IWSG: Pitches
I totally forgot until I went to Robin's blog, that it's the first Wednesday of the month *facepalm*. Luckily, I had something in mind to write for the insecure writer's support group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh.
As you may have guessed from the title, I'm going to talk pitches. The other day I signed up for the Pikes Peak writing conference in April. (If you're going, let me know so we can hang out!) I signed up for a pitch session and after emailing someone from the conference I was told that there was a strong possibility that I'll get the chance to pitch.
I've never done an oral pitch before, and I'm super nervous. I've heard people tell me that it's a conversation, so I should treat it like such, but I have a few questions.
1. Do I memorize my pitch, and how long should it be?
2. What kind of questions should I expect?
3. What's the one thing you wish you had known before you gave your first oral pitch?
Any and all advice would be extremly helpful. Thank you!
Also, here's a little video I found from Brandon Sanderson yesterday on pitches. Enjoy!
As you may have guessed from the title, I'm going to talk pitches. The other day I signed up for the Pikes Peak writing conference in April. (If you're going, let me know so we can hang out!) I signed up for a pitch session and after emailing someone from the conference I was told that there was a strong possibility that I'll get the chance to pitch.
I've never done an oral pitch before, and I'm super nervous. I've heard people tell me that it's a conversation, so I should treat it like such, but I have a few questions.
1. Do I memorize my pitch, and how long should it be?
2. What kind of questions should I expect?
3. What's the one thing you wish you had known before you gave your first oral pitch?
Any and all advice would be extremly helpful. Thank you!
Also, here's a little video I found from Brandon Sanderson yesterday on pitches. Enjoy!
Comments
The structure of a pitch setting is:
1) Introductions and small talk (how are you enjoying the conference?). 1-2 minutes
2) The two-minute pitch. 2 minutes
3) Answer questions from the person you are talking to. 5 minutes
4) Thank you's and more small talk. 1 minute
Hope that helps! Good luck, I'm super-duper-nervous myself!
http://rebeccataylorbooks.blogspot.com/
Two, practice. I pitched at Storymakers last year and had a 3 hour car ride by myself to say it over and over and over. Remember the key ideas you want to emphasize, but don't learn it so well that it's memorized to the point of lacking personality.
Three, have questions to ask if there isn't a request for a full. You have an allotted time with a professional in the industry, ask them something instead of just walking out early. You paid for your time, take full advantage of it.
I can email you what I said at my pitch last year. Michelle Wolfson complimented me on the pitch :)
There are a lot of really easy ways to do this, but be sure to show up for the whole session (if it's a public pitch session) so you don't accidentally copy someone's icebreaker from before.
Icebreakers: compliment something about them, or the venue, or the city (but be careful with city or venue, they might not like it...). When you say shake hands and say "Oh, I love your scarf, it matches your hair perfectly" you put yourself in a different place. You're no longer in the "OMG LOVE ME LOVE MY STORY" place. You're having a conversation with them. We meet people all the time, and those skills can help you through a pitch session because they are familiar.
Good luck. Oh, and be prepared for the pitch session to be either one on one, or in front of an audience.
Memorizing a pitch isn't really a great idea. I've heard stories about/from people who did just that and then were thrown for a loop when it came time to give the pitch in real time. If you've only got the pitch memorized one certain way, you might not be as prepared for an agent (or other person) interrupting with questions or comments that you weren't counting on when you just memorized a pitch.
The next day I pitched to two agents and an editor. With one agent I had time to pitch two of my novels. Every one of them requested materials.
At this conference, we took a unique approach to pitching. Basically, we can tell you the simple premise, bc we've done it a thousand times before in queries. But, when you share why you wrote it, or how the idea came to you, your passion for the novel shows. So, our pitches were 3 min. long. We started by introducing ourselves, shaking hands, saying title & genre & sometimes word count. (Sometimes you can leave the word count for the end)Then we say how we came up with the book, which leads into the conflict and stakes. If you want to see mine, I'd be happy to email it to you as an example. :)
After the conference, the agents told the ladies who put on the conference, that they requested more materials at this conference than any other they've attended. So obviously something worked.
But, yeah, after you give your initial pitch it should be somewhat conversational with the agent/editor. Hopefully they will ask you questions about your story, and you can go off script some and talk about your plot and characters. It's very nerve-wracking, but you'll do great!
http://bardsandprophets.blogspot.com/2011/05/windup-before-pitch.html
But I dunno if they'd expect more that that. ;)
Yes, know your story, and have an elevator pitch ready (quick pitch). Remember that you're talking to someone who wants to discover a great story. Be prepared to just chat and to field questions on your story. You wrote it, you should know it, right? Someone new has taken over pitch this year, but she was trained by the old person and should do things similarly. In the past, we've had workshops on the Friday that go over pitches and let you try them; I can't guarantee there will be something like that this year, but there might be. If there isn't, grab one of us staff members and ask us to listen to your pitch. Chris Mandeville is always willing to help in that way, for instance (she'll be the gal with the giant service dog). Or ask your neighbor at the table if they'll listen and tell you what they think. But basically, have prepared a bit about your story that you can share, including the logline (yes, Linda Rohrbaugh is excellent here, but I'm unsure whether she'll be here this year, due to having moved out of state). If she is, I definitely recommend her workshop.
I've pitched officially at PPWC once, and then unofficially when the agent at our table asked if anyone would like to pitch to her. It wasn't any less terrifying, but it was a great experience. Both times, I gave my short version, then answered questions. It really is very conversational, and it gets easier after that initial shooting out of the logline/short pitch. I got an ask the first time, so we sat there and chatted about children's books after, and the editor recommended a series that my son is now reading. The second time, I didn't get an ask, but I got some really good feedback, which I also appreciated.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Is it too late to sign up for this conference? :)
Good luck!
know your blurb, hit the highlights
know your interviewer, research what they've pubbed
have questions, like where do you think the industry is headed, what genres are up & coming, what would they like to see, etc stuff you are curious about...
smile, shake hands
send a follow up thank you email
its really not bad. better than a job interview!