Pitcher of the Year!

That's right!  I'm the self-proclaimed pitcher of the year!  I figured since I agonized over my pitch on the blog, I should tell you how it went.  First of all, I got to the conference Friday night, just in time to hear a class by Elana Johnson on Pitching to Agents and Editors.  Her class was Uh-May-zing!  I rethought my pitch and came up with something a bit better, but the best inspiration hit me at 5:00am.  I woke up and just knew what my pitch was, so I wrote it down and memorized it. 

But first I need to back up a bit to Friday night again.  I attended the meet and greet with the editor and agents.  I spied Kirk Shaw before he even entered the room (He's really tall, kind of hard to miss).  I must have been staring him down hard because he came right up to me and shook my hand.  I felt like a two year old meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time ever.  I mean, here he was, a living, breathing editor shaking my hand.  Taking a deep breath I got my name out and even managed to mention that I would be pitching to him the next day.  That was a mistake, because he asked me what my book was about.  What??  I wasn't ready!  I think it may have sounded something like this, "Uh, women, uh, self, uh help..."  But he sensed my nervousness and quickly moved the conversation on to other things which eventually fell on my favorite books, "The Wheel of Time" Series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson.  He had read the whole series!  That's it, he won me over!  Anyone who is also a fan of Robert Jordan is definitely a friend of mine.  Too bad I wasn't pitching "The Wheel of Time" series because I came to life.  I probably monopolized too much of his time, but it was well worth it because I was able to see him as just a normal person (Well, a little above normal, he is a Robert Jordan fan after all!) 

So Saturday rolls around and I completely enjoyed myself at all the classes, but kept my pitch in mind the whole time.  I was fortunate enough to get Kirk's last pitch of the day.  That meant I had all day to pitch to anyone who would listen.  (Thanks to all you unfortunate people that I cornered!)  By the time my appt. came up, I was ready.  I handed him my pitch package, (I had it in a nifty black folder with my business card).  He explained that he wouldn't be taking the package but that he would take my business card.  I didn't let it bother me, but I did direct his attention to my annotated Table of Contents (a TOC with a summary under each chapter.)  He pulled it out and I dived right in with my one minute long pitch.  He kept his eyes riveted to me while I talked (yes it was a bit unnerving, but I got through it.)   When I stopped he glanced at the TOC then back at me and said, "That was a great pitch, by the way."  (HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!)
Then he asked me questions from the TOC and I answered them all with confidence.  The best part was I actually did feel confident.  I did feel like I knew what I was talking about.  When our time was up, he actually asked for a little more time with me (Being last has it's perks!)  Then he told me to send him the manuscript when it's completed and gave me his business card!  I was flying so high!  It was a wonderful experience and I recommend you all try it!!  (Course, maybe I just had the priviledge of pitching to the best editor ever!!)