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What to do after pitching to agents and acquisition editors?

March 23, 2012 By 2 Comments

What to do after pitching to agents and acquisition editors?

Coach Teresa here… to say “I’m sorry that I’ll have to miss being with you at WNBA-SF Chapter’s signature event on March 24, 2012.  Special thanks to WNBA-SF Chapter fellow pitch-coaches Mary E. Knippel and Tanya Egan Gibson, program chair Lynn Henriksen and co-president Linda Lee for providing  bios of the agents and acquisition editors so that I was able to create handout material for tomorrow, and Mary E. Knippel and co-president Linda Joy Myers for taking care of duplicating material and bringing to event tomorrow.”

“I wish my colleagues, all the authors who will be pitching, agents and acquisition editors, and luncheon keynote speaker Meg Waite Clayton a most wonderful day at our signature event ‘Meet and Speed Date with Agents and Acquisition Editors.’”

After you pitch . . .

What to do if an agent or acquisition editor has asked you to send a portion of your full manuscript or the entire manuscript?

If he/she has asked you to email the submission:

  • Make your email subject line” to the point”  (Example:  follow-up on our meeting at WNBA event on March 24      Another example:  Thank you for asking me to send my manuscript)
  • Use salutation; pitch in 1 to 3 sentences (do not assume that agent/ acquisition editor remembers everything you told her/him); state what you are attaching  (first 3 chapters?  first 50 pages?  book proposal? (for a how-to book also known as prescriptive nonfiction);  ask when you can expect a reply;  your “thank you”; signature block with your full name and contact information and website/blog/facebook/twitter/YouTube address.  Be sure to use paragraphs in the body of your email so that your message doesn’t look like a block of text.  Email yourself to preview.
  • The attachment—use industry standard format (Cover page showing your book title; genre; word count; your full name; your contact information.  Manuscript pages — 1” margins; double spaced; 12-pt. font; header on each page contains book title and  your full name; each page numbered)

Multiple agents and/or acquisition editors have asked to read a portion of your manuscript or the entire project?

  • Show your professional self.  If more than one person asked to read a substantial portion of your manuscript (investing their time),  you be honorable–give one agent an exclusive reading period (typically 2 to 3 weeks); let that agent know that other agents are waiting to read.

What to do if no agent or acquisition editor has asked to see your work?

Despair not.  Polish your pitch and query other agents.  How do you find other agents?  Read acknowledgment pages of books similar to yours; authors usually thank their agents and editors.  Go to Association of Authors’ Representatives’ website and search in their database.

Books that can help you refine your pitch and/or build your writer’s platform:

How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen

Break Through the Noise: 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message by Elisa Southard

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW by Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Cheering for you!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!”

http://wnba-sfchapter.org

 

Filed Under: Meet the Agents, Publishing - Agents, Acquisition Editors, Publishers, Publicists, Booksellers, Upcoming Events

Ready…Aim…Pitch!

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Yes, I do mean pitch. It may seem a little premature because the WNBA-SF March 24 Meet-the-Agents event is weeks away, but polishing your pitch takes lots of practice. Don’t miss your chance to get individual coaching this Thursday, March 1st at  our Member’s Gathering at the San Francisco Main Library where we will focus on preparing your pitch. Mentor Mary E. Knippel, encourages participants to RSVP (maryeknippel@gmail.com) and come prepared to have fun learning how to pitch to agents and acquisition editors.

Filed Under: Meet the Agents, San Francisco Chapter, WNBA-Writers Tagged With: , ,

Imperfect Endings by Zoe Carter was the perfect ending for MTA

April 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By Lynn Henriksen, The Story Woman
President, WNBA-SF

Meet-the-Agents 2011 was a huge success any way you look at it. Top Bay Area agents and acquisition editors gave first-rate feedback and accepted new work from anxious writers pitching their books, all before lunch with Zoe Carter. The following is the reveiw I wrote on Imperfect Endings, a memoir I highly recommend:

Whether or not one believes the choices this family made in Zoe Carter’s memoir, Imperfect Endings, are right or wrong, Carter is an undeniably powerful writer, who has an easy way with words on a complex, but timely issue. She has taken the difficult, to say the least, subject of life and death and crafted it into an unforgettable personal story laced with wit, wisdom, humor, compassion, insight, and abundant food for thought. To be honest, when I first picked it up I wondered if I wanted to “go there.” I’m glad I did—I found it incredibly moving.

I know it took more than a little courage for Zoe Carter to write this provocative slice of life. Imperfect Endings meant paring familial façade to the bone and sucking out the marrow, which she did unabashedly.

How does a daughter say, “Yes, Mom, I’ll watch you die slowly by your own hand.”  I’ll be a party to your staged sit-in with death.

