Why Pitching At A Conference Is A Bad Idea

This weekend, I saw pictures of the Writers Digest Conference and authors lined up to participate in what looked like another round of Speed Pitching. This last month in Denver, RWA tried this approach. I know I have attended other conferences where this is the new trend. For those of you who are not familiar with this approach, authors are all in one room together and have 3 minutes (or so) to pitch to as many people as your can. At the RWA conference, writers were in the room with 14 editors and agents, and every 3 minutes rotated to the next person to pitch their story.

I get the idea. Conferences are trying to get more authors paired up with more editors and agents. The whole, sign up for a 8-10 minute pitch time approach just did not create the most connections. In the past, when I attended the RWA conference, in a 2 hour time block, I met with 10 or maybe 11 authors. That was it.

There is a lot to be said about a face to face connection at a conference. As an agent, I am able to sit down and really chat with a potential writer. Again, in Denver, I had the chance to talk with one author, between sessions for 15 minutes. Not only did I get to hear about her story, I got to know who she was and what her plans were for her writing career.

I have also heard a lot of editors and agents openly stating that they often do not sign new authors at conferences. It might be due to the things I am going to talk about here in this blog, but it might also be a mindset that they are not expecting greatness. I have signed people at conferences, but, I have to admit, I signed people at smaller conferences where we had the chance to talk as I did in Denver with that author. Or, we had already had discussions via emails or the blog prior to the conference, so that face to face time was an issue of just getting to know each other.

But in the end, I have to honestly say, authors would be better suited to skip the pitching at conferences and submit during other times out of the year. Let's talk about some of the reasons why.

AUTHORS PITCH TO EVERY EDITOR OR AGENT AT A CONFERENCE WITHOUT DOING RESEARCH
This issue really is intensified during the Speed Pitch approach. There is this belief that if they don't meet with that editor or agent, at the conference, they will never get a chance. So what happens? Authors dive at every "free" opening to pitch to any editor or agent without doing the research. The majority of the time, we hear pitches for projects we don't represent, or would never work for us at all.

At a recent PNWA conference, I passed on over 50% of the authors pitching to me because they had projects that were not romance or women's fiction. They simply did not know who I was. Along the same lines, I sat next to an editor from Harlequin, and I listened to people pitch single title projects, screen plays, non-fiction, and the like, to an editor who only acquires series romance.

Again, this does not just happen with Speed Pitches. I have seen over and over again, writers flocking around the Pitch Appointment Table, waiting for any spot to open up so they could pitch their story. Like the other situations, they had no clue who they were pitching to.

Yes, conferences make more than enough effort to get that information out to the writers. They produce bios before the conference. The produce grids and spreadsheets telling authors what the editors and agents acquire. Many conferences have editor and agent panels where these people stand up and openly tell you what they want or don't want.

But writers still do not listen. It is a feeding frenzy mentality that only produces a large number of rejections.

CONFERENCES DON'T ALWAYS BRING IN THE BEST EDITORS OR AGENTS FOR THEIR POPULATION
All conferences have a different population of authors who attend. Although I totally loved the Romantic Times conferences, I quit going because the population showing up and pitching often had projects that I did not represent. Conference coordinators, however, often do not get the right people for the job. They go out to get names that will bring in the numbers and the writers. Obviously, the more writers, the more money they can make.

However, many of these editors and agents simply may not be the best fit. If your population of authors all tend to like the self-publishing and indie approach to things, don't bring in the agents. Don't bring in the big traditional publishers. Find those boutique people and build on that.

Now, does this mean these editors and agents do not have something to offer. Absolutely not. I visited one writing chapter for an evening meeting and these people were all into self-publishing. The conversations we had, however, were important because we were able to discuss trends that they could potentially use in their writing careers.

But when it comes to pitching, if you have the wrong people, expect more rejections.

EDITORS AND AGENTS HAVE A HARD TIME SAYING NO FACE TO FACE
This is a tough one. Looking an author in the eye and saying their story is not going to be good enough is tough. So, the easy approach is to just tell everyone who pitches to send something. We all have to look a the manuscript anyway, right?

But here is the concern I have. Too many authors walk away with ideas that those editors and agents really did want to see their work. They really "were interested." Not necessarily.

Rejection letters are not fun to receive (and let me tell you, writing these letters is not fun either).

AUTHORS BLOW THE PITCH NOT BEING PREPARED OR TRYING TOO HARD
You have spent hours mastering that perfect elevator pitch. You have spent days wordsmithing that pitch to make your story sound incredible. When you sit there at that pitch session, you start into your "pitch" thinking those words are selling that project.

The reality is, you just blew it. You came across as fake. You came across as inexperienced. You did not convince.

If you could go back and watch a video of your pitch session, the odds are, you would not want sign yourself to a contract.

A lot of authors are introverts. Talking to people is a tough. Now you have the pressure of getting it all right in that short amount of time? The stress kills you.

By avoiding the pitch session, you stand a better chance of letting your story do the talking for you.

WE STILL NEED TO SEE THE MANUSCRIPT TO MAKE A TRUE DECISION
As we all know, we still need to see the writing to make a truly good decision. If that pitch is going to blow things for you, skip the step and go straight to the "send us your work" step.

There is another piece that really works well with larger publishers or agencies. You pitch a project to that one agent or that one editor, you are only getting the thoughts of your project just from that one person. While that project might not work for me, there is nothing to say it might not work for someone else in the agency. But, during that pitch session, we are already making a quick decision. Had you sent that project instead, during those morning meetings of the editors or agents, that work may end up in the hands of the right person.



Am I saying to get rid of the pitches? No. But before you as an author decide to pitch, ask yourself if going the traditional route might be better.

ONE FINAL NOTE... AND THIS GOES TO EDITORS AND OTHER AGENTS

I get everyone one of us has a different approach to the submissions we get. I understand that we get a lot of submissions. I also understand, submissions take time to respond to and we do have our own clients to work with. But... authors are pitching to us at conferences because they get no feedback or response when sending in submissions digitally.

Many are openly frustrated by the "no answer means no." Authors do not know, from the lack of a response, if this meant we hated it, we hate them, it got lost or anything.

Authors I have talked to said, even if it was a form letter it would be better than nothing. Maybe we too can step up to the challenge to change the climate of the submission process. I know we are all looking for the best stories possible, and if the conference pitch approach is not that effective, let's see if you can fix it another way.

Just a thought, not a criticism.