Practice That Pitch!

Hi Everybody,
Hope you’re all well! Stopping through to share a thought about the difference in thinking you’re prepared for publishing and actually being prepared.

So let’s begin with me. I have in my “finished” pile one historical mg, one contemporary mg, one historical romance, one biography and five children’s books–all searching for publishing homes. Pretty impressive, huh?

The problem is, I’ve never perfected a pitch for a single one of them. Like many writers, I write then move on. I approach my ideas creatively (as I should), but once I’m finished with the creative part, I don’t do anything to perfect–or even kickstart–the business or marketing part.

I didn’t really notice this “character flaw” until this week, when WriteOnCon announced its “Luck O’The Irish Pitch Fest.” This Pitch Fest is an open window that allows any writer with a project that falls within the sponsor’s specified genre to actually get their work in front of an agent.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to find out about this event, and knew just what I wanted to submit: A historical mg (set in 1943 in the deep south) that I’ve been polishing lately.

The problem is, I thought I knew my story back and front, but when it came time to “pitch” it in 200 words or less (WriteOnCon’s criteria), I was suddenly at a loss for words…

Where should I begin? Which scene should I focus on? How in the world could I describe a 149-page, 94,000 word book in just 200 words? It seemed impossible…and that’s the point. If it seems impossible, it means you haven’t perfected your pitch.

The Pitch deadline is today (Wednesday, March 13, 2013) at 8:00PM EST, so I may still give it a shot, but whether I decide to pitch or not, today’s goal is to alert all you writers out there to practice that pitch and be ready, because you never know when the window of opportunity will open for you.

Best wishes and happy writing,

Rita Lorraine