Hello everybody!
What is CP Matchmaker, you ask?
CP Matchmaker is my way of paying it forward. I myself have been extremely lucky in landing the most amazing critique group. The ladies I work with are smart, and kind, and thoughtful and they've taught me a lot about the way I write and the kind of writer I want to be.
But not everyone has this. And that's something that eats away at me.
Because everyone should have a team like I do. Everyone should know exactly where to go and what to do to find someone who is going to be honest and helpful.
So, I thought, "Why isn't there a Twitter pitch party for finding CP's?"
AND CP MATCHMAKER WAS BORN!
(Dramatic, no?)
Ok, so here's what's up:
(I'm going grade school party invite for this one)
What: A chance to pitch your book to a bunch of like minded writers
Where: Twitter, of course!
When: January 20th from 10am-10pm EST
Why: Because it's going to be so much fun!
But you're going to need a few things first.
1. A twitter pitch (140 characters or less to include the #CPMatch hashtag)
2. A blog button, should you choose to spread the word and get more people involved. (See below)
3. And a few labels:
For the purpose of easy identification, please include (abbreviated for your convenience) a little about your critiquing style.
(Note: These are for how you critique others work, not what you need for your own.)
(Note: These are for how you critique others work, not what you need for your own.)
Do you get straight to the point- STTP
Fan of the compliment sandwich- CS
Are you brutally honest- BH
How about a good copyeditor- GCE
Or are you more of an attention to detail type: ATD
Maybe a critique partner beginner: CPB
Plot hole hunter: PHH
Do you give great big picture notes: BP
Do you give great big picture notes: BP
Are you a few of these things? Go ahead and list as many as will fit in your pitch.
Need an example of a #CPMatch pitch?
Trapped among bleeding walls, psychotic passengers, and manifested fears,
can Olivia escape with her life? YA #CPMatch CS ATD
And come the 20th, simply search through the feed. If something looks interesting, DM the person and get to know each other a little better. See what you have to offer each other.
And I can't stress this enough: SWAP A SAMPLE CHAPTER
You'll never know if you really mesh well unless you see some feedback first hand.
DISCLAIMER: CP Matchmaker is a baby. Not just a baby, a wrinkly, screaming newborn. If there's something you're unclear about, email me, and I'll try to answer your questions. Have a few extra label ideas? Lemme have em! I am totally up for any suggestions here. I want this thing to be helpful to as many people as possible.
And on that note. SPREAD THE WORD. Please. Pretty please, with sugar on top and ice-cream in the middle.
Tweet about it. Blog about it. Tell your neighbor.
I can only help match the people who attend.
So again, please. Help me to help other writers find their CP soul mates like I have.
And, if you are so inclined to blog, I've made a few blog buttons for you!
I really hope all of you will attend. I'm so excited to get this thing off the ground.
I'll see you January 20th!
(You do not have to follow me here on the blog, or on Twitter. That is not at all a requirement to participate.)
Toodles!
Toodles!
Thanks for hosting this!
ReplyDeleteOf course!
DeleteSo your "pitch" is about the book you want CP'd? Or what you like to CP/beta?
ReplyDeleteYour pitch is about your critiquing style. How you do notes for other people. The idea behind this is to match people based on interest in the story (with the book information) as well as critiquing strength (with the labels.) Ideally, you'd end up DM'ing someone that had both a book and a crit style that you are interested in. Consider the pitch to be all about you. What YOUR book is about, as well as how YOU critique. :-) Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteFantastic idea! I'm in!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so glad to hear it.
DeleteHmm. I don't know. I can't tell if I want to work with someone from a twitter pitch. I'd rather see something like the pitch wars process, with people putting up bio posts that explain what kind of writer and CPer they are (small writing samples should be included too). Then people could tweet the link along with basic genre/category info like: "NA urban fantasy writer looking for tough love CP."
ReplyDeleteI considered doing it like this. But ultimately I think the twitter pitch version of CP finding will be successful because you DON'T have to read through hundreds of bios first. You get to look through, find a book that sounds interesting and communicate directly with the person via DM, to see if you're a match. It's really hard to be an effective CP if you have no interest in what they're writing (in my opinion at least.) But I hope my method still works for you! And if you want to post a link to your blog instead of a pitch that's fine too! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteAmazing idea! Thank you so much for organizing this!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
DeleteI like this Megan. I will blog about it before the end of the week, likely on Thursday and see if I can drive some interest your way. My blog is Joe';s Musings on Wordpress. I do not have and Critique Partners, so i will be hunting for some during this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for helping to spread the word! I really appreciate it. Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope you get the perfect CP's come Monday! (There was a typo on that last reply, that's why I deleted it. Haha)
DeleteThis sounds really interesting. I will check it out. I can put up a blog post for you as well.
ReplyDeleteHey Megan, I blogged about this on my site. I pretty much just used your template (hope that is ok) here is the link http://cynthiastacey.com/2014/01/15/announcing-cp-matchmaker-check-it-out/ always like helping out fellow authors :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
DeleteLove the idea (especially since I'm desperately searching for crit partners!). I hate spamming my non-writer friends with pitch stuff like this, though, so I'll probably end mostly lurking . . .
ReplyDeleteThat's okay! Totally understandable. I hope you find the perfect match on Monday.
Deletethis is terrifitc! found you through leanne r - will shout about it monday =)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tara! I really appreciate it. And good luck! I hope you find the perfect CP.
DeleteThis is a great idea Megan, thanks for letting me know about it. I have shared it with all my networks. I hope it goes well.
ReplyDeleteI saw your share on Twitter! Thanks for spreading the word!
DeleteVery excited to find out about this as I've been wondering how to find one or two more CPs lately. If I can think up some pitches this afternoon, I will definitely join in tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteQuick question - since this is a 12hr event, I'm assuming it's okay if we post multiple times throughout the day (in moderation)?
Yes. About every hour or two is probably good.
DeleteWow. This is great and perfect timing as I'm looking for CPs. Your blog is adorbs, btw. :)
ReplyDeleteAw thank you! And I'm glad for the timing. I hope you find just what you're looking for.
DeleteThanks so much for organising this. It's a great idea and I've been hoping to find a CP for the current ms I'm working on for a while now! :)
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! Good luck finding your CP soulmate!
DeleteWhat a great idea! Thanks for playing matchmaker. :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem!
DeleteMegan - I just found out about this today! Thanks for hosting this. It's a lovely idea. At the moment, I'm in between books, but I'd really like to do this in the future. Do you have any plans to hold another one? Maybe once a month? Or bi-monthly?
ReplyDeleteDid I tell you how epic and amazing and awesome I think this is? I heard chatter around the blogosphere, and lady, next time you run this thing, shoot me an email. I will happily help spread the word and light the writing world on fire. Here's to amazing critique partners!
ReplyDelete