PITCHING TO AGENTS AND EDITORS*No Spring Training Required

by Elana Johnson

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELDAgent = personEditor = personYou = person

WE’RE ALL PEOPLE

Like reading books Have a dog Wear your pajamas

all day Enjoy “The Office”

Like reading books Have two cats Wear pajamas

sometimes Watch “The Hills”

religiously

You “They”

The point is: Find common ground. Do your research. Sign up for pitch sessions with “them” that rep/publish your genre/style, and who you

think you’ll work well with.

ACT LIKE THE STAR PLAYERTime to play pretend!

PRACTICE TO WIN Research the

agent/editor Write your pitch Memorize the pitch Practice pitching to

a live person, live Practice in front of a

mirror Practice in the car Practice, practice,

practice

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT 90% of my time is

spent pretending Act confident Act happy/friendly Act knowledgeable Act calm, cool,

collected Act normal Act like you’re exactly

who they want—because you are!

WINDING UP THE PITCHBuilding, writing, memorizing, practicing – all done BEFORE your session.

THE PITCH

Short Emotionally driven Interesting Full of conflict About SOMEONE Your book in bullet

points

Rambling Every—single—plot

—point Bland Without conflict About 40,000 people

AND the world they live in

IS IS NOT

BUILDING THE PITCH – STEP ONE Write Down the

following: Title Genre Protag (WHO) Main Conflict (WHAT) Setting (WHERE)

Tips: Titles matter,

brainstorm them Main conflict should

be easily identified—use as few words as possible

Setting includes time period, fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, dystopian worlds

BUILDING THE PITCH – STEP TWO For the 5 things in step one, write:

One vivid detail that makes them different

“Who, What, Where and WHY SHOULD I CARE?”

Why should an agent/editor care about YOUR setting, YOUR protag, YOUR main conflict? What

makes them different?

BUILDING THE PITCH – STEP THREE Identify if your story has:

Inherent conflict Originality Real emotional power

BUILDING THE PITCH – STEP FOUR Write down three “big” words – evocative

words – that relate to your story

BUILDING THE PITCH – STEP FIVE Get ready to write

Are you ready to write your pitch?I said, Are you ready to write your

pitch??

THINK IN BULLET POINTSWriting a pitch using fragments

WRITING THE PITCH – BULLET POINTS #1-3 TITLE MAIN CHARACTER

Include age (indicates genre, too) “In A NEW CODE, Seventeen-year-old Hannah Morse…” “In my thriller, NEWTON’S REVENGE, a young father” “JUST A JOB starts with Leon Wilks, a wealthy corporate

executive” Tell me the unique/vivid detail that makes

your character different “In POSSESSION, Thinkers control the population and

rules aren’t meant to be broken, but fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld shatters them to pieces.”

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON PITCH SENTENCE #1 USING BULLET POINTS 1-3 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (title) takes

place on the island of Berk, where fifteen-year-old Hiccup (who) lives with his tribe of blood-thirsty Vikings—but he can’t bear to deliver the fatal blow to a dragon (something interesting/unique/vivid—also, this is conflict).Notice: SETTING was included in most of

these first sentences. Often, you can combine the setting with the title and

main character.

WRITING THE PITCH – BULLET POINTS #4-6 The Main Conflict

Answer: What is the wall between the MC and what they want?

Answer: Who is the villain? What is the BIGGEST thing they’re keeping from the MC that prevents the MC from overcoming the conflict?

Answer: Does my MC have any special abilities (doesn’t have to be paranormal) that MUST be mentioned?

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON PITCH SENTENCE 2-4 USING BULLET POINTS 4-6 Hiccup wants to impress his dad (the “wall”)

—the tribe’s chief (more conflict)—with his dragon-slaying talents so he enrolls in Dragon Training (bigger “wall”).

Every morning he wields a mace and shield, while sneaking off every afternoon to play with the Nightfury he’s befriended.

Eventually his weapons are replaced with games, as he learns that dragons aren’t the monsters he’s been brought up to believe (minefield of conflict).

STOP AND THINK Does my story

sound like it has: 1. Inherent conflict 2. Originality 3. Real emotional

power Identify each in the

bullet points/sentences you’ve written

WRITING THE PITCH – BULLET POINT #7 Choose one “big” word from step four of

“Building the Pitch” Write a concluding, cliffhanger sentence

(curveball)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON PITCH SENTENCE 5 USING BULLET POINT 7 Using his quirky sense of loyalty, Hiccup has

one shot to prove himself and set a new course for the future of the entire tribe.

FIVE-SENTENCE PITCH HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON takes place on the

island of Berk, where fifteen-year-old Hiccup lives with his tribe of blood-thirsty Vikings—but he can’t bear to deliver the fatal blow to a dragon.

Hiccup wants to impress his dad—the tribe’s chief—with his dragon-slaying talents so he enrolls in Dragon Training.

Every morning he wields a mace and shield, while sneaking off every afternoon to play with the Nightfury he’s befriended.

Eventually his weapons are replaced with games, as he learns that dragons aren’t the monsters he’s been brought up to believe.

Using his quirky sense of loyalty, Hiccup has one shot to prove himself and set a new course for the future of the entire tribe.

STRUTTING YOUR STUFFYou’ve prepped, written, practiced. The time is now.

BASICS NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN Introduce yourself Smile Take the seconds you need to get settled Take a deep breath Level the playing field Put on your Jerry Seinfeld skin Talk slow

AND LASTLY… Don’t take all the time Let them ask questions Show gratitude

Remember: You’re not there to get page requests. You’re there to get honest feedback about your book so you can

make the necessary adjustments BEFORE you query.

PITCHES http://www.pitch-university.com/sample-pitch

es/ Practice yours. With your tablemate. Your

roommate. Me. Just someone. Tonight. Before your pitch session. In person. Out loud.

Go get ‘em!

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

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