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Tomorrow night a publishing company is coming to visit my writing group and they have given a very generous offer -- a free pitch session, with feedback. (!!!!) Okay, so now I'm freaking out a little because I have never given a pitch before, let alone written a query letter.
Right now my approach is to think of it like an audition (thank you high school drama classes!) But I really don't know anything beyond that. So I'm asking for your advice -- have you ever given a pitch? What did you learn and what would you have changed?
29 comments:
I've never given a pitch before (beyond a query letter), but I wish you the best of luck! That's really exciting! Hope all goes well!
I've written query letters, but never pitched verbally. I'd think to keep it short, with a strong hook, and not too much detail. Leave them wanting more! Have fun :)
not that i'm experienced, but this is where your one sentence hook comes in handy. answer this question, so what is your book about? nerve wracking! impossible to improvise, have an idea of the hook! what will grab their attention? then if they ask more, you can relax and think about answers. that's how i picture it anyway...
here's an article about it by agent rachelle gardner
http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/07/secrets-of-a-great-pitch-2/
We have someone coming up in a couple of weeks, and I don't know if I'll be able to pitch, my story isn't finished yet. :(
Thank you Ava! I have my fingers crossed!
That's my aim! I just hope I don't trip over my words.
That article was great! And I do have a hook that I plan on using :)
I wonder if it's the same publishing house. I think they contacted everyone in the LUW :) Mine isn't finished either, but they told us to pitch finished or not...
Other than my application to grad school back in 2005 (and a slew of auditions in my past), I've only sent one query letter. I never heard a word back. So...I guess I'm asking you to share the advice you get with us! Or, at the very least, me!
I haven't really ever given a pitch, so I don't have any advice for you. Sorry. Good luck, I hope you do great!
hahaha, I might just take you up on that ;)
Thank you!
Oh, what an awesome opportunity! I've never given a pitch before, having a hard enough time writing one :) Wish I could help. Good luck and can't wait to hear how it goes!
I have never given a pitch face to face to anyone other than family and friends. What a great opportunity! I know you'll rock it!
A concise description of the work and how you think it will benefit the publisher is the best I can suggest, J.A. It just has to hit the right set of eyes.
Wow, that's fantastic. Whoever pitched that to the publisher deserves kudos.
One thing I should have done was practice my pitch with another author. I get flustered by the timed session, and it's good to hear it out loud so you can tweak it if necessary.
Good luck!
I've pitched twice. All I can add is make sure you know your story inside and out. You don't want the person to ask you a question about the story and not know the answer. That happened my first time, but not the second time. And you know what happened the second time ...
Good luck! :)
Oh my gosh! This is so exciting :) I've never done a pitch so I have no great advice. Good luck and you will have to tell us how it goes.
I was a nervous wreck my first pitch as I sat waiting for the agent, but somehow once I sat face to face I was calm and ready. I have to attribute that to practicing what I wanted to say out loud a half a million times :) Best of luck!!!
YAY!! So exciting!! :D :D :D I've never given an in person pitch. I've done a few online contests and done the whole querying thing. That's enough stress for me... ;) GOOD LUCK!!
No, but I'm totally excited for you. Praying all goes well! :-)
Blessings,
~Rosann
Good luck! That sounds exciting and scary at the same time! I hope it goes well!
AWESOME! Okay, I haven't really done a pitch either, but I know you can pull it off. Enough information to make it exciting, but not so much that you give the whole story away! Good luck! Can't wait to hear all about it!
Okay, I need to know how this goes because I signed up to pitch at LDStorymakers, a thought which may or may not put me into a minor freak-out session every time I think about it...
I've never written a pitch, so I'm afraid I'm no help.
I hope it goes well!
Elana Johnson's "From the Query to the Call" has a format that works wonderfully for a pitch. You just need to abbreviate it a bit to keep your pitch to a couple of paragraphs. It's a free pdf to wrote to help beginning writers in this.
http://www.elanajohnson.com/#!query-to-the-call
Visit the Winner's circle at MMW You have exciting News.
I didn't see this in time to give you advice, but how did it go??
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