pitching at conferences

[nephele]

Conferences come and go, and so do pitches. Every conference I attend, I spend a few hours listening to authors pitch their books to me. These authors range from nervous first-timers to seasoned pros, and the ability to pitch varies accordingly. I don't hold it against someone if they're nervous, because I understand they have a lot riding on the

Comments

[mollyringle]

Ultimately, I feel the oral pitch session is a strange system, given that writers are often shy by nature and not the least bit interested in this kind of performance situation.

I just want to say it's refreshing to see an agent say this. These days it feels like we're supposed to have a Marketing degree and a detailed plan of how we're going to take Oprah, the New York Times Book Review, and Amazon.com by storm, before we even think about approaching an agent. I don't mind the idea of reading aloud from my work once in a while, but, gosh, my main strengths are sitting in a quiet room and typing stuff.

[elialshadowpine]

"Ultimately, I feel the oral pitch session is a strange system, given that writers are often shy by nature and not the least bit interested in this kind of performance situation."

Thank you for posting this. I'm intending on going to Nationals next year, and I've been somewhat nervous about the prospect of pitching, being incredibly shy. It's awesome to hear an agent's perspective on the whole deal -- cause I imagine I'm not the only person who thought that notes and the like would be considered "cheating," instead of a benefit!

Great subject!

[anonymous]

You're scheduled for our conference in Seattle in October, so maybe I'll forward this link on to our chapter so they can prepare! :)

Shelli Stevens :)