered, and ensuring that your manuscript uses standard fonts and colors (you can never go wrong with Times New Roman).

PREPARING AND SCHEDULING YOUR TWEETS

You’re allowed to pitch each manuscript once in the morning and once in the evening during #LatinxPitch. Like your query and synopsis, be sure to try to get feedback on your Tweets before sending them out to get the most out of your experience. Once you’ve finalized the two (per project), you can always use a scheduling tool like TweetDec k to have them ready to go on September 15^th if you won’t have time to send them out in real-time the day of.

Now that you have a good idea on what you might need after #LatinxPitch is over, make sure to join the community during our pitch practice day on Wednesday, September 1^st. Members of #LatinxPitch and the writing community at large will be able to offer comments on your Tweets, so be sure to take advantage of any chance to get feedback!

Managing Twitter Pitch Event Expectations

You’ve surely heard that no publishing journey is the same and it’s so true! Some writers will query for the first time, find an agent in days, and land a six-figure deal within a week. Although these are unicorn cases, they’re often the stories we hear most often and daydream about. Meanwhile, the reality is that most published writers will have queried and gone out on submission with multiple projects before finding a home in traditional publishing. Both cases are absolutely okay and can lead to successful writing careers. So much about the publishing industry revolves around managing expectations and doing so for pitch contests isn’t any different than for any other part of the process.

Whether this is your first time participating in a Twitter pitch day or your 10th, here are three realities that might help you manage Twitter pitch event expectations:

You might not receive any likes or retweets. As recent years have gone by, Twitter pitch events have gained momentum and popularity. Although this means that more agents and editors are participating in events, it also means that lots of writers have adopted this as one of their favorite methods of gauging interest from agents/editors prior to sending out queries and pitches for their manuscripts. The most popular pitch events are reaching tens of thousands of posts. This is a lot of writers pitching on an extremely fast-moving thread, especially when the target audience doesn’t have the bandwidth to review all the tweets sent out. TIP: In order to make the most out of your Tweets, schedule them at least an hour apart so they appear at different places in the event thread.
Agents and Editors might react differently to your pitch once they receive your query letter and sample pages. 280 characters is not a lot of room to completely pitch your manuscript, so it’s understandable that agents and editors might react and be more or even less excited once they receive your query letter and sample pages. TIP: Double-check that your pitch matches the content in your query letter, and that your query letter matches the content in your sample pages if applicable. Consistency can be extremely helpful in keeping agents/editors interested in your project based on what they read about it in a Tweet.
The number of likes/retweets you get on a pitch don’t necessarily matter. This one might seem contradictory; however, the reality is that you can get one like from an agent that amounts to a full request that might turn into an offer of representation, or you might get ten or thirty with the same outcome. Or an adverse outcome. TIP: More than worrying about the number of likes you might get, concentrate on celebrating that you’re putting your manuscript(s) out there and the many ways you can take advantage of a pitch event!

It’s impossible not to think of the possibilities that come with a Twitter pitch event. This might be what leads to you finding the perfect representation or even house for your project, and that’s a big deal. Hopefully these realities of what pitch events can be like, though, help you navigate the realities and what is likely to happen during the event and focus on the most important part of it all: The simple fact that you believe in your manuscript enough to participate is already a win!

What’s a Twitter pitch?

A Twitter pitch is a short and catchy “what my book is about”. Think of it as an elevator pitch but with the word count constrains of Twitter. For our event, #LatinxPitch, you also need to leave room for hashtags for your genre (#PB, #CB, #MG, #GN, #YA) or if you are #Agented.

Quick tips:

Remember to add our hashtag #LatinxPitch either at the beginning or end of your tweet.
Your manuscript should be ready to go when you participate on this event. Sure, you could still polish it and make revisions, but the story has to be finished. We’re not pitching ideas, but complete manuscripts.
Write your pitch several days in advance and include hashtags to see how many characters you have. Twitter allows up to 280 characters including spaces.
You may want to use Twitterdeck to keep track of likes and retweets of your pitch. Learn more HERE
Polish your pitch and keep it simple. Your tweet should capture the heart of your story and present it in a compelling way.
When an agent or editor favorites your tweet, go to this person’s page and look for their guidelines for submission.
Keep in mind that even if an agent or editor picks your pitch, there’s no guarantee they will offer you a contract. But at least you would have a opportunity to show your work.
Have fun! Get to know other Latinx writers, follow their work, and if you can, buy their books (or request them at your library). Representation works only when we work actively towards it!