A great pitch is often the first encounter in a successful publishing relationship.
As an acquisition editor, I listen avidly to every writer’s pitch, hoping each time to find a terrific new prospect for publication.
For the uninitiated, a pitch is an author’s brief, face-to-face verbal presentation to an agent or an editor like me, (usually at a writers conference) of what’s wonderful, original, and saleable about your book and why you’re the best person to write it. As we know how important pitches are, it comes as no surprise to find that some people want to do more research into sites like https://earlygrowthfinancialservices.com/9-essentials-to-include-in-your-startup-pitch/, in the hope of creating the best pitch they can present. This may be the only chance people get to deliver an idea, so why not make it perfect?
The view from my side of the table
I’ve been on the receiving end of more than 150 pitches over the past few days. Writers queued up at my table at the Harvard Writer’s Conference in Boston and then back in the Bay Area at the San Francisco Women’s National Book Association’s annual pitchfest.
A familiar annoying bell signaled the start and finish of each session. Writers in line stood clutching their papers, trying to smile, trying to remain calm. It can be nerve wracking on both sides of the table, believe me – with the potential each time for an awkward disconnect or the beginning of a fabulous relationship.
Scroll down for my tips on preparing and delivering a great pitch
Why writers need to learn the art of the pitch
Why all the emphasis these days on the art of the pitch? What does summarizing a 400-page work into three minutes of out-loud proclamation have to do with being a good writer? Did Darwin or Freud pitch? Did Ernest Hemingway?
No, they didn’t. But a writer today is required to tell the world – agents, editors, publishers, sales and marketing executives, book store buyers, reporters, feature writers, TV personalities, radio producers, not to mention book buyers — what the book is about and why it’s worth their time and money.
Your pitch needs to be short and convincing — and entertaining, if appropriate. Your delivery has to be spot on.
I know how some writers suffer through this process. It doesn’t come naturally to most of us who aren’t trained in sales or dramatic acting, and it can be especially difficult for shy, introspective, private individuals — as are many writers.
“Hey I didn’t sign up to be a snake oil huckster, a talking bobble head!” Lots of writers feel this way. But pitching is a fact of life, and furthermore, it works.
So how should you approach this ritual initiation? Here are some tips I offer in sincere good fellowship. You can do this!
Before the pitch: Preparation
1. Talk about the book first, about yourself second
Start out by talking about the book, the story, the special purpose or original idea. Some people spend too much of their allotted time delivering lengthy academic or professional credentials that may be impressive but aren’t the most important thing.Be sure to include a description of your target audience, and be specific. If your book is a memoir, for example, it’s more useful to tell us if it targets “women facing the death of their lifetime partner” rather than to say only that the book is meant for women.
2. Include your understanding of online marketing
Express your willingness to help market the book, whether it be with the help of SEO freelancer services or by other marketing means. It shows an understanding of the actual markets, and as such has become a new requirement for authors today. In fact, it is essential. Please don’t tell us that you hate email, don’t want a website and refuse to blog. Mention your platform.3. Be sure to tell us about this!
Include key information like “My last book sold 20K copies” or “60 Minutes did a segment on my research” or “I won the O’Henry Best First Story award last year” or “I do workshops and trainings every weekend and sell a hundred self-published books in the back of the room every time” or “I’ve hired a personal publicist.”4. Time your pitch
It’s easy to try and say too much and run over your time, so be tough on yourself when preparing your pitch to keep it under two- and-a-half minutes. That way you’ll have time for any quick questions or feedback, and you won’t be caught short when that darned buzzer rings. If you find that you’re actually going too fast, it’s probably because of nerves. Remember to breathe and pace yourself so that you appear calm and collected rather than rushed and breathless. If you’re really struggling with nerves, head to Organic CBD Nugs and get yourself some CBD. It’s commonly used to help reduce stress and anxiety, so it should help you to calm down.5. Practice on friends and family
Do this, not for their critique of your content, but to make sure they can hear you clearly and understand your words.6. Try it out on videotape
You need to see yourself and hear your own voice. Remember this is how we’re going to see you. We’ll be thinking not only about what you say but also how you look.
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The day of the pitch: Delivery
1. Check your appearance
Dress as if you’re going to a professional job interview, or to a meeting at your publisher’s editorial offices.2. Remember your manners
Resist an impulse to push or shove aside the person ahead of you. I’ve seen that too many times, no kidding! Shake my hand and look me in the eye. Even better, hand me a smart-looking presentation folder from somewhere like https://kaizenprint.co.uk/presentation-folders/ so I can look at the details myself.3. Speak clearly
Deliver your pitch in a normal conversational tone. I want to hear and understand your every word.4. Don’t read
Please don’t read a prepared script. Try your best to deliver the words spontaneously. We want to see your ability to speak on your feet, to be natural and authentic.5. Adjust to your listener
Allow yourself some wiggle room to adjust to your listener’s response. If they smile and their eyes light up — relax, you’re doing great. If their lids droop and they start looking over your shoulder, skip to the chase. Watch for those cues.6. Confidence is great but avoid overselling
Some writers pile on assurances like “Oprah’s going to love this,” or “My writer’s group says it’s terrific,” or “My book is completely spell- checked, finished, ready to publish and you won’t have to do any more work on it.”We appreciate conviction and authority, but not hyperbole. And we need to believe that you’d play well on our team.
