Today we're bringing you feedback from some of the pitchers on how it felt to pitch live to an editor or agent.
From Kathy Bosman on pitching to editor Charlotte Ledger:
I chose to pitch to Charlotte Ledger as it’s a dream to be published by Harper Impulse. I’ve never done a pitch before and was really nervous. Maybe because I express myself way better with the written word than verbally. I prepared a speech with loglines, characters’ goals, motivation, etc and practised it with my husband and other writer friends. I expected to make a monologue, but instead, Charlotte surprised me. In a pleasant way. What I really appreciated about her was that she took the time to read through my synopsis and first chapter thoroughly. She’d prepared questions for me and already had some advice on how to tighten up my book. Her manner was friendly, casual, and pleasant but in no way unprofessional. She pointed out the strengths of my book which gave me wind beneath my wings to fly with it, but also showed me ways to strengthen it. I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully relaxed for a pitch, but I do know now what to expect and I’m very excited to have the opportunity to send my manuscript to Charlotte once it’s complete.
Elsa Winckler on pitching to agent Laurie McLean:
I didn’t really feel ‘ready’ for the pitch but decided at the last minute, let’s do this (with a little help from Romy, that is :)) I’m so glad I did, though. I’ve tried to get in touch with agents before but it’s impossible really because most of them only accept pitches from authors they’ve met at conferences. And now we’ve had a conference! I don’t know whether I’ll be accepted as a client eventually but just the experience of being able to chat to Laurie made the whole effort worth-while.
Check back here tomorrow for Anthony Ehlers' post on 10 Insights from a 10 minute pitch.
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