Just back from the Romance Writers of Australia’s conference and I pitched twice, so thought I would share the experience for those who may not have done this already.  You never know, it might be helpful!

I pitched last year and it was truly horrible.  It was a completely different book to the one I pitched this year and that book is definitely odd. I opened my pitch with a ‘this is a speculative fiction novel’ and I could see the editor was already at no.  As Jenny Cruisie at Argh Ink says the top ten reasons for why an editor rejects your book are:  

1. She doesn't know how to sell it to readers
   
2. She doesn't know how to sell it to readers
   
3. She doesn't know how to sell it to readers
   
4. She doesn't know how to sell it to readers
   
5. She doesn't know how to sell it to readers.

You get the point. I didn't read that until too late! I felt that I walked into the room with my new baby and whilst I didn't expect everyone to love my new baby as much as I did I had expected that my new baby would at least be recognised. My poor baby got blanked. Oh well. That taught me not to have any expectations and to toughen up.

So this year I went in with something that is my other great love, which is Mills and Boon-style romance, and I made sure to pitch to people who bought that sort of work. This went so much better.

For a start I prepared much better. I had thought through more clearly what I wanted to say and what they needed to know. It was way more professional. I then spoke from the heart. I had three pages of prose that I had intended to pretty much read, but even I thought it was a bit boring. But then sitting, trembling quietly, waiting to go in for my first pitch I sat next to a good friend and published author and I noticed she only had one slice of paper in her hand and when she showed it to me it was an ad from an old newspaper which had been the stimulus for the first book in the series that she was pitching.

Bingo!

I needed to start my pitch with where my book’s life had started. Which was that line in the newspaper that said that Prince William didn't want to be king.  Who knows if he ever really said it and who could blame him if he had ... that would mean his father and his beloved grandmother would have both had to die first ... but I started thinking what if you really didn’t want to be king? But were an honourable man but an alpha male, so not having choices just would not be your bag, but your honour would mean you had to. How would you behave? So that’s where my book starts. My poor hero is back from having a wonderful time in New York to saddle up for a life time of being trapped in a broken down and nearly bankrupt kingdom, on a threadbare throne, and, as he discovers in the first few pages, he also seems to be married to an absolutely appalling woman. Triple bad news. And then I dreamed up a heroine to match him. So that’s the story I told, focussing on the themes and motivations of the characters, and just enough of the story itself to give a sense of whether it was a comedy or a tragedy.

That seemed to work and I have two requests.  In fact I got so carried away in the second pitch that I completely forgot that the editor was meant to be saying yes or no, we were too busy laughing.

Both people I pitched to were lovely. Both asked where the book was at so I had to say second edits, and not ready for anyone to see. It’s actually a bit of a horrible muddle. James Scott Bell’s  workshop explained to me why it’s a horrible muddle so now I have a path to fixing it, so they both said not to hurry and to send the early chapters in when I was ready. They were both encouraging and warm about the story, which was so important after last year. Finally I'm on the right track! Yes, the speculative fiction will get written one day, but to be honest it was probably a bit ambitious for a start-up writer. It meant I had to learn to manage historical research and weave it into the story without sounding like a high school history teacher, as well as learn how to write a novel. I’d write a scene and the hero would need to take a drink and I’d get stuck thinking what would he be drinking out of, what liquid would he be drinking, and then I’d wander off into my history notes and when I came back, hours later, I would have forgotten where I was in the story. And I'm not sure it’s speculative fiction anyway. I just can’t find a box to put it in. It’s that odd. Fun, but odd.

Who else was pitching?

All sorts of people. The writer I mentioned above who has written romance novels for years but wants to break out into a different path with a cosy mystery series, and so needed to find a new publisher..  

One was a multi-published author, which was a huge surprise, but she wanted to have five minutes with the local arm of her publishing house.  She’s signed to them in an overseas market and wanted to talk about Australia. 

Lots of writers like me were there with first books and who had done this before.  Lots of writers with first books who hadn't done this before.

And finally an unpublished writer who is a member of one of my writing groups. She really wanted to pitch but felt overwhelmed by it so hadn't applied for a slot, but after lots of encouragement she put her name down for a cancellation and got one.  She then spent most of the night holed up in a bedroom with a writing friend honing a pitch spiel. Next day she was pale and taut but determined and afterwards she couldn't believe how lovely everyone had been and how enthusiastically her story had been received. Yes, she has a request for the first few chapters.