Hauntingly beautiful are the two words that washed over my soul when I finished reading Zoe Carter’s Imperfect Endings. A true page turner, brought together through a dynamic flow of the highs of love and tenderness, and the lows of anger and sadness, revealing what it takes to be, at once, a mother and a daughter.

I could see both sides as the drama unfolded: the mother’s perspective, as she desired to make her exit —actually to direct it, while maintaining a modicum of dignity; and the three daughters’ reluctance to come to terms with their mother’s wishes and say goodbye to Momma. Throughout much of the memoir, a cloak of angry sadness hung from Zoe’s shoulders—she was deemed the caretaker, ever flying from coast to coast, always at her mother’s beck and call, while growing numb by degrees to her mother’s flirtatious and ever changing dates with death. Zoe was the “good” daughter—but also a woman conflicted by daughterly duties over shadowing those of being a wife to a man trying not to lose his patience, and mother to young daughters of her own, needing her attention.

Fluctuating between flashbacks of childhood memories and present day dilemmas, Zoe creates authentic scenes that strip away allusion to expose the raw reality of the family’s intimate workings. The three daughters’ angst for their parent’s past transgressions and weaknesses was palpable, and their reckoning of their mother’s pretenses and denial, although heartbreakingly understood, at least by two of the sisters, stayed unresolved.

But, in the final days, as their mother, Margaret, slipped away, the atmosphere rang clear with tenderness and acceptance as Zoe’s arms, gently enfolded a feather of a woman as the parade passed by, and songs from her lips sent Momma’s soul soaring.

Filed Under: Featured Authors WNBA-Sf, Meet the Agents, Non-Fiction, Publishing - Agents, Acquisition Editors, Publishers, Publicists, Booksellers, San Francisco Chapter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Listen as Judith Marshall Discusses “Husbands” on Blogtalkradio

February 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Judith Marshall is the chairperson for our upcoming “Meet-the-Agents & Editors” event on March 26th in San Francisco, but do yourself a favor today and join her on Blogtalkradio. Her award-winning novel, Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, was published in late 2009 and has recently been optioned for the big screen. Listen to Judith discuss her writing journey with Nanci Arvizu on Page Readers. She will not only inspire you to take your writing to the next level, she’ll share with you which steps to take to get there.

Filed Under: Featured Authors WNBA-Sf, Meet the Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Meet the Agents Testimonials

February 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

Agents and Editors:
“I had a great time, met a few excellent prospects and thank you for so much hard work in getting it together.” -Alan Rinzler, Alan Rinzler Editorial

“The venue was great, well organized.” -Brooke Warner, Seal Press

“Thanks for including me, this was a great event!” -Amy Burkhardt, Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Attendees:

“Last March I joined a hundred other men and women from the WNBA San Francisco Chapter at Sinbad’s Restaurant for its annual Meet the Agents event.  From the windows, views of the Bay were the blue of dreams, and expansive enough to calm the most nervous.  I won’t say I wasn’t a little jittery as I looked around the room, at the agents waiting. The hours were so learning-intensive and fun, and I called an agent I met, to whom I felt connected, and within a few days we were literary representative and client… some six months later, I signed the publisher’s contract.” -Mary Jo McConahay, WNBA member
“Thank you so much for organizing the Meet the Agents event last month.  Nervous as I was when I went in, I had a great time, and made some wonderful contacts.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed as I prepare submissions.
Your efforts and creativity in making this happen are much appreciated!”
-Elaine Elinson, WNBA member

“Event was pleasant and not overbooked, given a good chance to talk to all the editors and agents.” -Birgit Rodstein, WNBA member

“A great event! So glad I joined WNBA!” -Kate Britton, WNBA member
“MTA was excellent!” -Ricky Weisbroth, WNBA member

“Thank you so much for this event. Very constructive!” -Juliane Cortino, WNBA member

“Relaxed atmosphere to meet agents, great feedback!” -Tifin Kutch Dillon, WNBA member
“Great agents available!” -Bob Quinlan, WNBA member

“[I valued] the decency and professionalism of the agents and their candid feedback.” -Rob H.

“Well worth the time.” -Jeff S.
“Well organized.” -Jan W.

“The face to face experience, the gentle comments, some exchanges with other writers were also helpful.” -Eddi D.
“Great event! Thank you for organizing it!” -Valeria M.

“Glad for the large turnout of agents!” -Margaret B.

“[I liked] meeting other writers and hearing about their book projects.” -Jan W.
“I thought it was well structured, large enough to offer many opportunities, but still very accessible and not overwhelming.” -Michelle M.

Filed Under: Meet the Agents