Pitch Tips

We just finished a week of pitch sessions during our first agency Pitch Party! It was a huge success and we all met with so many excellent, new writers. I was impressed with the quality of projects I was being pitched and I hope to do this kind of event again. Maybe next time it will be time for you to participate, too?

I do have three tips to offer you for your next agent or editor pitch session:

1. Make sure you know your book well enough that you can comfortably talk about it. Even when we assure authors there’s no need to be nervous, those nerves seem to always show up. It can make it hard for a writer to focus in on his or her rehearsed pitch. If you are comfortable enough with your own project, you should be able to recall those plot details/elements of your nonfiction book well enough to share the basics during your brief session with that editor or agent–despite the nerves. We always think we know our own story or nonfiction topic well, but writing the manuscript is different than comfortably talking about it in a concise way.
2. An agent or editor might ask you what else you are working on. We do this because we like to get an idea of what your long-term writing goals are. We also want to see if you are branding yourself in a certain genre and it helps us to know what kind of client you will be depending on if you are planning for a series of books or not. Be ready to talk briefly about your other book ideas, too. Or if this one book you are pitching is truly your only planned book, be ready to talk a bit about that. What are your goals with publishing your book? At Books & Such, we do like to establish long-term relationships with our clients, but if a writer has a book that they are writing on a topic they are passionate about and it’s wonderful and a stand-alone type book, we will take those on, too. We do like to know up-front that that’s what you are pitching.
3. Don’t worry so much about perfection in your pitch. Try to be yourself as much as you can. Your personality goes a long way to sell your project, too. Because we are looking for long-term author/agent relationships, it is important for us to know that you are someone who is easy to work with and collaborative.

I hope these tips help you during your future pitch sessions! And if you are getting close to ready, keep your eye on our website for our future Pitch Party dates.