Welcome, Fictionistas, to the pilot post of our new community shout-out project! A space to share your fiction, find new readers and critique partners, and practice the fine art of pitching your work and the work of others in our community. We are 4600 strong and growing!
The tentative plan, based largely on your participation and enthusiasm, is to host two shout-out threads per month, with a submission window of ten days each.
During that window, you may pitch as many stories as you wish, providing you follow ALL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES for that thread. You will also be STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to read the work of fellow writers and UPVOTE the pitches you “like” most.
At the close of each window, a single pitch (and corresponding story) will be chosen based on adherence to submission guidelines, strength of pitch (see Pitch Basics), and total “upvotes” from fellow Fictionistas. That pitch will be featured at the top of the next shout out thread, giving those who may have missed it the first time around a chance to discover what about the pitch (and the story) made it so darn discoverable.
The goal here isn’t to gatekeep or exclude, but to highlight what works and learn from each other. Providing we can keep this thing going, there will be ample opportunities for writers to revise their pitches and resubmit their favorite stories for a chance to be featured.
For the initial rollout of this experiment, shout-out threads will drop on the first and third Wednesdays of each month and will fall into one of the following categories:
Pitch Yourself – Share your best work!
Pitch it Forward – Share the excellent work of another fiction writer you admire!
Pitch it Back – Submit a story and/or pitch for feedback, find a partner to swap critiques with!
Pitch the Season – Holiday and themed submissions welcome!
Readers are faced with ten million and one decisions a day about where to devote their time, energy, and eyeballs. Dropping a busy link into a chat thread or comment section—with no information about said link or the amazing reading experience said link will lead to should the clicker choose to click on said link—is not honoring a prospective reader/super-fan’s time, energy, or eyeballs.
Additionally, there is no path to publication that doesn’t require us to convince some reader/gatekeeper/algorithm/pair of eyeballs beyond a shadow of a doubt that OUR STORY is the one they should read/buy/recommend over all the others.
This is why we must ALWAYS BE READY to pitch our best work when the opportunity arises, because you never know when it will.
So, what say we hone this skill together, here, in the comfort of our fiction writer community, by crafting some killer hooks to reel in new readers?
Your pitch, should you choose to perfect it, must include the following elements:
If this was all a reader saw of your story, would it be enough to get them to open the cover and proceed to the first line? If not … what might you do to change that?
Do your best to choose one, as this is often a requirement when pitching agents/publishers, but don’t be afraid to test out a hybrid genre in here among friends. A seasoned reader may be able to suggest toward which genre your story leans more heavily.
Yes, it matters. Worried your story won’t be read because it’s “too long”? That makes your HOOK (see Hook) even MORE important. Don’t let the reader get away with a TLDR pass. CONVINCE THEM it’s worth their time. OR consider whether your “long” story really needs to be that long.
A single sentence that promises your (ideal) reader an experience they won’t want to miss. Introduce the three P’s:
A Person to follow (root for, fall in love with, despise)
A Place to explore (embrace, remember, escape to – or from)
A Problem to solve (tackle, unravel, exacerbate)
Try to avoid these when sharing your work. We’ve all seen these methods deployed online and are probably guilty of using at least one of them at some point ourselves.
https://open.substack.com/pub/megoolders/p/thirsty?r=tftu6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Thanks for reading!
https://megoolders.substack.com/p/thirsty
I’m not a great writer like all of you! I just like to tell stories. I hope you like this one and if not, no biggie!
(see Pitch Basics)
Please enjoy Thirsty. A short story featuring themes of young love and growing up.
Thirsty by Meg Oolders
Temperatures and tensions run high as teen co-workers, Cara and Ray, spend the last few moments of their diner shift unsuccessfully distracting themselves from each other.
Young adult fiction (2500 words)
People (two hot-blooded teenagers)
Place (a diner)
Problem (running out the clock restlessness + co-ed distraction)
Promise (tension!)
Saved the boring link and required categorizing details (genre/word count) for the end, leaving the strongest features (title/hook) at the top to pull the reader in.
That was just one example of solidly crafted shout-out pitch.
Want some inspiration for others?
Check out the blurbs at the top of TV shows and movies on your favorite streaming service. These short, one-line summaries are designed to provide information and create expectations for viewers. Pay attention to how these pitches get you to stop and take notice … to click to find out more … and to start watching!
P.S. Notice how many of the “basics” are included in every, single pitch.
The first official shout-out thread will drop on Wednesday, October 15th and it will be a “Pitch Yourself” thread. That gives you two weeks to choose your story and craft the perfect pitch.
Stories must be published on Substack, but you do not have to be a subscriber to Fictionistas to participate … though we’d like you to be. 🧡
Stories can range from 5 to 5K words. Keep in mind that longer stories may be harder to “sell” to decision-weary eyeballs. Consider an excerpt!
You can write and publish a new story to pitch or pull a favorite from your archive. Your choice!
All genres welcome!
If you choose to share a piece in our thread, we do ask that you also take the time to read at least one story by another writer. Honor system, folks. Leave a story, read a story.
But, if you have any questions OR suggestions for a catchier title for this project, please feel free to leave them in the comments.
And don’t forget to share this post with all the fiction writers (and readers) you know!
Happy writing. (And pitching!)
The Team at Fictionistas
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