I Speed-Pitched My Novel, Here’s What I Learned

Why the success? Because I was prepared. Your goal in pitching a novel is simple: get the agent or editor to request a sample of your manuscript. That’s it. Nothing more. You’re not trying to get a contract, or a book deal; all that comes later. The pitch is only the first of many gates you’ll have to pass through on the path to publication. It’s an important gate, however, so target your efforts at one thing and one thing only. Your job is simply to pique their interest. Intrigue them. Get their business card. Agents and editors are people, believe it or not, just like writers, and I found that they come in all shapes and sizes. However, they all share a few important characteristics: they don’t like it if you waste their time, they’re groggy first thing in the morning, and by the end of the day after hearing a hundred pitches, they’re burned out. In order to successfully pitch your book to a tired, hungry, and possibly hung-over agent, try the following five techniques.

#1: Stalk the agents and editors before the conference and pick your targets.

I know it’s a bit creepy, but long before the conference starts it’s very important to stalk the agents and editors who will be attending. Get the conference program and find the list of agents and editors who are taking pitches. Check out their bios on their agency’s or publisher’s websites. Lurk on their Twitter feeds and blogs. Sneak around their Facebook pages. Read articles they have written and interviews they have given. Take notes.

You’re looking for signs that their taste in books is similar to your novel. At one conference I sat through a very painful group session where a writer pitched an urban fantasy to an agent looking only for thrillers. It was a waste of everyone’s time: the writer, the agent, and the rest of us in the group pitch who had done our homework. Don’t put yourself in this situation.

As you stalk, it will soon become obvious which agents and editors you should target at the conference, and which ones you shouldn’t waste your time on. For the conferences I attended, I created a spreadsheet with all the agents and editors who were attending. For each entry I jotted down what they liked, what they didn’t like, how successful they had been in their careers, and any personal interests that seemed relevant to my novel. For example, one of the agents had mentioned on her blog that she loved coming-of-age stories in science fiction. So, I made a note that when I pitched her, I should emphasize the coming-of-age aspects of my own novel.

Then, I ranked the agents and editors with my favorites at the top, and when I signed up for my conference pitches, I made certain that I saw the top contenders. By becoming a stalker, I stacked the deck in my favor.

#2: If you can’t read your book pitch aloud in 90 seconds, it’s too long.

When you sit down to the speed-pitch, get directly to the point. You aren’t trying to make friends; all you need to do is get their business card. You should be able to introduce yourself, give a summary of your writing credentials, and pitch your book in 90 seconds or less. This leaves enough time for the agent to ask questions. The discussion of the pitch is more important than the pitch itself, so leave plenty of time.

Preparing your pitch…

It’s critical to write your pitch before the conference. Read it aloud. Time yourself. If it takes more than 90 seconds, start trimming. Yes, I know that it’s impossible to get the essence of your novel into 90 seconds. It doesn’t matter. Remember, all you’re trying to do is get them interested enough to give you their business card and ask for sample pages. Your pitch should introduce the protagonist, hint at a crucially-important story goal, and end on an intriguing cliffhanger. That’s it. Yes, the pitch will probably make your story sound cheesy. Get over it. Keep trimming until you can read it in 90 seconds without rushing.

Practice it. Practice it again. Then, practice it in front of your spouse or a friend. Practice it in front of a stranger. Most conferences offer a practice room where you can give your pitch to other, similarly-nervous writers. Fix any sections that seem awkward. Don’t mumble. Be proud. Your book is your gift to the world. It is an awesome, amazing, precious thing. The tone of your voice should reflect this.

When it comes time to pitch, relax. All you have to do is read a couple of paragraphs that you’ve practiced a couple of dozen times. No big deal. The agent doesn’t expect you to have it memorized. In my group pitch sessions, most of the people who delivered a pitch without reading it usually got off track, meandered around and eventually got flustered. These pitches were painful to watch; the agent usually struggled to keep an interested smile while their eyes glazed over. So, the lesson is, read your pitch, even if you think you have it memorized. It makes it easy for you, and the agent will appreciate it.

