Outside my Comfort Zone

I'm a typical stereotype of a reclusive writer. I'd much rather be researching in a musty library archive or sitting alone in the cabin in the boonies writing. But unfortunately in this day and age you can't just write a book and let your publisher do the publicity. More and more of it falls on the shoulders of the writer.

And because I have aspirations of seeing my books on store shelves, I'm always in the hunt to catch the illusive agent or large publishing house editor and for that reason I'm pushing out of my comfort zone this weekend and attending a Writer's Intensive, where we'll schmooze, pitch, and have our query letters and synopsis read by three agents and three editors. If I said this was no big deal for me, I'd be lying like a a corpse in a six foot hole.

I can quote my pitch backwards and forwards until I sit down across from someone who I desperately want to like my book. Then I get tongue tied and sound like a blundering idiot. So I'm hoping by schmoozing with the "important" people before hand will help loosen my tongue at the right moment.

Here's my elevator pitch: Female MacGyver meets Latin Crocodile Dundee. Is that enough to make you want to hear more even if I can't spit it out coherently?

Friday Five

Today I'm going to share what I learned from agent Michelle Grajkowski about nailing a pitch in person.

1) Know your genre and mention it at the beginning of the interview.
2) Tell the word count, if it's complete, and the targeted house
3) Give a 2-3 sentence hook or blurb
4) Tell your writing qualifications
5) Ask questions and tell your career goals

Basically an in person pitch is what you would write in a query letter. The best thing though is if something doesn't make sense the agent or editor can ask questions.

Promo Wednesday

First I'd like to mention I've already been to the gym this morning(yes, having hit a pivotal number of years I've been alive, I felt the need for an extra incentive to get this body in shape) anyway, the workout the trainer put me through this morning(only 1/2 an hour) is the prefect workout for me. Now I can go in, do this routine and ride my bike home and have a good workout three times a week, which happen to be the days I blog, so if my blog is up a little later than your use to, that's the reason why, unless I start going to the gym earlier. :p

Anyway, on Friday I'll have a guest blogger- Mirella Pitzer and she'll discuss writing and her release Blood Castle a book set in medieval Italy.

Fellow TWRP author Lauri Robinson has been raking in the good reviews for "A Wife For Big John" and beating me in the sales. I'm going to have to have a sit down with her and see what she does different that sells more books. Other than she writes sweet stories that both Inspirational readers and Historical readers would like.

Promotion for me has slowed down some as I finalize a presentation for the Historical conference at RWA Nationals and get a sound pitch for both the contemporary western and the historical series fine tuned. My summer is starting to look laid back, well until I start baling hay which looks like it could start this weekend!

How are things going for you? Is your summer looking to be less stress or more?