What To Expect At A Pitch Session

Welcome to the summer of conferences... OK, I get it, conferences happen all year, but it seems like this summer, I am really busy, and of course, we have conferences. And, with conference, come pitch sessions. This is your chance to get your story in front of an editor or agent. This is your chance. And yet, this is, too often, the time when so many authors ruin that great opportunity, simply because they did not know what to expect and made HUGE errors in that small amount of time. 

First of all, I want to stress that a pitch session is a job interview. Being a professional writer means you are now entering a business world. Editors and agents view you coming to us as a business professional. This means you are coming to us prepared and trained. While you might have started writing as a hobby and simply crafting stories with your friends in your critique group, you need to change your thinking. You have to view this as if you have now graduated from college with a BA, MA, MS, MFA, or other degree and you are interviewing for a REAL CAREER. You took all of your courses. You earned great grades. You demonstrated to those professors you understood your material so that you could earn that degree. Now you are there to showcase that knowledge.

AND YET...

So many think this is just a casual chat about their writing like they do with their friends and family. They think the editors and agents are going to be there to teach them how to write and get their books sold. Although part of that is true and we are there to "guide" you through the process, we are expecting you have already become trained in your profession. 

We also see so many people show up to pitches and present themselves in a way that is far from professional. This may be a working conference, but when you pitch, you need to be in some form of business attire. It might be business casual, but it needs to be professional. One of the things I teach in my resume writing classes is that employers make a decision of saying no to you within the first 6 seconds of seeing you. That means from the moment you start walking to our table to pitch, we are already making decisions. Consider how you come across.

Let's talk more of what we expect...

If you are pitching, we are assuming that story is 100% ready to go right now. You should not even consider pitching a story to us if you are still working on the story or if you still have to edit it. We don't want to hear that you are going to send it to your critique group. End of story.

Along the same lines, you need to be prepared to answer any question we ask you. We might ask you about other books you have planned. We might ask you about themes or comparable books. We might ask you about where you see yourself in the next five years. We might ask you why you came to us. You need to know all of those answers. We don't want to hear, "I haven't thought about that." Show us you are ready!

Finally, we expect you have done your homework. You know who we are. You know why you and your writing fits with the publisher or the agency. You should not be guessing and just taking any open pitch slots. I am assuming, when you come to me, you know who Scott Eagan is and what Greyhaus Literary Agency is all about. If you don't, forget signing up. 

Again, this is a job interview. Treat it as such!!!!!