Hi friends! I’m writing this post at SleuthFest, a terrific writers’ conference for mystery and thriller writers. As an acquiring editor, I’ve spent hours here hearing novel pitches and chatting with writers. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I love talking with fiction writers about their projects, so I enjoyed it.
Writing conferences often set up agent and editor appointments so that writers can pitch their work in person. The goal is usually to have the agent or editor say, “Yes, send me the full manuscript,” Beyond that, it’s an opportunity to learn more about an editor and agent and to make a connection.
Some writers get nervous about these appointments. It’s easy to ascribe too much importance to one pitch, as if it’s your one and only shot. The truth is, as a writer, you get hundreds of shots, as long as you keep seeking them out and taking them.
I’m writing this post with a little advice for pitching to an agent or editor to hopefully help writers feel more calm and confident if they have an appointment or opportunity like this. Most agents and editors are very nice, in my experience, but if for some reason you wind up with an unfriendly one, consider that a poor reflection on him or her, not on you.
Know what they publish or represent before you pitch.
Read the submission guidelines. If they don’t publish romance, for instance, there’s no point pitching a romance to them. If you really want to impress, familiarize yourself with a couple of authors they publish or represent. “I’m a big fan of your author, (name here)” is a great opener to a conversation.
If you don’t have an appointment, ask permission before pitching.
If you see an editor or agent on the elevator or at the hotel bar, and they don’t seem to be engrossed in work, it’s okay to go up, introduce yourself, and ask if you can pitch your novel. Hey, fortune favors the bold. (Do not approach them in the restroom, however.) If they say “Sorry, not now,” don’t push it. Not many people want to work with someone who doesn’t respect people’s boundaries.
If you have an appointment, say hello first.
When you first sit down with an agent or editor, you may be tempted to launch right into your pitch. Take a minute first to say hi and introduce yourself.
If you have previous publications, you’ll want to mention that. Any other information that shows you’re serious about writing is great to share here, too. This might include membership in a writing association, a degree in English literature or writing, or a blog or podcast about reading. If you have several thousand social media followers, mention that, but otherwise, don’t worry about it.
Start with your prepared short pitch.
This is often referred to as the “elevator pitch.” This can be so simple. Say the title, an adjective or two, the word count (rounded to the closest thousand), the genre, a little about the main character(s), and the conflict. Leave out other characters and subplots for your short pitch.
Here are a couple of examples.
RED LION is an action-packed 94,000-word historical novel about the fictional Thomas Beringar, an Englishman who joins Robert de Bruce’s forces in Scotland. He volunteers for a dangerous mission to prove his loyalty—but one of his fellow warriors is plotting against him.
SPEAK MY LANGUAGE is a witty, sexy 71,000-word contemporary romance between an A-list actor and his new dialogue coach, who’s helping him learn a British accent—but who’s only in Hollywood on a temporary work visa.
(Yes, I stole one of those from my book 5,000 WRITING PROMPTS. It’s been a long day and I was too tired to think of two new ones. 🙂 )
Some people also use the “X meets Y” formula as a big part of their pitch: “The Walking Dead meets Shark Tank,” “Where The Crawdads Sing meets Russian Doll,” and so on.
I’m not a huge fan, personally, because these often reference TV shows. I don’t watch much television, so the “X meets Y” often doesn’t tell me much. But lots of people love this! If you do it, just be prepared with a quick alternative if you wind up pitching to someone who isn’t familiar with the stories you’re referencing.
It’s fine to have this written down in front of you in case your mind goes blank. You may want to bring a journal to take notes, anyway, so you may as well have the short pitch written out at the top of the page.
After your short pitch, be prepared to either elaborate or answer questions.
The agent or editor may ask you a few questions about your story right after your short pitch. If they don’t, touch on some other plot points and talk about which books or authors are similar to yours.
If they say no to your project at an appointment, use the rest of your time to learn.
Here’s something that could happen: you give your short pitch, and they say, “Unfortunately, we’re not doing any more medieval stories for a while” or “Sorry, I’m not really interested.” What do you do now? Slink away?
Absolutely not. Ask them questions! Figure out ahead of time what you’d like to know—information that isn’t on their website. What are they particularly looking for right now? What are some of the main reasons they decide the quality of the writing isn’t good enough? You’ll probably learn something, and that will mean this wasn’t a waste of time for you.
If they invite you to send chapters or the full manuscript, say thanks and make sure you have all the details you need.
Get their card if they didn’t give it to you already. Make sure you’ve got their email. Ask them if they want a synopsis.
If they seem very positive but don’t invite you to send a manuscript, ask if you can.
Again, fortune favors the bold, and it’s possible that they actually forgot to say “Send me pages.” Take a “no” gracefully, however.
When you send your work, make sure they remember you.
Or at least, make sure they know they asked for your novel. In the subject line of the email, write something like this (unless they tell you to do something else):
REQUESTED, (writing conference name): TITLE, WORDCOUNT, ADJECTIVE, GENRE
So that it looks like this:
REQUESTED, SLEUTHFEST: POISONED IN PROVENCE, 84K CHARMING COZY MYSTERY
In your email, remember to tell them how nice it was to talk to them. Then hope for the best!
Have you ever pitched to an agent or editor in person? What was it like? Do you have any advice? Let us know in the comments! If you’re an agent or an editor and would like to share advice of your own, please share, too. Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
Excellent advice and thank you for sharing!! I have never pitched in person before for several reasons. I’m incredibly shy and embarrass easily. I’ve sat next to some top agents, publishers and editors in the past and stared at my thumbs for hours. I worry about bugging them or annoying them. I’ll say hi and then it stops there, haha. Thanks to my day job I’ve become more sure of myself over the years and so I think I’m getting better at putting myself out there. Fingers crossed! 🙂
Hi Savannah! I get it, because I used to be very sky, too. With chatting up agents and editors, the risk is pretty low. If they don’t want to chat, it’s not like they’ll know or remember later that you’re the one who approached them. 🙂 I think it’s great that you’re getting better at putting yourself out there!
