Seattle Writer’s Workshop – Pitching to Agents

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So, I did it… I went to my first ever writer’s workshop/conference!

The short version of how the conference went…it was amazing!!!

Now, if you’d like to know more, here we go.

My mom and I went on this journey together, as I took my first steps in the outside world introducing myself as a writer/illustrator. We left for Seattle early enough to stop in Olympia for lunch and to see a bit of the town. We both agreed, the capital of Washington state is a beautiful place to visit!

We continued our journey up to Seattle, and made it to the hotel just before check-in, the night before the conference. We ate our meals at the hotel in their Cascadia Grill restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

There was plenty of time to scout out the next day’s event locations and everything was very straight forward at the hotel. When Saturday came, I was ready.

I had my book dummy in hand for my first alliterative picture book, Benny the Bookworm, and had plans to pitch one agent that day, in-and-amongst going to five different workshops on being a writer and the business of writing (See post on second alliterative picture book, Wishweaver here).

I mingled at the event. I met one of the event coordinators, Brian Klems, and introduced myself. I got to meet several other writers of various genres and we exchanged our business cards.

Mingling…check!

The first class I took was: Book Marketing from your Couch: Social Media 101 and I found it very informative. I was trying not to be nervous for my pitch that was taking place right in between that session and the next, but no such luck. As much as I love my story, and I am excited to pursue my career as both a writer and an illustrator, it was nerve-wracking to put myself and my work out into the literary world.

Would my illustrations be up to par with other illustrators in the children’s book market?

Would my writing catch the interest of others besides just my friends, family, and critique group?

What if I completely forget my pitch in the worst possible moment?

The doubts of we creatives can be high. They often call it “Imposter Syndrome” or that feeling of inadequacy because you haven’t “made it” yet in whatever it is you are trying to “make it” in. In the writing world, it’s feeling odd calling yourself a writer and/or illustrator when your credentials haven’t been built up yet. Saying you are an illustrator but not having had any illustrations printed in anything of major consequence.

I now have some illustration publishing credits with the Theodore and the Enchanted Bookstore series, but that is still with a small publishing house. I haven’t reached the Big Leagues…yet!

I went into my pitch meeting with my nerves in my throat, but I knew my pitch backward and forward. The agent immediately complimented my dress and the ice was broken. We got to talking about my book and I had ever-so-casually placed my Benny the Bookworm book dummy on the top of my notebook just in case they noticed and wanted a peek. Lucky for me, it was the first thing she saw and she immediately wanted to see it!

During the entire pitch she mentioned how much she LOVED (her words, not mine) my illustrations and kept repeating that fact. She knew she wasn’t the agent for this particular story. She did, however, invite me to send along any future work as “Requested Material” since she loves my artwork so much.

Although I didn’t get a request for this manuscript, there was an agent connection made for my future work.

Talk with an agent…check!

On a whim, I decided I would pitch to a late-add agent who also repped picture books and had openings for pitches available. The pitch was at the end of the workshop day.

When my ten minutes were beginning, the agent was still finishing up with the last writer and asked if I wouldn’t mind waiting a moment. As I waited, I chatted with another agent who was leaving for the day and we exchanged business cards. She wasn’t a rep for children’s books, but loved crocheting and amigurumi and so we just chatted about our yarn obsession.

When it was my turn I didn’t have ten minutes anymore, but I didn’t even think about the time. The agent (once again) saw my book dummy sitting on my notebook and asked if she might see it. She too loved my illustrations! It took the pressure off that I was pitching while they perused my book dummy and their eyes were focused elsewhere. This agent loved the sound of my story and asked that I send the full manuscript to her. She asked what else I’ve been working on since we still had more time left.

So…

I told her about Adeline and the Mystic Berries. I gave her an impromptu pitch for that middle grade (ages 9-12) fantasy story and mentioned I was doing final edits on it. I also mentioned that I had queried with it before and that it had had a few “Rewrite & Resend” requests, and definite interest for today’s market. I told her the names of the agents who’d had interest and she asked that I send her the first 20 pages as “Requested Material” whenever the edits were through (no time limit).

So…

Moral of the story? You never know where interest will come from in this business. Take chances. Don’t put your eggs in one basket. Go to conferences. Mingle. Exchange business cards. Query. When you get rejected, send another query. Don’t give up. Start your next book. Write. Write. Write. Did I mention, never give up?

It’s those who stick with their writing that will find themselves published authors in the end.

 

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