Okay, now it’s time to deliver the pitch at the conference…

You only have a couple of minutes, which is nowhere near enough time to build a relationship. Sit down, smile, tell them your name, and read them a very brief summary of your credentials:

“Hello, my name is Patrick Cumby. I was a technical writer for many years. I’ve published short stories in regional and national literary journals and in a Star Trek anthology by Simon & Schuster. I’m pitching a science fiction novel called The Rapture of Avatars. It’s complete at 90,000 words. It is Ready Player One meets Michael Crichton, with the contemporary science-mystery flavor of The Three Body Problem and Spin.”

Next, start reading your book pitch:

“Fiona Martinez isn’t a gamer by choice. A life-changing injury has left her homebound, forced to endure the humiliation of 24-hour healthcare and a devastated, overly-protective family. The virtual worlds of the Starships & Heroes game and the interactions with online players are her only escape from the unwanted life into which she has been thrust.

“She is intrigued when she meets an unusual character in the game, a woman named Analise who seems to be neither a player’s avatar nor a computer-generated NPC. Her intrigue turns to alarm when her phone rings with a desperate plea from a man claiming to be an employee of the game company: help Analise complete her game objective or real people in the real world will suffer an unimaginable apocalypse.”

Why 90 seconds? Because you want to leave plenty of time for the agent to ask you questions. It’s in the Q&A with the agent where you actually sell the book. The agent’s questions will reveal to you what aspect of the novel they are interested in. Focus your answers on their interests. Don’t ramble, you don’t have time. Be ready to answer the questions “Why did you write this book?” and “What is the protagonists primary motivation?” If there’s time left, ask them for suggestions to improve your pitch.

#3: Don’t be the first or last pitch of the day, especially on the second or third day of the conference.

Why do agents and editors come to writer’s conferences? Yes, they are on the prowl for an undiscovered bestselling author, but it’s not the only reason.  They also attend writer’s conferences:

1. To network with other industry professionals
2. To go someplace cool

There’s a reason the big successful conferences are held at vacation spots like the Pacific Northwest or Jackson Hole or Hawaii. Just like you and me, agents and editors want to get out of the office and go somewhere exciting, where they can mingle with others in the trade, make business contacts and forge relationships. They come to have fun.

So, for many agents and editors, you, the writer, are not the only reason they are at the conference. They enjoy speed-pitching about as much as you do, and probably much less. Think about how exhausting it must be to spend hours and hours and hours listening to one four-minute pitch after another, most from writers who are not properly prepared.

Most agents and editors are young, ambitious professionals.  They stay up late with their old and new industry friends, and they survive the next day on black coffee (lots and lots of black coffee).

What does this mean to you, the writer? Well, you might want to learn from my own experience. Out of twenty pitches I did at two conferences, only two agents weren’t interested in my pitch.

Why not?

I’ll admit that it might be because my book didn’t particularly interest them (although I’d done my research and knew they were acquiring stories like mine).  Or, it might have been because they weren’t even listening to me.

My first unsuccessful pitch was at 8:30AM on the second day of the conference. The agent was just filling her first cup of coffee as I approached her table. I knew before I sat down I was in trouble. Her eyes were red and glazed and she was moving in the slow, almost painful manner of a woman that probably shouldn’t have ordered that second bottle of wine from room service. Through my entire four-minute pitch she was cuddling the coffee cup, staring off into space, somewhere far, far away from the pitch table. Not surprisingly, she didn’t have any questions for me. I don’t think she heard a word I said.

My second unsuccessful pitch was at 4:30PM, also on the second day of the conference. She was exhausted after a long day of pitches, and she just wanted it to end. I was the last pitch of the day for her, and she spent the entire time reading and replying to a series of text messages on her iPhone, arranging the evening’s activities.

