The Real Writer

Day Three: Success!

I'll have to be brief because I just got back from dinner with my group and have to tweak my pitch AGAIN before our editor meeting tomorrow. Today we pitched to a guy from Random House, and a woman from a subsidiary of RH. Both went well, but the first one was the real payoff. Dana Isaacson is a Senior Editor at RH. I was the 2nd to last person for that pitch (and the 4th to last later, and the 3rd to last tomorrow, grrrrr!) but he was still smiling and stood to greet me (very nice!) and shake my hand. As I made my pitch he stopped and asked questions and made some approving noises (which I read wrong and was thinking that he'd heard it all before and I was blowing it), and when I was finished said that he loved the title (I've changed it from 'Killing the Good Girl' to 'Goodbye Good Girl') and the story and then whipped out his card and told me to send the first 3 chapters on his recommendation to an editor at Ballantine!!!

I was out of there in 4 mins. It was mind-blowing. Amazing. Mostly because the day started out so badly. I knocked a bottle of clear nail polish on the bathroom floor where it broke and smelled so strong I had to shut the door and leave the window open in there all day. Then the printer in the business center was disconnected so I couldn't print my new pitch so I ran upstairs to the concierge in desperation, and he let me print it from behind his desk. I got to the conference with five mins to spare. Nothing like a little adrenalin rush to start the day.

Back to Dana, I think he suggested an agent to two other people, so we were doing well. The second editor, Sally Kim, told me I had great credentials and a good story and should have no trouble getting an agent. She had some good suggestions about what to include in the query letter (specific to my story, not to the query letter process in general, so no need to share them here), and was very encouraging, but no magic. That was fine. She did like two of the other women's books so that made us all feel good. She was really sharp and had something positive to say to everyone so it was a nice way to end the day. When I walked out, I heard her say to Sally Koslow, "This is a really good group," which lifted my spirits.

Ended up going out to dinner with Michael Neff again at some Mexican place in the West Village. Didn't have enough energy for the comedy club after, so went back to the hotel to work on the pitch again. I'm very aware that Sally has heard it 4 times now and want to change a few things. I can't decide if it's good that she's there in the room with us during the pitches or not. It find it rather inhibiting, but I guess she needs to see and hear it so she can give feedback herself. Sometimes she's been supportive, and sometimes not. When I walked into the room for the Sally Kim pitch, I heard Sally Koslow (just too many darn Sallys!) say under her breath, 'This is a good one.' I just can't pin her down, which is frustrating.

One more editor tomorrow and then home. I've had a wonderful time here and met some incredible women (we're forming an online group - I would read every one of their books; they are that good), and I'm so pleased that that's happened. (Did I just say 'pleased'? God, I sound like I'm Dame Judi Dench or something.) I hope we can keep the group going, the four of us, because it's rare to meet cool women that you bond with, who are also writers. A real gift.

I am, however, ready to go home. Got poems to write for the aerial show and class starts next Thursday. Also the Maryland Writers Association meeting is tomorrow night. Lots to do!

Day Two: Mutiny or Ousting the Workshop Leader

So I was pretty reserved in my post about our workshop leader, Sally Koslow, yesterday. The truth is - she's not the greatest choice for this conference. Some of us were trying to pin down exactly why we as a group don't mesh with Sally, and it's mostly that she's just so passive and unenthusiastic about everything. We're a very funny group, really, but she doesn't laugh at anything, just sort of smirks, which is so irritating. It ruins our good time. Plus, it appears that she either didn't get the email stating the criteria for the pitch, or she didn't read it, because her focus has been completely contrary to what Michael Neff, the organizer, told us to do in our pitch (see my post two days ago for details on what was asked for).

Last night Ann, one of the participants, ran into Michael on her way out to dinner with the friend who's traveling with her and they ended up at some bar where she told him the story of our first day and begged for his help. Michael, who is also fabulous (I have a terrible writer's crush on him right now) - goofy, funny, a little too flirtatious, but smart about the market and pitching and publishing - offered to come by our room at 3 pm and offer his time - sort of an impromptu visit. When I got there this morning for our first pitch to the first editor, Jackie Canter, she let me know. I was so relieved. So many people were really off course and confused, and I knew it would help. I also just wanted to hear Michael's advice about everything.