So, all sorts were pitching and despite being a romance conference they were pitching all sorts of genre stories.

So what have I learned:

• A pitch is a great way to determine if a book is sale-able to and by a traditional publisher. My first book idea was too left field. My business plan says I at least start with a trad publisher, so that meant a big re-think.
• Pitch with passion.  If you’re not passionate about your story, how can you expect the editor or publisher to be? Find a way into presenting the story that shows your passion.
• Don’t tell the story, talk themes and motivations, and give them enough of the story to get a flavour of it.
• Be objective. If they say no they are not rejecting your baby. They just don’t know how to sell it. (Ugly mixed metaphors there, sorry.)
• Be professional. Respect their job and their professionalism. In turn also respect that this is a business for you and you need to treat it accordingly.
• Just do it.  Once you've done it, it’s nowhere near as scary ever again.

Hope that helps. Now I have to get to work on Haute Montagne so it is ready to be seen in public. Very exciting!


Sara runs Pursue True North, an online community for writers on the road to writing and publishing their first book. 

You can find the community here http://www.pursuetruenorth.com/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PursueTrueNorth?ref=hl

  At this time of year aspiring romance writers are spending time perfecting their pitches in preparation for the chance to impress an editor or agent at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference. If this is your first time, here are some ideas that might help.

Get comfortable with the territory

When you arrive at conference and receive your pitch appointment time go and find the pitch room. Do it now before you’re swept up in the excitement of catching up with friends and going to events. A pitch room will often be a meeting room tucked away from where the main workshop rooms are located and can be tricky to find. Last year a couple of frantic first timers stopped by the information desk with just minutes to spare, desperate to know where their pitch was being held.

Get comfortable with the Editor

Eyeball the editor or agent before your pitch if you can. If she’s speaking at a plenary or workshop, go along and listen. She might have something to say that affects how you pitch. If you’ve done your homework there shouldn’t be any nasty surprises about what she’s looking for but her comments may make you want to adjust your pitch a little so you hit the notes she’s interested in. And at the end of a pitch, an editor will sometimes ask if you have any questions. An intelligent question about something she talked about in her workshop is a lot better than ‘nope’.

Don’t shake hands. There are differing opinions on this but frankly if I was sitting in a room all afternoon I’d not want to shake every hand offered, especially in what is our prime virus season. The editor won’t offer so don’t put her on the spot by extending your hand.

Get comfortable with yourself

When the time comes, it’s quite all right to get up in the middle of your workshop and leave for your pitch then return when it’s over. The speaker won’t be offended nor the audience. You’ll see a small steady stream of people coming and going all day.

Don’t go too early. Don’t arrive too late. Getting there early is great but there’s only so much room in the waiting area not to mention a collective nervousness that can take over. On the other hand, sliding into a pitch with seconds to spare is also to be avoided.

Take a supporter if you want but don’t take a whole team. They will clog up the waiting space and a lot of nervous women make a lot of noise. They can’t help it. J It could also be counter-productive to keeping you calm.

If you get a request don’t squeal as soon as you leave the room (it does happen). Usually the door is still open while the pitch moderator introduces the next person to the editor.

Practice your pitch. The first year I pitched I went to conference totally unprepared. Because I sell for a living I planned to just sit down and sell my story. A lovely friend I made at that conference said, “okay so pretend I’m the editor, sell it to me.” Er…

Keep it professional and keep it in perspective. If you didn’t get a request maybe your project wasn’t for that editor. Did you do your homework about what they’re looking for? Listen carefully to what the editor says because she will tell you why she’s not interested and if it’s to do with your story (as opposed to it being not what she’s looking for) you may need to work on that point before you pitch to someone else.

Wardrobe. Be comfortable but present a persona that tells the editor that if they sign you, you’re presentable in public.

Don’t take your manuscript with you. Much as we all fantasise about an editor leaping across the table and demanding to read this masterpiece you’ve created, she will never ask for a copy on the spot.

And remember, editors and agents are there because they’re hungry for interesting new talent. They are always pleasant and they’ll listen attentively to your pitch. They’re used to picking through a pitch to find out if there are the elements of a good story and they will ask questions. Know your story back to front and be prepared to discuss it in depth.

So they’re my tips. What about you? Do you have any tips that have helped you when pitching?