Halfway There

Page 146 out of 269. Jesus Christ this is a long process and I feel like a literary masochist for loving it so much. I just finished taking a week off of work to focus on the revisions for ZHUKOV. In that time I finally managed to train my body not to totally reject coffee! Achievement unlocked! I also bought a papasan for my deck and it has more or less become ground zero for writing-mode. It's also excellent for napping.

Mommy's Fluffy Support Team

I got another full manuscript request today too. This one came from Vickie Motter, another agent I pitched to at the PNWA conference. I am all sorts of excited about her being interested in my story since she's definitely one of my ideal agents. She's huge on darker YA, steampunk and dystopian, which puts ZHUKOV right up her alley. And her blog, Navigating the Slush Pile, is full of great material for writers of all levels.

Still no word back on the fulls I've sent out to anyone other than Entangled. It's a good thing I love fishing, because boy does this waiting game wear on you.

The Aftermath

This past weekend was the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Summer Conference. I attended last year with high hopes of getting My Bad Luck, the story I was working on at the time, picked up by an agent. Even though I snagged almost a dozen requests for material I knew my work wasn't ready. I thought it was until I attended the workshops and presentations at the conference. My work was good. It was not quite great. Despite that I sent out the requested material, waited, and took the rejections as they came back to me.

This year was different. I took everything I'd learned last year, everything workshops and critique groups had offered, and all the notes the editor I'd hired gave. I took it all and marched in there ready to conquer.

Since I registered early - something I recommend everyone do - I was given not one, but two power pitch blocks. The power pitch setup was new to me and a bit intimidating when explained. Basically they had a bunch of agents at one table and you waited in line to talk to them. Each pitch was three minutes and each block was ninety minutes. In the first block I pitched to six agents and two editors. In the second block I pitched to five agents and one editor. All in all I loved the power pitch blocks. There were a couple of hitches with them, mostly just inconsiderate people who didn't want to budge when their time was up and the agent or two who had eleven people waiting in line for them.

Now, the events leading up to the first pitch block were a bit dicey. I had a pitch prepared. One I felt pretty darn good about...and then I began to over analyze. I heard feedback from other writers like 'it's a bit wordy' or 'can you clarify this part better'? Constructive criticism is my best friend. I rewrote. I repitched. Same response. I tried again. It got worse. Towards the end of the first day I'd been through seven drafts and finally called on my friends, bribing them with alcohol after diner to get them to help me write my pitch. Maybe it was the Merlot, but I went to bed that night feeling awesome. The next morning though....it was bad again.

My friends (old and new) told me it was all in my head. I was too wrapped up in it. I disappeared for hours, wallowing in self-loathing and wondering why I'd wasted so much money on a conference I didn't have a pitch prepared for. I loved the story I'd written. I loved it more than anything I'd ever written and I knew there was a place for it in the market. I just needed to convince agents of that without throwing up all over them in the process.

Finally I threw my hands up. I resolved to just go in there and wing it. I knew my book. I knew which points I wanted to hit, and if need be I had a dozen different pitches memorized if I choked. My power pitch block rolled around and I walked in there, fully prepared to kick butt.

And I kicked butt. On my desk right now I have fourteen requests for material, three of which are requests for the full manuscript. So if you're choking when you're preparing a pitch, get out of your head. I am a very confident person and I was somehow reduced to a depressed heap of flesh sitting in the corner contemplating slitting my wrists with my note cards. Deep breath. Relax. That's what everyone around me was telling me to do but I didn't listen until I was on the verge of going home. I loved my book too much to give up on it.

That Time Again

Just over a month until the PNWA Summer Conference. July 19th will mark the one year anniversary of when I ventured out into the publishing battlefield with shaky hands and five-inch Steve Madden pumps (poor life decision right there). It feels like just yesterday when people, who are now dear friends of mine, were shoving me out of line in the direction of Vickie Motter. Let me tell you, no amount of public debate, theater, or confidence will make that first pitch any easier. You'll still feel like you're going to throw up all over the poor agent as you stumble through your pitch. After that first pitch though it's smooth sailing. You walk away feeling like a boss with a swagger in your step and a request for fifty pages. I think last year I must have pitched to almost twenty different agents and editors. So here are some notes to bear in mind if you're going to attend a conference based off my experience.

• Research! Like a fool I found myself pitching to anyone with an agent name tag, some of which didn't even represent my genre. It was very embarrassing to say the least but more importantly it was rude. Agents and editors are very busy during these things and I felt like I was wasting their time pitching to them.
• Make friends! Odds are everyone there is a little tense. We're presenting our babies and it's nerve wracking! Find people, even if they aren't in the same genre as you, and network. There is always something you can learn from them. I ended up finding all sorts of great people who now makeup my writers group.
• Comfortable shoes! Learn from my mistakes. You can still look fabulous in flats, and your feet will thank you.
• Seminars. Are. Awesome. These things aren't just about pitching. There are TONS of classes being held every hour and if I wasn't busy in a pitch session I was all over them. The best part is there are classes for everyone and every genre of writing, so be sure to look through the schedule ahead of time to plan out your days.
• Be prepared! I can't tell you how many people I met last year who were pitching unfinished work. These conferences are very expensive and I don't know why you'd bring something to pitch which isn't even done. Hello? You have to go back and edit it all too! Take your time. Get together something you're proud of and ready to show the world.
• Lastly! Take notes! Self explanatory. Especially if someone is requesting material from you! Note how they want it sent and how much of it they want. Last year, a week after the conference, I was getting texts from people I'd met, asking "Do you know what Mr. Agent's submission guidelines were?"

And above all, breathe. It's scary. Believe me. I think of myself as a very confident person, to a fault at times, but the first day of the conference nearly gave me a heart attack. Keep calm. Pitch. Have fun.