The Middle Grade Hub (MG Hub on BlueSky) is hosting its fourth annual pitch party!
Sign up for the pitch party to receive updates and get the link when the pitch party goes live.
Unlike other pitch parties, this event is strictly off social media - all pitching is done via Google forms, so no fighting with algorithms to get noticed. In previous years, more than 65% of participating authors came away with at least one request.
Pitches will be up to 60 words. Comps and titles are included on the form separately, so you have the full 60 words to impress agents.
You may pitch up to three different stories, but only one pitch per story.
Agents who respond to your pitch are expecting you to query them, meaning you need a complete and polished manuscript to pitch in this event. Our pre-pitch-party critique groups are an excellent way to polish your material.
You'll have a week to pitch (June 3-9), while agents will have a week to review and make requests (June 10-16). Requests will be sent through email after June 17.
Like last year, we are open to all kidlit age categories: Picture Book, Chapter Book, Middle Grade, and Young Adult.
Critique groups have now launched, thanks everyone for joining us! If you missed the deadline, you can still sign up for the pitch party to receive updates and get the link when the pitch party goes live.
In the lead up to the pitch party, we'll be organizing small critique groups based on genre and age categories. Through March to May, you'll have an opportunity to work with your group to refine your pitch, query, synopsis, first page, and finally the whole submission package.
Anyone signed up for the critique groups will also be eligible for our draws! We're giving away critiques from agented and published authors on your submission materials, all to put you in a better position to respond to those requests.
Critique groups will be organized by email, then it's up to your team to decide how you want to work together, whether through collaborative files on Google drive or video calls to talk things through. As the graphic above shows, we've scheduled two weeks for each section, but your group can decide when you'd like to review all your materials.
The deadline for joining the critique groups is Friday, March 20, 2026 (to allow us time to organize the groups and send out emails, before the official start on Wednesday, March 19).
MG Hub is a loose-knit community of middle grade authors organized into small groups, all run through a central Discord server. Like many online communities, we've had to adapt to the fragmentation of social media in the past year, but our core mission remains the same: bring together middle grade authors to support each other through all the ups and downs of writing, editing, and publishing.
Join us on our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/SaNB42Fccj
We'd love for you to join us! Last year we had over 50 agents and editors participate. 66% of the 282 authors pitching ended the event with at least one request. We heard wonderful feedback from those who participated about how much they enjoyed the format and pitch quality.
All you need to do now is express your interest in receiving pitches to look over.
Authors will be submitting their pitches between June 3-9, then on June 10, we'll send out an invitation to all agents and editors who have filled out the above form. You'll have a full week to browse and make requests (until June 16 - no pressure!), and requests will be sent to authors following June 17.
How many pitches can I submit?
You may pitch up to three different stories, but only one pitch per story.
Do I need to join the critique groups to pitch?
No - pitching is open to anyone writing kidlit, whether you join the critique groups or not. Sign up to receive updates!
Do I need to pitch to join the critique groups?
No - the critique groups are meant to help everyone work through their pitch, query, synopsis, and first page - but you don't have to be planning to pitch to sign up for a group. We hope the groups will be helpful whatever stage of the writing process you are at.