Thank you so much!!
Great advice Bryn, and I LOVE “fortune favors the bold”! I should write that in random places to remind myself because boldness is something I am certainly lacking.
Hi Angie! It’s one of my favorite sayings. I try to remind myself, too. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I have pitched several times. The last was in August. I pitched to three publishers and two agents. They all wanted the the full manuscript. One of the publishers said it was not something she published but it sounded interesting and would pass it on to someone she thought would be interested. I told all of them the novel was going through a final revision and that I wanted to send it out to beta readers and an editor before I submitted it. They were fine with that. I think they were more open because it’s the first of a four-part series. The agents mentioned the Harlequin Inspired imprint and also Hallmark. We’ll see what they say after reading it.
After introductions, I try to start my pitch by asking a question: “Did you know there’s an old Ozark legend——–?” That has never failed to pique interest. I’m wondering, Bryn. Would that pique your interest? I would appreciate your input. Perhaps I was lucky before. At any rate, I’m preparing the manuscript for other eyes to peruse the pages. None of the people I pitched to were in a hurry and seemed to appreciate that I wanted to send a clean submission. I’m concerned that it’s been awhile since I pitched to them. Do you think I should contact them and explain where I am in the process?
Thanks for all your good advice, Bryn.
Hi Bonnie! As far as my interest, I’d really have to read the story to know. ☺ I wouldn’t worry about it being too long since you pitched. Send it to them when it’s ready!
I signed up to pitch my work at a writer’s conference. My passion is fantasy, but by the time I got up the courage, the only editors and agents available were for non-fiction. “So, I’ll write a prospectus and I’ll pitch non-fiction.” My heart wasn’t in it, but I was determined. I had already paid to have time with two editors. When the first one found out my intended audience, he told me, “Oh, please don’t do that to them!” I knew he was right, so when I approached the second one, I told her, “I know you don’t publish fiction and I don’t expect you to, but may I pitch my fantasy and get your feedback?” She agreed.
I already had my “about” statement and my elevator pitch committed to memory and I gave it from my heart. And then she gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever had on pitching fiction. She told me if she did publish fiction, she would want to know how my heroine goes from how she is in the beginning to how she turns out in the end – what she does to overcome her challenges to become a different person. I learned so much in that brief interview and I learned how important it is to me as an author to stay true to myself and my stories.
Hi Jessie! I love it that you used the opportunity to your benefit. So smart! Thanks for posting.
This is such terrific information, Bryn…thanks for sharing it. As someone putting her toe in pitching waters for the first time, everything’s scary and I feel like I’m feeling my way through a dark room. At the moment, I wouldn’t have a hope of pitching live to anyone…my location annihilates such possibilities. After receiving feedback from one of queries (mentioned this in WIP Wednesday), I gleaned it’s not my pitch — it’s my story. I’ve re-written large portions…still freaking out whether I’ve made it better or just shifted the same problems sideways. I’ve been invited to re-submit the work once I’ve finished re-writing. I’ve been working with some people on FB to get a beta-reader group together; so far, I’ve had a friend and my mother read the story, but the friend merely said it’s good and she can’t wait for the next book…and my mother’s hopelessly confused and confronted by the fantasy elements, some of the language, the characters’ names…aargh!! (However, she’s not exactly my target audience, and I think her criticism is more about me than my book…) Honest, useful feedback is so difficult to come by, I’m finding. Pitching may be the least of my problems at this point. lol
Lisa, I’m sorry…it is SO hard to find good beta readers. If you’ve gotten a Revise & Re-submit, that’s really good! It sounds like things feel messy and confusing…I think most writers have been there, but knowing that doesn’t make it easier. I hope you get more clarity on it and I hope you have great luck with it.
Thanks, Bryn. 🙂 I’m keeping at it. At the end of the day, there’s always the self-publishing route if traditional publishing amounts to nothing. I’m just looking forward to holding a physical copy of my own book in my hands one day. Regardless of how I get there, it’ll be a life goal achieved.
I was happy to get a response from one of my queries. It wasn’t what the agent was looking for. But it was a response. I wish I could find beta readers, too. Most of the people in my circle simply aren’t into Fantasy-adventure featuring strong female protagonists.
But I do love writing. I love it so much when I can capture with words on paper, the dialogue and actions by which the characters and their story come to life. Sharing that life with the world – – that’s the hard part. Please keep up your efforts. You started creating because you love bringing those things to life in the first place. ?
This was very helpful and good to read. Thanks for posting.
Oh, I’m glad, thanks for reading!
Thank you for your advice, Bryn. It’s a succinct and useful summary of the sales process. Best wishes
Thanks for reading, David! Nice to see you!
Thanks Bryn- another informative post for me to save. I could write a book- An Anthology of Bryn’s Best Posts and pitch that!
hahahaha! You are too kind as always, Jena! Thank you!
Thank you for the pitching guidelines. Very helpful indeed!
Hello! I just gave my first pitch today, and did a panicked web search yesterday. After I sat down and introduced myself, the agent smiled and said, “you’re only the second person so far to introduce yourself. Good job!”
Thanks to your advice, I got to start my pitch on the right foot…and I got a full manuscript request!
Thank you so much for this article 🙂