Okay, the pitch. Went well. Was a bit odd because we all pitched to Jackie, one by one, in front of the group, so that felt a little awkward. She liked my title, themes, and found the end (cliffhanger) intriguing. All good. I thought everyone did well. A few tried to do it from memory and went on much too long, but Jackie was very gracious and encouraging and gave wonderful tips about things like - speak in broad terms about your book, don't get mired in details. Once you start giving plot details you're committed to finishing them, and the pitch goes on much too long. In speaking broadly, you force the editor to ask you questions, and that's how you get to fill in more details. And - focus on one character who is the main protagonist. They should be sympathetic so we can attach to and identify with them and ride with them throughout the book. She also said that even though editors say they don't take unsolicited manuscripts, it doesn't hurt to email the editor you're interested in (after researching who they're publishing to make sure you'd be a good fit), and make a quick 1-2 line pitch (need to summarize your book in 1-2 lines; hard to do!) and if they're interested you send the ms.

After lunch Sally gave her impressions of our pitches, and she did have some good comments, but the damage is done for us! She made the list of who will pitch when tomorrow, with the two editors, and several of us (including me) are in the last five both times, which really bugs me. The editor will be tired by then. Being last once is one thing, twice is another. Then she breezed out again at 2:30 pm this time, saying we should all go write. We grabbed our stuff and ran over to Michael's room and he worked with most of us for over two hours. What's great about Michael is that he dialogued with us, asking questions and digging into the stories. He had some good tips too. Two that I can remember - a good pitch is about 250 words. When querying for an agent or editor, send the query letter, attach your pitch, and also attach the first page of the manuscript. They don't ask for those two extras, but you should send them anyway. They will read them and it may get you in.

Afterwards, Ann and I joined Michael and six people from his workshop for dinner. They are a fun group - half literary fiction, half sci-fi. What a combination. They were all very cool. One guy, George, who we started calling Lars, because he's writing about Vikings in space (I kid you not, but if you listen to his pitch it makes sense and sounds interesting), latched onto me, but I managed to fend him off. One of the women, Andrea, is writing a retelling of the Peter Pan story called 'Hook and Jill,' with a very sexy Hook, which I think is great. I mean, wasn't Hook, however dastardly, always sexy? She wouldn't tell me what happened to Wendy, but hinted that being around all those sailors made her want to grow up (!). I asked John, one of the literary fiction guys, what it was like being part of that mix and he said, 'we hate them, they're bringing us down,' but that was clearly a joke as it just works that group, which is nice. All the groups just seem to be working. It's that magic that happens when everyone has a common purpose.

We went to some bar with Michael and Lars after; the rest of the group got separated. They were all drinking Fuzzy Navels, I have no idea why, and Ann and I ended up trashing Sally, which Michael took in stride - the exaggeration was fun - which earned us the nickname 'pitch bitches,' so now I feel like I really belong. Nicknames clinch it.

I got in at 12:30 am and still haven't rewritten my pitch for tomorrow. It's one on one with an editor and Sally (wish she wasn't going to be there, but those are the rules). Now I must incorporate my platform (credentials) into the beginning, as Michael encouraged me to do so, including giving poetry awards. Then it's bed. Getting 5-6 hours a night is killing me. But it's worth it. It's great to be here with 59 other writers, all focused on this experience of pitching our novels. To be among one's own.

(Still no heat!!!!)

Day One: Getting Our Feet Wet

The day began with registration at Ripley Grier studios, two blocks from the hotel. A place for artists of all kinds - rehearsals and auditions. Cute - with green wicker furniture, lots of pillows, plants, and throw rugs. We were split into four groups and went to our rooms. Was a little uncomfortable sitting there for 3 hours as the chairs weren't all that comfortable. No table either - a table would have helped. My workshop leader is Sally Koslow, who's just published a novel, "Little Pink Slips" from Putnam. She's very New York - skinny, skinny, with a prove-it-to-me look in her eyes, wearing a gray suit and little black half-boots. She used to be the editor of McCall's magazine, so she has a great deal of experience, but there's just something missing - an enthusiasm and passion for writing. You'd think someone who just published her first novel would be a little more excited. She seems more tired than anything else.

The group is great, however, lots of interesting stories--several historical, some are about the south (several southern writers in the group), . We went around the room, introduced ourselves and ended up giving our pitches. Things got confusing for some of us, because we followed the email request and wrote our pitch with all the criteria (scene setting, cliffhangers, etc.) and Sally was encouraging us to just present it as if we were telling a story, which caused most to ramble and stumble. It was much more awkward and didn't feel right. We broke early (3:30 instead of 5), so 12 of our original 17 stayed until 5 workshopping our pitches in small groups, which was really helpful. Afterwards, we ran into Michael Neff, who arranged the conference, and he said we should just read our pitches as written, that this is what the editors were expecting, and if they had questions we would have a conversation after.