7. Have realistic expectations
By happy if we say “That’s interesting…send me a proposal or sample chapter.” Better yet would be “Let’s talk more in an hour when this session is over.” But even the request for more information in writing is good news and indicates some success.
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I’ve heard great pitches that went all the way. I know other acquisition editors and agents who’ve met writers they love through pitch sessions. It’s worth learning the craft of pitching. Attend any event where you have the opportunity to fine tune and try out your pitch. It’s a great way to get objective professional feedback from someone who’s looking for the next big thing.
What about you?
Writers, I’d love to hear about the view from your side of the table. Send in the best, worst, funniest experiences you’ve had pitching your books to agents and editors. Here’s a chance to tell us a thing or two about the pitching process — and to help fellow writers who may be preparing for their first attempt.
Don’t be ridiculous. Verbal pitching is nothing more than a power trip for acquisition agents and editors. Too many false positives and negatives to be useful.
Beyond all the practice and trembles before a pitch is the female writer’s decision on what to wear. Too often at SCBWI conferences, I’ve stood in slacks, button shirt and jacket before an editor or agent who’s traveled far and sits relaxed in jeans, casual shirt, and sandals. The ‘dress for success’ code at a state level conference seems to be a consideration for women above 30-something only. Add this irritation to the slump of an exhausted editor or agent, her scant experience in the field [having left an MFA or Journalism program mere months before] and the toe-tapping person waiting behind you at the door, and you can see why so many pitches leap from even a practiced tongue garbled into senselessness. What makes the difference is that I and others choose to persevere and try, try again.
Author pitching is one of the most nerve-racking experiences ever, but it’s just one those things in life that are necessary if you want to succeed. It’s a definite artform. This is indeed a helpful resource :)
Thanks again Alan,
I will be pitching for the first time this summer and have no idea what I am supposed to do.
This is very helpful.
I honestly didn’t even think of pitching as part of a writers conference. The idea is so sincere, open and honest in a business that seems to have some sort of sneaky magic working behind the scenes making it run.
I’d love to pitch one of my projects, it’d be a total blast. I hate query letters (or I should say, the query letter system), pitching would be a gazillion times better! I’d wear a sign that said “Slush”.
I’ve had pleasant experiences when pitching, and then there’s been the other kind, and perhaps you learn most from the other kind.
“Why are you telling ME about this book” from an editor I didn’t select but I found did only women’s stuff. “I have a dictionary, but why should I use it,” from an agent who taught me to dumb it down if you want to sell it. And a yawn in my face before I even spoke from an agent I would not have wanted as a business partner.
But perhaps the least kind ones are those who show enthusiasm for your work, only to be revealed later as courtesy or possibly even self-serving.
But pitching is an experience!
Thanks for the tips! I’m just gearing up to pitch and can use all the help I can get. It had never occurred to me to videotape myself – I know actors do that. I think it’s a great idea.
I did a pitch slam a couple of years ago just to see what the whole thing was like. My worst experience was that my first agent came to the table 4 minutes into our 10 minute slot (I paid $40 for this precious, wasted time). My best was an agent that didn’t look at me like a freak for wanting to just “practice.” She helped me break down the most important elements of my pitch and asked me to come back when my novel was done (just being polite, as I know I didn’t knock her socks off. But I thought it was kind of her).
Words to pitch by Alan. Here are two quick experiences/ideas that might help your readers based on recent experience at the SF Writers Conference (which was outstanding).
1. Bring something to give the agent/editor other than your proposal/pitch letter. I brought an audio recording of a recent speech and gave it to each agent I pitched. Months later an agent called me out of the blue. I asked, “What made you call me today?” He responded, “Your CD is right here in front of me.”
2. If you are writing prescriptive non-fiction, attend a writers conference that includes a speed dating with agents/pitch fest ASAP. In my experience, 85% of writers conference attendees are fiction writers. This makes it much easier for nonfiction writers to connect with the agents/editors who represent nonfiction. In my case, during the one hour “Speed dating with agents” session, I had time to pitch all 5 of the attending agents who represent nonfiction and leave with 5 proposal requests before the hour ended. It was nothing short of a dream come true.
Hi Alan–this is all very helpful–but I wanted to thank you especially for noting in your follow-up comment that writers don’t HAVE to pitch. If you can, it’s certainly an asset. But some people just can’t–it is such a totally different skill from actually writing a book. And I worry that all this emphasis on pitching, querying, etc. is going to make writers forget the most important thing: once you finally do get someone to look at your manuscript, that ms. has to be GOOD. Better than good, in this climate. The best pitch in the world, plus a mediocre ms. (and yes, I am just talking fiction here) won’t get you anywhere, in the end.
