Polish, Prepare & Pitch!

Please welcome Jordan K. Rose to the blog. Her first book, Perpetual Light, releases in March of 2012 from Crescent Moon Press.

As conference season is almost upon us, I think this post will be very interesting to you all.

Here's Jordan: Hi Rebecca. Thanks so much for having me on Shy Writers today.

I thought I’d talk a little bit about the dreaded task of pitching. I think most writers will agree they’d rather hide in their hotel rooms or take every seminar offered at any conference they attend rather than pitch.

I have found a few things to be quite helpful in this process. My first two tips are very basic.

1. Finish, scrub, and polish your manuscript. Have it ready to go at the pitch. Then, when you get the request, march back to your room and send it. Don’t delay. Get it done. You want the agent/editor to remember you.

2. Know your audience. By this I mean research the agent or editor to whom you’re pitching. Don’t pitch your hot paranormal romance to an editor who only accepts sports biographies. What are you, nuts? Don’t waste your time, his time, or your precious opportunity to network with the right editor, the one who wants that romance.

This next one is probably the most difficult tip I have because it’s all about you and your mindset. But it’s really, really important.

3. Take control of the pitch. It’s your pitch, your story, your eight minutes of uninterrupted time with a publishing industry professional who wants to hear with you.

Did you get that last part--“wants to hear from you.” Yes, that’s right. The agents and editors who agree to take pitches at conferences want to hear your pitch. They want to buy books. They want to sell books. And why is that? Because that’s how they make their money.

This is a business. You hold multiple cards in your hands. They hold one.

You’re the creative manager, the artiste, the person who gets to decide who will publish your book. You drive this process. Without you there is no book.

They get to say, “I’d like to buy your book.”

You still have veto power. You decide if this house is the best house for you or this agent is the best agent for you. Just because Pamela Publisher is one of the Big Six doesn’t mean she can help you achieve your goals.

Know your career goals. What is it you’re hoping to achieve by publishing this book? Be realistic. Very few careers have flown into the stratosphere on one book. Don’t set yourself up to be disappointed.

Put it all in perspective. The pitch is an opportunity to meet an industry professional who wants to meet you. Don’t panic, just prepare. Bring notes in case you fumble. And realize that everyone does it.

Everyone has that moment of, “Oh my God, why am I doing this to myself?” But the successful pitch is made by the writer who shoves that question to the far recesses of her mind with the swift answer, “Because I want this.”

If you truly want to be published, polish, prepare, and pitch! You can do it!

Blurb for Perpetual Light:
Fate is cruel. Especially when the one you’ve sworn to love for all eternity, the very soul who changed your destiny is the last person you should trust.

After more than three hundred years of running, Lucia Dicomano must make a choice.

Forced to take her place as a Pharo of Redemption, the divine slayer needs to master her forgotten powers. Lucia turns to Vittorio, the one vampire she’s failed to deliver from eternal damnation. But overcoming smoldering remnants of love, lust and anger aren’t their only obstacles.

Samuel, who may know Lucia better than she knows herself, hunts her with a fervor stoked by a thousand years of vengeful hatred. His plan—capture and enslave the weakened Pharo then take control of her elusive power.

Can Lucia trust Vittorio long enough to reclaim her powers? Or will she have no choice but to kill him and battle Samuel alone?

About Jordan: After trying her hand at many, many things- from crafting and art classes to cooking and sewing classes to running her own handbag business, Jordan finally figured out how to channel her creativity. With an active imagination and a little encouragement from her husband she sat down and began to write, each night clicking away at the keys with her black Labrador, Dino curled up under the desk.

A few short years later she’s entered the publishing arena with no plans to ever turn back.

Jordan’s a member of Rhode Island Romance Writers, as well as RWA National, and the New England (NEC), Connecticut, and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal (FFnP) Chapters.

Find Jordan on her website at http://www.jordankrose.com/.


Follow her tweets on https://twitter.com/#!/jordankrose


Friend her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jordankrose