Thursday, September 6, 2012

It's conference time!

This is my cat, Nutmeg.  She has nothing to
do with this post.  But she is awfully cute.
Well, almost.  Next week, I'm off to the SCBWI Midsouth Fall Conference in Nashville.  I'm really excited - and a little nervous. 

SCBWI Midsouth is full of talented and friendly writers, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing those I know and meeting new people.  And I can't wait to get a critique on the first few pages of my WIP (Don't Fall Down).  There are some great editors, agents, and writers on the faculty, too, and the sessions all sound really interesting.

So, what am I nervous about?  I signed up for a one-on-one pitch session with an agent.  I've never done this before, and just thinking about it makes my heart race.  I read this agent's blog and I follow her on Twitter.  She seems like a really nice person, so I doubt she'll be all like "OMG, your ideas suck." 

But I'm still nervous.  I think it has more to do with selling myself than with talking to an agent.  I've chatted with other agents at conferences, and they've all been friendly and easy to talk to.  It's the talking about me and making my writing sound like the best thing ever that's giving me palpitations.  Plus, when I get nervous, I start to laugh too much and say "um" and "you know" and "like" a lot.  I want my pitches to sound conversational (as opposed to memorized), but I have a hard time doing that without rambling.

Have you guys ever pitched an agent in person?  If so, how did it go?  Any advice? 

2 comments:

  1. Good luck! I'm sure you will do fine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! I've got the elevator pitch and a slightly longer pitch written for one book. I'd like to have pitches ready for my almost-completed book, too.

    ReplyDelete