Bluesky Writers’ Pitch for aspiring authors

Organised by Emergents Digital in association with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and The Association of Scottish Literary Agents, the former ‘Tweet Pitch’ event has a new home on social media platform, Bluesky.

The annual event has been an essential and productive part of Scotland’s publishing calendar for the last nine years.

This year, the pitch is supported by two webinars:

• Webinar – Preparing to pitch - 20 March 14:00 – 15:30: A pre-pitch event on focused on how to perfect your pitch and with insights into the work publishers and agents are looking for in 2025. Register here.
• Bluesky Writers’ pitch 2025 - 28 March - 9am-9pm: Pitch your work to publishers and agents in 280 characters of less. No need to register or book - simply pitch work on Bluesky using the hashtag #scotwriterpitch2025.
• Webinar – Social media for writers - 4 April 2pm-3pm: A second event after the pitch day focuses on writers and social media, new opportunities and a guide to making the most of platforms such as SubStack. Featuring two of Scotland’s leading writers, Elle Nash and Lindsay Johnstone. Register here.

Open to all genres of work, fiction, non-fiction and children’s writing will be accepted, and the only stipulation is that it must be unpublished, with participants asked to send pitches in using #scotwriterpitch2025 to be in with the chance of a book deal.

Iain Hamilton, head of creative industries at HIE, said:

“The pitching event has turned multiple participants into published authors in recent years, including picture book author and illustrator, Corrina Campbell; author of This Goldern Fleece - A Journey Through Britain’s Knitted History, Esther Rutter and Leonie Charlton, author of Marram.

“The creative industries is a vital part of the Highlands and Islands’ economy, driving innovation and growth. Events like Bluesky Writers’ Pitch, where budding authors can pitch their work to publishers and agents, are essential for creating a vibrant and sustainable economy in the region.”

Writer and pitch event founder and organiser, Peter Urpeth, said:

“Scotland’s annual writers’ pitch event has proven to be a highly successful way for writers to get their work seen by agents and publishers, with many book publications coming from the day. Constructing an attention grabbing pitch in 280 characters is a hard task, but if you know your work inside out and really understand its core purpose and storylines, then the Bluesky pitch is for you.”