This was great news, as most of us were dreading the attempt to memorize our pitches! More good news: after our pitches on Saturday (there are two of them, 9 am and 1:30 pm, we are free to do whatever we like. I really just want to put on a good pair of shoes and walk and walk and walk and now I can.

Tomorrow we pitch to our first editor with the group. I'm going second, so I can get it out of the way. It's with Jackie Canter of Putnam. It's really more practice to gear us up for the one on one pitches on Saturday and Sunday. I feel strangely relaxed about the whole thing. It's a learning process. We're all having fun with it.

Freezing here, despite the sun. Heater's broken too! Hotel is 'shabby chic' as they say. (More shabby than chic!)

Pitchfest Post #2 - Maybe Not Ready...

Last night I received two emails from the pitchfest people, two very unwelcome ones, as they provided lots of LAST MINUTE info about the pitches we're writing that should NOT have been last minute. Caused a great deal of panic and loss of sleep as I made another pass at my pitch and also wrote down my 'platform.' Your platform is made up of your credentials - education, publications, organizations you belong to, press contacts, etc. Publishers want to know if you've got a running start on the market, at least in your area. Fortunately, with my contacts at Creative Alliance, CityLit, and WYPR, I do. Still. I could have used the sleep.

Today I woke up hating the pitch--it's too long--and worried my first novel might not even be worth it, so I wrote a pitch for Inventory, the one I'm working on now about the summer I spent cleaning out my grandparents' house with my father after their death. The premise is more unusual. So now I have two of them to torment me!

I've written both 6 times today. Each. I'm starting to think I'm the worst writer in the world. Probably because the tone of last night's emails didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. They were pretty--almost--harsh--about how just because "you're a success in other areas of your life doesn't mean you can write a publishable manuscript," and that all our myths and delusions about the publishing process will be blown away and we will all be starting at ground zero. (And I paid how much for this?) Sounds like someone who spent some years in the military to me...I don't expect anyone to hold my hand but they could balance that with a bit of a positive spin. Jeez.

So below are my pitches so you can see where I started and how it might work. For now. :)

Killing the Good Girl

Back in Baltimore for her sister’s wedding after a two year absence, Leigh McArthur finds herself slipping into her usual good daughter role, which she’s sure will make her lose her mind. Having grown up learning to fear anything and everything from her anxiety-ridden mother, she’s never dared veer from the straight and narrow, and all she has to show for it is her own anxiety disorder. When she arrives, she discovers her mother’s gone off Paxil, her bold, independent grandmother has advanced Alzheimer’s and is now in a nursing home after being found chopping the heads off neighbors’ roses, and her father is working long hours to escape. Wanting to help, but needing boundaries, Leigh agrees to stay one month and dog-sit while her sister is on her honeymoon.

Soon she finds out her on again/off again boyfriend, Will, is now engaged to someone else, and her grandmother, once her ally, is now almost a completely different person. Leigh is left alone to face her renewed panic attacks and anxiety, which have taken on an oppressive personality she’s named Raven, experiencing her as a kind of hallucination. When she ran away from her family, her fear, and Will’s marriage proposal, two years ago, she’d wanted to learn to how to be at home in the world, not to mention her own skin. But clearly not much progress has been made. Desperate to change that, she turns to Martin, a man she's just met under some very questionable circumstances. With his help, she sets off on a dark, sexual journey in order to break free of the personal myths she's believed in all her life.

Then her mother shows up needing a place to stay because she’s left Leigh’s father, Will comes around wanting answers and maybe her as well, and Ryan, the last guy she dated in California, calls with some surprising suggestions. All the while Raven grows more powerful. Leigh must decide whether to run again, ask for help from the unlikeliest of sources, or continue on a course which she knows will culminate in a soul-baring test she can’t afford to fail.

Inventory

The Summer of Death covered a lot of ground: sex, love, madness, secrets, family, money, murder, music, makeup, shoes, and lots and lots of sugar packets. Nina Johnson has just moved in with her sister after leaving a man she thought she was going to marry, when both her grandparents die within months of each other, then the ex-husband of her best friend a few days later. Soon she is knee deep in cardboard boxes, beginning what she thinks will be an uneventful summer teaching a writing class, comforting her friend, dodging her ex’s emails and phone calls, and clearing out her grandparents’ house with her father.

But soon it’s clear things with her grandparents were not what they seemed. First they find a kitchen and closets jammed with too much of everything, then money and jewelry hidden in odd places, a steak knife under her grandmother’s mattress, and other disturbing discoveries. Suddenly the house is not the safe place in her memories, but a kind of prison for two people suffering from dementia. It’s all a little too scary, so Nina tries to balance these weekends by throwing herself into her teaching, and spending time with a writer moonlighting as an Animal Control officer, who she meets when he comes to remove a bat from her sister’s house, and makes her laugh for the first time in a long time.