My theory is that the best time to pitch your favorite agent is mid-morning, preferably on the first day of the conference. Give them enough time to get a couple of cups of coffee, but catch them before they start thinking about lunch. Don’t be the first person they see. Avoid the early-afternoon, after-lunch sleepy time. Also, try not to be their last pitch of the day, especially on the last day of the conference.

#4: Go first at group pitches.

Many conferences offer group pitches, where you join two or three other writers to pitch a single agent for 10-20 minutes. My experience with this format is mixed. In two of my group pitches, the other writers didn’t show up, so I had the agent to myself for the entire time, which was wonderful.

The other two group pitches I attended didn’t go quite as well. In one, the first person to pitch, a lovely elderly woman, wasn’t aware of the 90-second rule. She embarked on a meandering retelling of her entire historical romance novel. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Twelve. The agent was too polite to stop her. So were the other writers, even though we were all looking at our watches and panicking. When the agent finally stopped the pitch, there were only four minutes left for the other three writers. There was no time for Q&A, no time for critique, nothing. From my perspective, it was a waste of everyone’s time. The agent should have stopped the first pitch, but he didn’t.

I figured this was an isolated incident but it happened again, in almost the exact same way, in my second group pitch. The first pitcher took up more than half the group’s time.

The lesson here is obvious. At group pitches, GO FIRST. Volunteer as soon as you sit down. And be polite and don’t hog everyone else’s time.

#5: Be the 1 in 10 that follows up after the pitch.

So you’ve gone through all the effort and anxiety of preparing a pitch, you’ve delivered it to an agent, and viola, he or she likes your pitch and asks for a sample from your manuscript.

Now what?

If you’re like most people, you’ll do absolutely nothing. In an agent’s panel I attended, we learned that only one in ten people from whom writing samples were requested ever actually submitted them. To an agent, that’s a frustrating statistic. They are looking for a manuscript they can sell to publishers. They ask you for yours. But if you’re one of the 90%, you never send it.

Huh? It makes no sense, but it’s true. I have no idea why. It’s rude to the agent, who wants to read it. Plus, if you don’t submit, your chances of getting published are exactly zero.

Perhaps your book isn’t finished, or perhaps you simply lose your nerve. Whatever your reason for not following up, it’s a stupid reason. Yes, you may, and probably will, get a rejection letter. But if you don’t submit, it’s far worse than getting a rejection from the agent—it’s like getting a rejection from yourself.

Follow up with the agent. If your manuscript sample isn’t ready, send a brief email and let them know that you are polishing it up and will send it in a few months. Then get to work and make sure you actually send it in! They don’t mind waiting for a good book.

Even better, if your manuscript is ready prior to the conference, send the agent the sample they requested immediately, on the same day of the pitch. It’s worth staying up late in your hotel room. I met a young woman in Seattle who landed a prestigious New York agent and inked a contract at the conference, simply because she was able to respond instantly to his request. It’s the professional thing to do, and agents enjoy working with a professional.

Follow these five suggestions and I can pretty much guarantee you’ll improve your chances of an agent or editor requesting sample pages. It doesn’t mean that you’ll get a contract or sell your book, but it’s a great first step in that direction.

As a footnote, I discovered that you can gauge the level of an agent’s interest by the number of manuscript pages they request. If they ask to see the first couple of chapters then their interest is probably minimal—when they receive your sample they’ll give it a glance, and if your writing is surprisingly good, they may ask for more. However, if they ask to see 100 pages or more, then you’ve piqued their interest. If you get really lucky and they ask to see the entire manuscript—a rare occurrence—then congratulations, they may have a strong interest in your work.

Given this measure, how did I do at the two conferences I attended? Of the twenty people I pitched, eighteen requested writing samples (although I suspect several of them were simply trying to avoid rejecting me in person). Most wanted only the first couple of chapters, a few asked for 100 pages, and two requested the entire manuscript. That’s probably a pretty good result, and much better than I had expected.