Agent Pitching
I’ve been studying the elements of pitching an agent. There are many sources to find this information. One article, written by Shirley Kennett, is on Elizabeth Spann Craig’s blog. Shirley suggests the: “sell your story, sell your characters, sell yourself,” approach. It’s worth a look.
Below, please find a collection of various elements from various places, spun my way, and presented here in the event you may one day have use for it…
First, some obvious basics. Much of pitching is common sense. For example: be appropriately dressed, be on time, have a business card, be relaxed…. Quick point here: Nervousness won’t help. I learned this through flying. Shuck the fright factor right now. One technique to avoid nerves? Concentrate on your task, block everything else out. But the real key for calming nerves–preparation.
How to prepare? Treat it like an interview. Prepare questions in advance and rehearse them. Rehearse into your computer’s video camera, or with your spouse, or, worst case, by yourself. But rehearse–aloud.
What questions or elements might you face? What are some possible agent expectations? How to organize your preparation?
Make a “Prep Sheet.” In any order you see fit, include the following…
Agent bio…Why? Ice breaker and for answers later to the question…Why do you want me as your agent?
One Liner Pitch. I found the following advice from Kerrie Flanagan.
Children’s Book Insider editor Laura Backes shared a technique for creating a story line…
My story is about ___(character)_________that wants more than anything to _____(goal)_________ but can’t because ____(conflict)_______.
Here is an example using the Wizard of Oz:
This story is about a teenage girl from Kansas named Dorothy who wants more than anything to go home, but can’t because she is stuck in a strange land.
Notice there is no mention of a tornado, munchkins, witches or a cowardly lion. That information can come later, but this is the basic premise of the novel in just one sentence.
Nice, huh? Here’s also, a good spot to check that Shirley Kennett link. It talks about the “heat” of your story. Now is your chance to start some fires.
Paragraph Pitch. You might be asked to explain your book in two or three sentences. Prepare something that can serve as a springboard for the next question. Which might be similar to….
Okay, tell me more? Done properly, you’ve set this up with what is essentially the opening paragraph. Remember the one page synopsis we discussed the other day? This is where you get to use it.
Be prepared to answer the following… (no specific order.) Write the answers to these on your Prep Sheet.
- Target audience, word count, novel type…please avoid the dreaded, “fiction novel” descriptor.
- What’s the central conflict?
- Describe the main character’s flaws, arc, and conflicts in a paragraph each.
- What writers/books are comparable to you or your book?
- What makes your novel unique?
- What is your marketing strategy or book promotion concept?
- Why would a reader buy your book?
- What are your future writing plans? What projects are you working on now?
- What if the agent asks for an exclusive? How will you respond?
- Why Me—from agent?
- What are your expectations of an agent/client relationship?
- What is your writing background, experience, and credentials?
- Do you have a web site?
- What is your “platform?”
- What are your questions for me?
There are a host of other questions you could add, or, you could modify these. But, whatever your list turns out to be, the idea is to put them on your Prep Sheet, write an answer to each, then practice responding to them. Remember, you have about ten minutes…which can be a long time.
If you have additional questions for the list, or points to highlight, please add them in the comments section.
Okay, thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again on Friday. Galen.
Themocracy
Great ideas for agent pitching, Galen! I’ll have to tweet this one.
And thanks for the plug.
Elizabeth
Good tips, Galen. I’m confused though. You said to dress approprately. Does that mean you should dress up like Chewbacca if you’re pitching a SF novel?
In my book, dressing appropriately means not at all.
Seriously though–I love the format for plugging things in and the ‘practice questions’ to have answers for–I think this is a better suggestion than I’ve seen on a matter than mostly just scares the crap out of me.
Great post, Galen. And I have an award for you at my blog.
You’re right – the more prepared the better!
Good advice on preparation. I have one thing to add – before pitching to anyone, thoroughly check out the agent and their track record. If you don’t have the opportunity to find out all you can before the session, make sure to do it before signing anything.
In my one experience pitching to an agent (at a writers conference), she wanted to read a sample of my writing. Fortunately, I had an excerpt handy. She liked what she read and asked for the full manuscript. I made the mistake of being so excited someone wanted to represent me and thinking she’s at this conference so she must be legit, I signed with her and wasted a year of my writing life.
Great tips, Galen. Thanks. I’m off to search for a Princess Leia costume.
As usual, a carefully dissected and well analyzed approach and method plan for a very important aspect of our line of work.
The Old Silly
I love the Dorothy approach! Now that is something I can remember. But now you have me wondering if I can do it for my last book, I can for the currrent one.
This is a terrific post. I am bookmarking it. And tweeting it. That princess Leia is scary.
A timely post, Galen. I’m going to jump back into the agent search pool starting at the end of March with a conference pitch. Should be interesting.