Hello Writer Friends!
In my last post I talked about preparing for a face to face agent pitch and hopefully overcome nerves when the time comes.
So, here's the ugly truth, I froze. 😱
I absolutely stand by all of the notes I gave you in my last post. Unfortunately, as prepared as I thought I was, I wasn't confident enough to speak the carefully written pitch I'd lost many nights of sleep over.
At this Writers Workshop I had three, ten minute pitch sessions scheduled with three different agents.
Pitch #1 I opened with my genre, YA and word count. The agent immediately asked me, "Do you write any other genres?"
I responded with, "Yes, I enjoy writing romance." (Big smile)
The agent responded with, (Big frown), "You are a new author. I am not interested in representing someone who genre hops! If I'm going to represent a new author, I expect you to concentrate fully on one genre."
Honestly, she threw me. I wasn't expecting that answer or the aggressive way it was said. I remained quiet a moment regaining my composure. This led to the next eight minutes of the agent talking nonstop, giving me her take on writers who genre hop and when she signs an author, she expects three books a year and genre hopping would not do. She continued on with what I should and shouldn't be doing. I sat back listening and hoping to get some good information out of an otherwise unhappy experience. I allowed my time to lapse and was relieved when the next writer stood behind my chair and the bell rang ... times up. I stood wishing the next author the best of luck.
I went back to the conference feeling a bit out of sorts but sure I would fare better during the afternoon pitch sessions.
My next two pitches were scheduled 15 minutes apart. At 3pm I went back upstairs feeling better and more confident than in the morning. The pitch room was full of desks and more agents than earlier. The noise level was through the roof.
Pitch #2 I sat down in the chair across from an agent I had heard speak at an earlier workshop. I thought she was great and told her so when I introduced myself. Somewhere between the hand shake and sitting down in the chair, something happened to my brain. My thoughts vanished and I sat there looking at the agent without a word of my pitch in my head. I mean ... nothing. I began to flush and stutter and couldn't get a sensible word out of my mouth. The agent was patient. She tried to calm my nerves. Still, it was painful. I couldn't remember anything. The agent offered to ask me questions and said we'd simply talk. She asked who my main character was. I answered. I stuttered but I answered. She asked me what her main problem was. I answered as I wiped buckets of sweat from my face. She asked me about the climax of my story. I calmed some and as I spoke about it, my confidence would return until half the way through a sentence my thoughts would freeze-up again. The agent did draw enough out of me to give me some advice on my ending. The bell rang and thankfully, my time was up. I stood, shook her hand, apologized for my nerves, and thanked her for her patience. I quickly moved to my next agent frustrated because there was no time to run to the restroom and wipe my face. In the few steps it took me to cross the room to the final agent, I had made up my mind that I was not willing to humiliate myself any further. I decided not to pitch. I didn't want to be a no-show. I thought that would be an insult to this final agent. Since I'd spent the money for her time I'd ask the agent if I could simply ask her questions and pick her brain for my ten minutes.
Pitch #3 After introducing myself, I explained my problem with freezing-up during the prior pitch sessions. I felt I'd benefit more if I passed on the pitch and used my time to learn about the agent and her agency. The agent was fine with that. She relaxed and smiled and so did I. My first question: "I read in your agent bio that you represent more than one genre. Would you be opposed to considering an author who writes in both genres you represent?"
Her response was,"No. I wouldn't. Why do you ask?"
I told her about my earlier experience. This lovely agent told me in some cases it is better for an author to stick to one genre but she would not reject an author for writing in more than one genre. That made me feel much better. The pressure was off. As I asked the agent questions, she also asked me questions, for example, what type of romance I write and what novel had I planned to pitch today. Before I knew it, the bell rang and I had a page of good notes. I truly enjoyed talking to this agent.
As I thanked the agent and turned to leave, she called out to me.
"Wait! Don't you want to submit? I want to give you my card!"
Surprised, would be an understatement! 🙋I immediately said yes!
"Which story to you want me to send, my romance or my young adult?"
She said, "I don't care, send whichever you want or both."
As of this post I have not submitted either manuscript. I am working hard on the edits. I've learned much at that conference. I am putting the lessons I've learned into the manuscripts before I submit.
Don't give up. Never be a no-show. If you feel too nervous in the moment to pitch, use that time to chat with an agent. You'll learn something new that may possibly help you to survive the next.
Whether my manuscript is accepted by this agent or not, I will always be grateful for the opportunity and the experience.
KEEP WRITING, KEEP SMILING AND KEEP SUBMITTING!
