Beyond the First Draft–Face-to-Face Pitch Sessions

As most of my regular readers know, the ACFW national conference is just TWENTY-ONE DAYS away. In addition to figuring out what we’re going to wear (and how to pack it all) and where we’re going to go to dinner Wednesday and Friday nights, we’re also working on our dreaded synopses, proposals, pitch sheets/one-sheets, and maybe even revisions on our manuscripts.

One of the things I think we put off as long as possible thinking about are the editor and/or agent appointments we signed up for when we registered.

Well, I have good news!

If you have gone through the process detailed in this series—writing your one-sentence, one-paragraph, one-page, and full synopses; writing your proposal; writing your query letter; writing your pitch sheet and/or one-sheet—you already have the information you need to be able to prepare for your face-to-face pitch sessions.

Now is the time when I have to admit I’ve only done two face-to-face editor pitches. One was at the 2004 ACFW conference, the other was my last residency of grad school. The first was a trial-run, just practice. It was also a lesson in why we probably shouldn’t pitch books we haven’t finished writing. I was asked for a full and only had ten chapters. It was almost two years later before I had a full manuscript, and by then, that editor had left that particular publishing house. The second time around, I was pitching because I had to—it was a requirement for all fourth- and fifth-term students to pitch to one of two editors or the agent who attended our residency that week. Because the editor I had an appointment with was with a secular publishing house with no interest in inspirational—or even “sweet”—romances, I knew going into the meeting that I had nothing to lose. Again, this was just an exercise in gaining experience. It did turn out to be a good experience—the editor told me that if it were up to her, she would request a full, but since she knew her company wouldn’t publish it, we left it at that.

Earlier this week, Gina Conroy published a post about editor/agent appointments over at her blog, Writer . . . Interrupted. In fact, if you visit most writers’ blogs, you have a pretty good chance at finding a post about face-to-face editor/agent pitch sessions—and lots of advice of what to do/what not to do. So I’ve gathered and compiled some information into a list of tips:

• Take a bulleted list of plot points to look at while giving your pitch. It’s more impressive if you can talk through the gist of the story without having to read it off a page.
• Before your face-to-face, find several friends/acquaintances to sit down with to practice your pitch. It’s helpful if at least one person does not know what your story is about—they’ll be able to spot holes in your description of the story. Crit partners or others who’ve read your story will be able to remind you of important parts you may have left out.
• Make eye contact. For introverts, this can be one of the hardest things in the world. But eye contact is a subconscious indicator of confidence.
• Be confident but not cocky. Having a fifteen-minute face-to-face pitch session is a privilege for you, not them. They’re just doing their job.
• Don’t just rush into your pitch as soon as you sit down. Take a deep breath and give the editor/agent a chance to start the conversation.
• Talk slowly and clearly. When we’re nervous, we tend to speed up and jumble/skip syllables. Listen to yourself as you talk. Be conscious of the way words are coming out of your mouth.
• Editors/agents are just people. They’re not out to “get” you.
• You have nothing to lose. I know it’s cliché; but, really, the worst they can do is smile benignly, shake your hand, thank you, and not ask for a submission. They’re not going to yell or scream at you. They’re not going to laugh at you. They’re not going to throw things at you.
• You have everything to gain. You owe it to yourself to do this. You owe it to yourself to be excited about your writing and about your potential as an author. You’ll never be a published author unless you start submitting/pitching. And now, even in the CBA, most publishing houses are closed to unsolicited/unagented submissions—unless you have met with the editor at a conference and they’ve requested a submission.
• Rack it up to experience. Even if they don’t ask you for a submission, if you plan to have a few minutes left at the end (which is hard to do in a 15 minute session, I know), you can ask the editor/agent if they have any advice for you on what you can do to improve your story and/or your pitch.
• Have fun. Everyone responds better to someone who is having fun than someone who is a nervous wreck. Smile. Laugh. Have a great time.

Okay, now it’s your turn. What’s your advice when it comes to pitch sessions? What’s been your best/worst experience?