As the summer wears on, new surprises and secrets come to light. Nina and her father play old Bobby Darin and Rosemary Clooney records, and he tells her stories about her grandparents’ lives and his childhood that make Nina realize how little she knew them, and especially her father. She vows to take better inventory of her family and her own life. So when her ex shows up in person wanting her back, she wonders if she made the right decision to leave. She gets her answer when the shocking truth about her grandparents’ deaths is revealed and she finds herself doing something she never thought she was capable of.

Pitchfest or Bust

For the rest of this week, I'll be 'reporting live' from the 'Novel Pitch and Shop' conference sponsored by The Writer magazine in NYC. Four days of workshopping the pitch for two of my novels and then pitching them to four editors from major publishing houses. Hopefully my experience will give you the information you need to write a good pitch for your own, as well as get a taste for a possible next step in your search for an agent or editor for your book.

Our pre-conference assignment was to go to the library and find five books in our genre, then copy the book flaps as examples of ways to pitch our own novels. If you would like to try this, this doesn't mean choosing five random books from the shelves, this means spending several hours reading book flaps to find ones you think work well and would like to, perhaps, emulate. Then it's time to sit in front of the computer and write your own 'pitch,' which sounds easy but is excruciatingly difficult. Every word is incredibly important. As is tone.

What did I discover? A lot of REALLY BORING BOOK FLAPS. Really. I kept checking the publisher's name to see who would publish such drivel. There are a lot of books by women involving

1) women whose husband has died and they find out their marriage/life has been a lie
2) women whose husband has left them and they embark on a journey to find themselves
3) women contacted by children they gave up for adoption and then embark on journey to find themselves.
4) women giving up children for adoption, then later finding that child and embarking on a journey...
5) women embarking on a journey to find themselves and finding a man and getting married
6) women leaving husbands to embark on a journey...
7) women leaving good jobs and husbands/boyfriends to follow their dream

Are you still awake? Mine closely resembles #5, but with some original twists, thank God, or I would just scrap this trip and go shopping with the money.

From the assignment as emailed to me: "You will have one minute to say what needs to be said. The idea is to communicate clearly and hook your listener. Therefore, your pitch must include a SCENE SET (as necessary), a HOOK, sufficient MAJOR COMPLICATION(s) deriving from a PLOT POINT (an event/circumstance/action that significanlty changes the course of the plot), a dose of RISING ACTION (like the second act of a film), and then a wrap with a CLIFFHANGER. A cliffhanger begs the ultimate question. Once this question is begged, you want the Editor to ask for more. And once they do, you will hav engaged them enough to perhaps sell them on the idea of your novel."

Still working on it. Will post it when I have a draft.

PRACTICAL DETAILS:

Have packed everything including the kitchen sink. I must also bring a copy of my novel (as I have two, I'm bringing both), as well as copies of the first chapters. April in New York could be warm or cold, so have had to pack two outfits per day, including several nicer ones to wear when meeting the editors. No jeans at an important moment like that! Am packing water and anything I can eat in a hotel room, as NYC is expensive and I've pretty much spent an entire paycheck on this endeavor. I'm budgeting one meal out a day (dinner is the best choice). The hotel, The New Yorker, has 3 restaurants, including a 24 hour diner, so when I'm up in the middle of the night freaking out about my pitch the next day, I can soothe myself with pancakes.

For those of you following along financially, and wondering how much something like this would cost you, let's do the numbers:

Conference: $495
Hotel: $1025

Start saving! Will check in tomorrow when I arrive.

"Exquisite Chris" poem by WHWN participants

I must share this because it was so thoughtful:

Exquisite Chris
by
her poetry class

Chris is our teacher
Chris is beautiful
Chris is precise and spiraled
as an ocean vortex
Chris is a captain steering
my life in a fresh direction
Chris is a woman with feathers
Chris is insightful with proper direction
Chris is our mother
wren, regurgitating
brilliance like the earliest worms
Chris is the laugh that curls
out from the heart
Chris is the face that launches
poets off creative cliffs
Chris is the lady who makes you stay
up till midnight on a school night
looking for a better word.

Do I have the most fabulous people in my classes or what? Thanks to: Leo Horrigan, Michael Kelly, Rachel Lucke, Cliff Lynn, Eugenie Nable, Lisa Orenstein, Aimee Pohl, Kathy Spath, Shara Terjung, and Nicole Walton.

Check out the 'our writers' page at the WHWN website at www.whwnwriters.com to see more terrific poems, essays, and stories.