The Pitch

Yesterday, along with 24 other hopeful authors, I pitched my book to a New York Literary agent at The Big Read. I was 22nd out of 25, so I had a lot of time to get nervous. There were a lot of heavy hitters in the lineup! It was a fascinating experience, and I am so glad that I did it. Some of the pitchers were funny, some melodramatic, and a couple were downright scary! But all carried a great passion for their book, which was inspiring in and of itself. The agent and her husband/co-author were encouraging and constructively critical when need be. Following my pitch, I was told that I had done a very good job - there was nothing that they would change. I had explained what my book was about, who my audience is and why I am the right person to write the book, all in less than the minute I was allowed. All good news. Then came the bad news. They were so glad that I had come to pitch my particular book (a how to book on researching the history of a St. Louis County home), because it was a perfect example of the type of book a national publisher would not be interested in. (There went my chance at the winning prize - an opportunity to meet with them to help get your book published.) Instead my book should be pitched to a local publisher. Good thing I am one step ahead of them and already have a query in to Virginia Publishing in St. Louis. And on that note, Virginia Publishing had a booth at The Big Read, and I was able to meet the President, Jeff, face to face. I had a copy of the book with me, so he was able to see what I have in mind. I think he is a little concerned about the lack of potential audience, but I explained that I think genealogists would appreciate the book as well. He seemed to like the fact that I have a background in marketing, so I can definitely help sell my book. I might have swayed him to a more favorable opinion of the book. Whatever happens, I think I will now at least get an answer out of him so I can move on to option B if they decide not to publish my book.

The Big Read

Today is The Big Read, a nationwide celebration encouraging people to read. It also offers opportunities to learn about book writing and publishing and to listen to published authors. In St. Louis, one of the segments is called PITCH-A-PALOOZA, in which a would-be author has one minute to pitch his or her book idea to a literary agent. The winner gets a free consultation with the agent. I signed up to pitch my book "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching the History of Your St. Louis County Home." While I'm not convinced that a New York literary agent will be at all interested in a book of such local interest, I figured this would be a good learning experience for me. And you never know who might be in the audience. Maybe the elusive President of local Virginia Publishing Company, to whom I have submitted a query letter regarding my book.