Pitch with the pros

Well, I’m going to be starting off a series of blogs regarding pitching. What prompted me to do this was my own pitching at the Thursday night Pitch with the Pros session at the Willamette Writer’s Conference. I was in the room on the right, if any of you are curious. I did get to pitch and was hence forth known as the refrigerator vortex pitch person. The panel gave me very positive feedback and I had several people come up to me over the weekend, regarding my pitch. I’m not trying to toot my own horn (okay maybe a little) but my point is that people asked me HOW I pitched so well. That got me thinking. Well, for starters, I do have to say that I did theater in high school and speech and debate in college. Now if that wasn’t your thing in school, don’t worry about it. All that means is that I’ve had practice. Practice, practice, practice. So, I think a solid pitch can be broken down into two main components, what you’re presenting and how you’re presenting.

We are going to start with what you are presenting. You’ve written a book. You now have about three very short minutes to convince an agent or editor that they should represent you and ultimately publish your book.

How do you that?

Stick with the five Ws.

Who is your main character?
What are they doing?
Where are they?
If necessary, when are they?
And why would I care about them enough to keep turning the page?  What is their ultimate dilemma?

That is all they need to know in a pitch. That’s it for today. Much more to come. Please subscribe so you don’t miss out and if there is something specific you would like me to talk about, drop me a line and let me know. Happy Pitching