Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Short and Sweet

We've all got a lot going on this week. Sarah is preparing for her trip to the Nevada SCBWI, where she is going to participate in their mentor program. Alison and I are going to Richmond for the James River Writers Conference. I've looked at the list of registrations, and I know we'll see a couple of you there.

JRW offers a five minute agent "elevator pitch" session to conference attendees. I haven't had one in three years. Two years ago the agent I was supposed to pitch couldn't make it due to illness. JRW arranged a substitute, but it was an agent who didn't handle books for children. I gave up my time slot to someone who might have a book that agent would represent. Last year I didn't have project I wanted to pitch.

So here I am, trying to tighten up my log line. I know what my book is about, and I can get it down to a sentence or two. I've rehearsed it enough not to ramble, but not so much that it sounds like a memorized speech. But I'd like it to sound more punchy, you know? So that's what I'm working on this week.

We'll post a sum-up of the conference next week.

6 comments:

Amy Allgeyer Cook said...

Good luck with your pitch!! I've never done one of those sessions.

And I'm very looking forward to being Sarah's roomie at the Nevada conference! Only 9 more days!

Michelle said...

Amy, my husband actually refers to Sarah as "your roommate." As in, "How's your roommate?" I stayed with her all week at Chautauqua, and a couple of other weekends for conferences.

I am now thinking of the Nevada event as "countdown to Underdown." ;)

Sarah said...

Amy, I'm so excited! We're going to have such a fun time. I never would have imagine that I'd be sharing a room with someone I've known through the blogosphere!

Michelle, how did I forget that JRW was this weekend? It seems like everything is happening so quickly. I can't wait till all us Slushies have our end of October meeting and compare notes. We may not have time for critiques!

I may, however, require an e-mail update on how the pitch goes. I don't think I'll want to wait till the meeting to hear about that.

Amy Allgeyer Cook said...

LOL @ "the countdown to Underdown"!!

Sarah, see you soon!! :)

Michelle said...

I won't make you wait, Sarah, you know that! Alison has a pitch meeting too, I think.

Sarah said...

She does, but I don't remember which day it is...