Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A Pitch in Time Saves Nine

Okay, so I had this whole post written... in my head.  I was going to explain how I used to write picture books and then send them to my agent, only for her to write back and say "Eh.  The story is well-written, but I don't really care for the premise."   After a half a dozen of these experiences, my husband said to me, "You really need a new strategy."  (Yes, he knew if he didn't speak up, I would continue banging my head against the wall indefinitely)

He suggested I 'pitch" an idea to my agent BEFORE I started writing.  Well, eventually (after several more experiences like my earlier ones) I decided to give it a try.

And guess what?

It worked!

So, I was going to suggest that you all try to write your pitch before you write your story.

Bu then Jean Reidy went ahead and said that exact thing.  And she articulated the reasoning behind it so well!  So... go check out her post!

NOTE:  If anyone would like to test out his/her pitch, there is a great opportunity over at Susanna Hill's blog today called Would You Read It Wednesday?

16 comments:

storyqueen said...

Thanks for the link! It's always good to find a new picture book author blog!

Shelley

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

Excellent point, Corey. If only I could pitch things well enough to get my agent to say, "Yes, write that!"

Tere Kirkland said...

Sometimes I do a synopsis once I'm ready to go on my first draft. Helps keep me honest. ;)

Glad you found a method that works for you both!

Rebecca Gomez said...

Writing a pitch is a great way to focus on an idea, even if you don't have an agent to send it to right away.

Jeff King said...

My mind, or creative side, doesn’t work that way… it has to be spontaneous during composition. I could do a pitch work up after the first draft: to see if the story has validity or not.
Great post, thx for sharing!

Lauren F. Boyd said...

Thanks, Corey, for a great suggestion! I'll go check out Jean's post now!

Hope your writing is going well!

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

Thanks so much for adding the link, Corey :) And writers, YES, please come over and try out your pitches on Would You Read It!

Heidi Willis said...

Ah - too bad adult fiction doesn't work that way!! Although, if you already have an agent and editor one could try it. Still - 300 pages is a big commitment to have them say, "Eh. Didn't work as well as I thought it would." :)

Catherine Denton said...

I can see why it'd help to have the pitch before the story. Thanks for the tip; and for your sweet comment on My Blog. :D

Christie Wright Wild said...

Yeah, I read Jean's post. It was good. And Tara Lazar is
having a contest
about the best premise this weekend! It ends Sunday, so enter before Sunday night.

Kristin said...

Ooh, a new PB writer! Thanks for introducing me.
The pitch before the story might help me stay on the right trail. (Look! Squirrel!)

K said...

Thank you for the two links! You are a wealth of information :) So when you pitch an idea before you start writing, does your agent discuss it with you in detail or does your agent either say yes or no to the main idea?

I have my pitch for my YA novel down to a couple of sentences, but wonder if the main idea in this pitch could sound okay but then details to follow may not?

Susan R. Mills said...

Sounds like a good idea to me. Of course, I've never done it. Maybe I'll give it a try some day. It makes sense. I'm guessing if you can't write a good pitch for something then the premise probably isn't working.

Lauren F. Boyd said...

I saw your name on the schedule of events at WriteOnCon! Congrats! There's a lot of good stuff over there, huh?

Heathter said...

You're faculty at WriteOnCon??? I gotta get over there!!!

Joanne R. Fritz said...

Wow, that was really nice of you to admit that Jean Reidy had already said what you were going to say! Thanks for the link. I went over there and read the post and tried to become her follower but google's being persnickety at the moment.