Create a Rejection-Proof Pitch!

I recently finished reading a fantastic writing resource called Making the Perfect Pitch, which features the collective wisdom of a plethora of well-known literary agents, editors, and publishers. The chapters on "pitchcraft" and "nichecraft" are particularly insightful. Editor Katharine Sands writes, "Your pitch is the passport that you carry into the literary marketplace... It's the pitch and nothing but the pitch that gets an agent's attention."

 

One agent, Sarah Jane Freymann, offers writers these excellent tips:

 

1. Write, don't call. Pitch your work by way of a query letter.

 

2. Do your research first. Read Literary Marketplace or Jeff Herman's Guide to Literary Agents to see which categories each agent represents before you query an agent. Some accept only certain genres of fiction; others accept only nonfiction.

 

3. Don't use gimmicks. This would include sending ostrich feathers, scented candles, cute stationery, snake oil, magic wands, cat pawprints, dried flowers, family photographs, potpourri, or artisanal cheeses.

 

4. Be confident and personable, but not boastful. Make your query powerful, and the agent will ask for your manuscript; then, let him or her tell you how wonderful your book is.

 

5. Seek a powerful one-liner that encapsulates your idea. These can be especially evocative for a work of fiction. Let your imagination run wild.

 

6. Be authentic. Authenticity is the assurance and dgnity that comes from being genuinely knowledgeable and truly intimate with the subject you are writing about.

 

7. Be honest. (However, if your book has been rejected by other agents, you don't have to mention this.) Be professional and positive with each new agent that you address.

 

Fellow writers, I hope these tips will be as helpful to you as they were to me. (I promise they'll work better than snake oil, a magic wand and artisanal cheeses!)