Sorry I haven't been checking in for the last few days. I've been spending my days at the Pitch & Shop conference here in NY and I come home just exhausted. Of course, it doesn't help that I seem to be catching a cold as well.
And yes, my husband has been doing a fabulous job picking up the kids and getting them where they need to be. Yay him. Now he just needs to get them to soccer and fencing and he's all finished.
At the conference yesterday, we broke into small groups based on genre and worked on our pitches. Then worked on our pitches some more. I think my butt is going to be completely flat and about three feet wide after this is over, because there is a lot of sitting and listening and working. Whatever it takes, I say, flat butt be damned if it the result is a strong pitch. Our teacher has been fantastic and really knows how to focus on the compelling part of a story to make it interesting.
So today I pitched my first editor, and it went very well. Surprisingly, she didn't have claws and fangs and she didn't say things like "Terrible!" and "What were you thinking?!" She was actually a nice person with good insight and suggestions. I'm feeling more confident after meeting her.
The conference is held in a dance/actor studio in midtown. I think people are trying out for Guys and Dolls and various other Broadway shows. Every once in awhile I take my flat butt out into the hall and see actors stretching and warming up their voices. During the pitch session today, we could hear la-la-LA-LA-la-la-la coming from another studio, and someone screaming like he'd been shot. Maybe I'll put on my jazz hands and go tryout, while I'm there and everything. Or maybe not.
Two more editors tomorrow, and one the day after.
Whew.
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7 comments:
Hope you find your perfect set of eyeballs! Conferences really are exhausting, aren't they? I always sit near the door so I can sneak in and out, coffeeholic that I am.
So glad it's going well, especially with your first successful pitch.
Keep it up!
Thanks, Angie and Janna.
I guess the conference isn't nearly as exhasting for me as it is for many of the people who some from out of town. There is a woman there from Alaska! NYC is probably not the easiest town to navigate for a newbie.
Oh, shoot. My brian IS fried. We also had a panel on book publicity that was informative. Guess I'll blog about that tomorrow.
Did your original pitch change much based on the advice? Would love if you could share some of what you learned in future posts. Good luck this weekend.
My pitch didn't change very much--just a bit of tweaking to make it more clear. And I needed to add comparables (I picked Little Children by Tom Perotta and The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer.) I didn't realize how important comps were. Everyone seems to want them and it's not always easy find similar-but-different books that are popular-but-not-too-popular. Some other people had to overhaul their pitch--usually because it was too long or had too much information.
The thing I fear the most is figuring out comparables. I'd love to hear any insight you can give as to what you learned about that.
I'm glad it's going well. Maybe you'll find an editor AND get a spot on the Guys & Dolls cast! At the very least, it sounds like a good stress reliever.
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