"When publishers and agents ask about an author's platform, they don't mean a place where you can stand and talk. That's a podium. A platform is the thing the podium rests on, and in today's media drenched world, you can't get a place at the podium until you're a somebody in the eyes of the gatekeepers. If you're famous in your own right for some accomplishment or crime, you don't need to read this, but if you're an author who's hoping to break into publishing or sell more books, building a platform on the web is likely the best investment of time you'll ever make."
Excerpt from Breaking into Publishing with a Website, Morris Rosenthal (2007).

"More than 200,000 books come out each year and countless others are written and never released. With publishers unable to keep up with all the unsolicited manuscripts, online literary contests have become a popular way to discover writers and bring them attention, often allowing the public to sift through the submissions."
Excerpt from "Amazon, Borders Launch Lit Contests," Hillel Italie (October 1, 2007).

Now comes LitPitch.com, the first website to combine

• a cost-effective, easy-to-use web-based platform for up-and-coming authors, playwrights, and writers of screenplays to reach the public and potential publishers;
• a steady and reliable mechanism for publishers to screen and credential new material; and
• a place on the internet for readers to find new, cutting-edge reading material, free of charge, from the next up-and-coming authors.

LitPitch.com was founded by the managing partners of the law firm McCarthy Weisberg Cummings, P.C. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as an outlet to help market their writing clients. Although numerous websites exist which promote writers services and self-publication, we do not believe that these sites truly help an aspiring author build their own "platform," since they generally do not provide free access to full bodies of work. To the contrary, LitPitch is designed to be a site of destination for readers based upon an abundance of free reading material, ease of use, and compatibility with electronic reading media, such as desktop computers, laptops, Apple® iPhones, Sony® Readers and iRex Technologies® iLiads.

LitPitch provides writers with a quick and inexpensive way to get their written materials to the public for reading, comments and rating. Our premise is akin to an "American Idol" for writers. We expected writers to put up some of their works for free viewing in exchange for drawing readers. Space is provided to writers at a nominal cost, designed primarily to deter vandalism and cluttering of the site. Our intention is to make people famous as writers, so they can translate that fame into a lucrative career. The site is also ideal amateur or casual writers seeking a centralized place to let people view their work.