It’s conference time!
I’ll never forget the first ACFW conference I attended. About 100 of us met in Kansas City for the first ACFW event, and it felt like a family reunion. I met my editor for the first time (I’d sold a book while living overseas) and…I pitched a series.
Which I sold—with Susan Downs: The Heirs of Anton.
I was scared to death. I sat down opposite the editor and she, very kind but also business-like, said, “What do you have for me?”
Open mouth. Wait. Is there anything in there? I think I fumbled out my first line, something lame like, “I have a Russian suspense series I think you’ll like.”
Great pitch, Suz.
And then I realized . . . I love this series idea. I believed in my story. And I knew it could be a hit.
So I leaned in and said, “What if the stories of Anastasia were true . . . only they were about the wrong sister?”
I got a raised eyebrow. A subtle invitation for more. That’s all I needed to build her the premise, the storyworld and the potential for the series. My enthusiasm overrode my fears and I dove into telling the story.
I got a contract three weeks later.
This past year, in My Book Therapy, we launched a dream of mine – a continuing education program. It started with the Storycrafter’s Retreat (this year’s is October 29-31. http://storycrafters.mybooktherapy.com) where we focused on structure and storybuilding. Then we went to Florida, dug our feet in the sand and worked on wordsmithing at the Deep Thinker’s retreat. We ended with the first ever Pitch and Promotion conference, where I helped the future novelists hone their pitches, and agent Chip MacGregor taught them how to build a proposal. As I sat there, listening to their pitches to Chip, knowing that in six months they’d taken a fledging idea and turned it into a sellable novel, I wanted to dance through the room (and you know how I love to dance!) The Continuing Ed program worked. They understood stories. They’d written them. And they had learned how to pitch them.
And this week, a few of the attendees of the Polish (Pitch & Promotion Conference) are going to teach you. Just in time for ACFW.
It’s time for Pitch Practice at My Book Therapy!
Today and tomorrow, some of the MBT Voices and I will help you figure out how to write a pitch…then on MONDAY join us at the MBT Chat and let our team help you hone your pitch.
Learn how to find the core of your pitch from MBT Frasier Finalist Beth Vogt at The Writing Road www.thewritingroad.com.
Head over to the www.mbtponderers.blogspot.com where ACFW Genesis Finalist Teri Smith will explain how to find your dramatic irony on MBT Ponderers.
Take your pitch further by adding a PREMISE. Learn how at Tag(g)lines
www.melissatagg.com, our resident ACFW Genesis AND MBT Frasier Finalist!
And I’ll talk about Etiquette (And I’m a double Carol finalist. Just to keep the consistency!) Learn those dos and don’ts, so stop back!
You’ll have everything you need to put together the elements of your pitch, and bring them Monday night’s Batter Up for ACFW Pitchfest at MBT!
But, to kick off the Blog Fest, let’s go back to that moment, when the agent or editor says: So what do you have for me?
Don’t panic. If you’ve done your homework (which you’ll learn this week!) and created a dramatic, ironic pitch, then lean close, look them in the eye and deliver it.
Now what? If the agent says nothing, or gives you the eyebrow, or even just nods, then . . .
It’s time for the Premise—that longer blurb that drives in the hook.
What’s the difference between a premise and a pitch? Length . . .and depth.
A pitch hooks them with dramatic irony.
A premise feeds their interest. It’s simply a 2-5 sentence blurb of your story. You’re still pitching, but now you’re zeroing in on the most important elements of your book – the stakes, the fears, the dreams, the theme and plot, and the main players.
In other works, the premise follows up the pitch and boils down the most important aspects of your story, the biggest interest catcher, into a short paragraph.
Here’s the pitch from Tying the Knot:
A so-called gang member is trying to save a woman’s life . . . too bad she believes he’s the one that tried to kill her.
Here’s the follow up premise:
Noah Standing Bear has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. But when
he sees a woman gunned down, can he help her find healing? Worse, when it happens again, what will it cost him to save her?
Here’s the one from The Sovereign’s Legacy:
The Pitch:
He’s charged with protecting a lowly servant girl from the house of the Russian Czar . . . but what if she’s not a servant? What if she’s really the princess?
The Premise:
Royal daughter Oksana can’t believe her father entrusted her life to a lowly peasant. Peace-loving Mennonite merchant Anton Klassen is paralyzed by his charge – especially when he falls in love with her. Can two people from different lives find a way to protect Russia’s most valuable secret?
Again, the Premise is softer, and is the follow up to the Pitch. And hopefully, it eases your stress enough to let the storytelling take over.
Can you guess these?
He bets he can win her heart. She bets she can break his. Who is going to win?
She just wants to prove that she can be a Pulitzer-prize winning writer. He wants to be at the top executive at his ad agency. But when two high achievers are thrown together to achieve their own goals, they just might discover that falling in love is the greatest prize of all.
*****
She’s going to marry a king . . . until her true love returns from the dead. What will win – power or love?
She gave up on her future, believing her true love dead, and agreed to marry a king. But when her fiancé returns, ready to fight for her, can she believe in love, even when it seems the past has repeated itself? And will he be a man of his word – even beyond the grave?
*****
He believes Russia is about start a world war, but if he’s wrong . . .well, he might just might start a war.
He believes he can prevent war with his information about a Soviet secret. But what if he’s wrong? What if, in fact, he instead pulls the trigger on World War Three? Just how far will one man’s beliefs take him . . .and the rest of the world?
*****
If you know the answers, send them to: susan@mybooktherapy.com and you’re name will go into a drawing for Deep and Wide, my advanced fiction worktext for making your characters deeper and your plots wider!
So keep a Pitch short – about 50 words, then follow up with your Premise.
My final piece of advice?
Be Yourself. No one loves your story like you do, and your job is to make them see the potential. Make them love it by wooing them into the story. You’re a storyteller after all, aren’t you?
See you Monday at the MBT Pitch Practice Chat!