Pitching in Person

Last week was Saints and Sinners in the jazzy, sweltering undercarriage of Nawlins. It was all dirty spice like hot sauce and grits.

It also gave me the chance to do something I had never done before: I got to try to sell Jesse verbally, via an analog human-to-human interface. Conversation. That’s what they’re called.

How many times have you been told that now is the best time to be an author? You just hop on the internet and someone discovers you, right?

Well…

The internet has made it easier for writers to get exposure and feedback, without a doubt. But it also created slush piles, which make it harder and harder for editors and publishers to find unsolicited manuscripts of quality. I also believe slush piles make agents less likely to consider unsolicited queries.

This is where conversation comes in handy.

What a different experience. Writing someone a letter explaining your book can’t possibly demonstrate to a stranger why you HAD TO WRITE THIS BOOK. Or maybe I just suck at queries. Whatever. The point is, I found it a thousand times easier to pitch in person.

The best part was seeing the two sides of a publisher wrestling with one another. I could see the businessperson in my audience struggling with the same concerns that have stopped JESSE RULES from being published up until this point.

But the reader in her, that person wanted to know more.

I haven’t sold it yet, I’ve only convinced one person to read it. But in this world of slush piles, I take it as a great compliment that someone would ask for more work just because I made them curious. And all because of a simple conversation.

Publishing links, as always. This week we include the Amazon link to Saints and Sinners: New Fiction from the Festival 2013, which features my story “Mountainview”, about a bullied Middle School student and his tormentor finding common ground amid catastrophe.

To buy the anthology, featuring "Mountainview", click below.

http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Sinners-Fiction-From-Festival/dp/1626390304/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370199594&sr=8-2&keywords=saints+and+sinners+2013+new+fiction+from+the+festival

"The Camp Seminole Weiner Wall", 2012 Best of the Net nominee, free to read

http://www.pendulinepress.com/author-article-archives/the-camp-seminole-wiener-wall/

"The Gay Bomb", my first publication ever and it's free to read

http://newworldwriting.net/back/winter-2011/15-james-russel/

The Amazon link to buy "Saints and Sinners New Fiction from the Festival 2012" featuring "Divine Hand"

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Saints+and+sinners+2012+new+fiction+from+the+festival