For Writers: Pitch That Book

I was going to start this post with a bit about how I’m so happy I don’t have to pitch my projects at conferences anymore. But that’s nonsense, of course. Even if you have an agent, or a published book, you’ll always be pitching. To your readers, your editor, your agent, and to your family at the Thanksgiving table, right before they ask you how much money you’ve made off your books.

Pitching is part of a writer’s life, so I thought I would share some helpful links on this misery. For those of you going to conferences, or not. And for myself. Pitching is tough.

So here are those links, so you can spit-shine your elevator pitch:

--Kidlit agent Mary Kole has some excellent advice in her Pitchcraft posting.
--Literary Agent Nathan Bransford explains conference protocol.
--Agent Kristin Nelson on pitching.
--Guide to Literary Agents talks pitching.
--BookEnds Literary Agency talks about pitch lines that don’t work—some really good tips there.
--Women on Writing has an article on conference pitching here.
--Writers Conference Guidelines covers pitching.
--Agentquery has some good information on writing query letters that also works for constructing your pitch.

Good luck, and remember to keep it simple. And have a mint, that never hurts.