Tips On Pitching

I just posted a video on this over on my YouTube Channel (see the link on the agency webpage), but I wanted to post this here as well.

If you are heading to a conference, whether virtual or remote. are you truly ready to pitch? Too often, writers ruin a great opportunity to meet with editors and agents due to some pretty common mistakes. Let's talk about a few that might help you out:

1. PITCH ONLY MANUSCRIPTS THAT ARE 100% READY TO GO This is pretty simple. If you sign up to pitch to an editor or agent, that manuscript needs to be ready to go the minute you walk away from that table or that online session. If you are still writing it, or if it still needs to be edited, or sent to a critique group, you are not ready to go. We are often listening to pitches and thinking about a possible placement for that story. If you don't get that story to us for a month or two later, you have lost the chance. I would also add that we have likely forgotten who you are.
2. PITCH ONLY TO AGENTS WHO ARE REPRESENTING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT This means that you need to do your research. Every conference always posts what the editors and agents are looking for. Go a step further and do your own research. Go to their websites, review what they like, review what they hate and verify that information. I would also stress to attend those editor/agent panels where they openly tell you what they are looking for. Understand that we are not hiding anything. If, for example, after all of your "research" about Greyhaus, you show up with a non-fiction piece claiming you thought that the romance/women's fiction genres I spoke of were just some of the things I wanted. Um, no! Do your research. 
3. THINK OF THIS AS A JOB INTERVIEW This means when you come in, you have to think of this as interviewing for a job. You have to demonstrate to us why your book, and, more importantly, you, are the right person for this job. More on this in the next point.
4. PROFESSIONALISM AND ATTITUDE GO A LONG WAY I don't care if you are at a working conference, or working from home, this is a job interview. Dress the part. You don't show up to a job interview in sweats, do you? At least business casual, but dress the part. Be on time, Don't talk about things outside of the topic of your book. And always come in with a confident attitude. You want this job so show the editor or agent you are capable. Telling me you are nervous and you are still learning simply tells us you are not read.
5. DO NOT READ YOUR PITCH I have a lot of people who read their pitch because they think they will not remember their story. WHAT????!!!??!?!?!? You have been working on this pitch for how long and you don't remember your story? You're clearly not ready.
6. KNOW YOUR GENRE Do not try to constantly adapt your story in the middle of the pitch session to show that your story fits everyone. It doesn't. Pitch what it really is and stick to it. I have actually heard people pitch to me their story telling me it is a fictional romance, and then sit down with an editor or agent next to me claiming it to be a memoir, and the claiming it is some other genre to someone else. Nope. Not going to happen.
7. MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE... Title, genre, word count (not pages), high concept, brief plot.
8. DON'T THROW YOUR BUSINESS CARD TO US BEFORE THE PITCH You can have a business card, but we only use those when someone says, "I like what you have, do you have a card for me?"
9. DON'T ARGUE If I tell  you your story is not right, then it is not right. Don't try to tell the editor or agent that we are wrong.
10. FINALLY... IF WE DO TELL YOU NO, DON'T START GOSSIPING AND COMPLAINING THAT WE WERE UNFAIR OR DID SOMETHING WRONG This is a big one. If you get turned down, it is not an issue of someone not agreeing with your diversity stance, race, sexual orientation or any other social issue. This is a business about selling a quality product to the general public. It is about your story and whether or not that editor or agent can do anything with it. Let me also stress that if I turn down your story because it is nothing I represent, don't go running to other people, social media or the conference chairs saying that the editor or agent is not willing to look at your project. I have actually seen this where people complained that because "they paid for the pitch session, or the conference, the editors or agents HAVE to accept the story for review." Nope, we passed on it because it was not right.

Look, pitches are great opportunities, but, like job interviews, you have to do it right. Please, think before you pitch!!!!