Alan,
Your blog is very informative and this post, very timely. With Spring trade shows around the corner (i.e. the London Book Fair, LA Times Festival of Books and, of course, Book Expo America) mastering the book pitch is crucial. When authors and writers attend these conferences, it is important to prepare the ‘pitch’ and efficiently relate the most essential information to exhibitors. This will maximize writer’s time as it allows exhibitors (mainly distributors and publishers) to quickly process the information and provide the author/writer with helpful feedback — which is the reason most writers attend in the first place.
Mastering your book pitch will also help authors efficiently promote their work when conducting interviews. Radio interviews sometimes last 5 minutes total! An author must not eat up all their air time explaining the plot summary. Sticking to the points you presented, Alan, will certainly help writers perfect their book pitch.
I think it’s important to keep in mind what G. Jackson said, “the pitch is about them, not you.” You know your book the best…you wrote it! The goal is to relate the essentials in a fast enough time as not to lose your audience’s attention.
Thanks,
Corinne Liccketto
Hi GTChristie –
There’s no difference in pitching literary fiction or what you describe as “cult-following…niche” fiction. For the pitch, the same clarity, authentic passion, sincerity, and economy of language, applies. That’s true whether it’s about growing up a slave in Mississippi or being a vampire who picks up nubile beauties in Manhattan single bars in the year 2050. And remember to present the story first and the author second.
But by the way, you can decline to do this pitching stuff at all. You’re right. Some of us are not made for the public life. Can you imagine Carson McCullers pitching? Joan Didion has always had a hard time at readings, lectures, and public interviews, though she tries hard to endure them.
It’s every author’s choice.
-Alan
I haven’t pitched literature, but I have pitched ideas as a consultant, and I have since learned how to tell if a presentation is going well and redirect if necessary.
I had a CEO and mentor who said to always read the tea leaves in the room before starting a pitch – figure out who is the Alpha, take a minute to talk with each person as he or she enters the room and make a personal connection. If you get stuck, you can then use an anecdote you collected from your conversation, or your knowledge of the room dynamics, to relate the pitch back to the audience and lighten the air. Always remember the pitch is about them, not you.
I learned so much about pitching at the Harvard Writer’s conference! There were ups and downs, but I had a blast, both from my own pitching and from listening to other pitches. A few observations:
1. You need to believe in it your pitch, if you want the agent to believe in it. I had two projects, one that, for various reasons, I felt would attract interest. The other project, I was not confident about at all. It was definitely a feedback loop. When I was confident, the agent/editor got excited too and responded positively. But if I wasn’t, their eyes glazed over.
2. It’s all about the hook. With just 90s, you really need to boil your project down to the thing that will make people want more.
You are the most helpful publishing biz blogger I’ve seen yet. Thank you for all of this. Some of us are not made for the public life, though. One of the best writers of the 20th century is Cormac McCarthy, who probably never sold more than 5000 copies of anything (last report he’s alive & kicking in Santa Fe). How to pitch fiction that is pure cult-following material is beyond me. Maybe you could throw out a few words sometime about “niche” books. Again thank you for your excellent perspective on this business. Always interesting.
Very timely. I’m going to pitching twice in a couple of months. Gives me some things to think about. And, as odd as it sounds, I have TWO sides of the table. I have done a pitch session before, but I’ve also run the pitch sessions at my conference (something like 5-6 years).
First pitch session: If your story is fundamentally flawed to start with, it isn’t going to matter if you meet the agent in person or send a query–it’s still going to get a rejection. When I went to my first pitch session with my then cowriter, we didn’t realize it, but our book was a collection of scenes and didn’t have a story to tie it together. The agent really liked us–we had her laughing, but we still got the rejection six weeks later.
Running the pitch sessions: Always, always make sure the novel is finished and that you are pitching to the right agent. We’ve had people show up up with only three chapters done or try to see an agent who clearly says, “I don’t rep that.” Believe me the agent may be polite to you, but we hear about you from her afterward.
Best experience: We had one young writer come into pitch one of the agents. She was probably about sixteen or seventeen and scared to death. She was crying non-stop, and convinced she was going to screw up the pitch session. We tried to calm her down–we did get her to stop crying, but she was terribly anxious. Went to see the agent, and I don’t what he did, but when she came out, she was smiling.
Worst experience: The way we do our pitch sessions, the writers are brought in from another room. We have a five minute cushion time between the sessions. It gives the agents a couple extra minutes if they want to run over, and us time to clear the room. Sometimes the writers are still talking to the agents when we bring the next group in–we always tell the writer to make sure the agent can see them. The agent will generally break and go to the next session. The pitch sessions are ten minutes. So we had this one session, and I started the timer. Five minutes in I noticed a man standing in the corner by the stairs, behind us (we were in the front of the room, and the agents in the back of the room). He wasn’t waiting–he was hiding. When I questioned him, I learned that he was supposed to be in the pitch session. He hadn’t wanted to disturb the agent. I told him to go let the agent see him now, and he wouldn’t do it. I literally had to march him over, and he still hung back, not wanting to disturb the agent. I had to get in the agent’s sight for him, and the agent broke immediately. But the five minutes were gone, and the guy was lucky we noticed him at all.