Crimefest 2012: My Live Pitch Session

The Crimefest conference included a live pitch session with three well-respected literary agents. It was advertised as "speed dating" but with literary agents. I was signed up for Saturday morning, and I would get a precious ten minutes of face time with three different agents.

In the handful of queries I'd sent prior to the conference, there were two requests for fulls. There was no reason not to be excited. (Unless you subscribe to the theory that you shouldn't count your chickens...which I now do.)

I floated through the Friday panels in an aura of excited confidence. "I wrote a book. I have a finished manuscript," I thought. "They are going to love it," I told myself. "Just wait until they hear that I've already started on the next one!"

I arrived to the pitch room early, wearing an outfit I'd chosen weeks before. I took my place next to two other other pitch participants. One was wearing flip-flops and biker shorts. Neither had a finished manuscript. "I got this," I thought.

Cue the sound of breaks screeching to a halt.

It turns out it doesn't matter so much what you are wear (although I wouldn't recommend flip-flops and biker shorts). What matters the most are the words you've written on the paper.

I sat down in front of the first agent. He told me that he didn't believe in ghosts and could never represent anyone who wrote about ghosts. My mouth dropped open in stunned silence. I recovered enough to make an effort (I used to be an attorney after all, I couldn't let it go without a fight.) But after that opening statement, I should have just looked at my watch and asked, "Well, what else should we talk about for the next 9 minutes and 30 seconds?"

My second pitch went a little better. But I walked away with the advice that I should rewrite the entire novel with a young adult MC. Huh. I'd never really thought much about Young Adult, I was just writing the story that was in my head. In hindsight, I realize now that this agent was ahead of a market trend, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. And it was something I had struggled with a bit as well. In the months since, the market has identified a new category: New Adult. And my manuscript as it stands now and as it did then, fits within this perfectly.

To be honest, I don't remember much about the third pitch. I only remember that she told me "she didn't really believe that my MC would still be mourning the loss of her best friend from a few years before." At which point I actually started to cry. You see, my husband's best friend was murdered, for real. And watching him cope with the loss sparked the original inspiration for my main character. I explained this, and the shocked expression on her face was enough of an apology. But I'm sure to this day, at cocktail parties, she probably tells the story about "that time she made a pitch participant burst into tears at Crimefest."

I walked out of that room utterly deflated. It took me several months to regroup from those 30 minutes. During that time, I even rewrote my entire manuscript with a young adult main character. (Which was a disaster, by the way.)

But I will forever be grateful for that experience. First, because attending Crimefest made me realize how very much I want this writing dream to come true. Second, because it made me take a wrong turn - rewriting the manuscript as a Young Adult. If I hadn't taken that wrong turn, I never would have found my way to SCBWI Belgium and the greatest critique group I have ever known.

Crimefest 2012

Two years ago, last May, I had the chance to hop on a train in Brussels, Belgium (where I lived at the time) to attend a mystery writer's conference in Bristol, England. The headliners included Lee Childs, P.D. James, Sue Grafton and Jeffrey Deaver, among many talented others.

I had never experienced anything like it, and the weekend was a pivotal turning point in my life as an aspiring author. The book sale room was stacked with mystery novels, all written by authors in attendance. The panels included a wide-range of speakers, from newly published authors to experienced forensic researchers. Avid mystery fans mingled with their favorite authors, and the book signing queues often stretched down the hall. I was in awe of it all.

My table for one of the dinners included university student volunteers, excited to embark on their creative writing careers; a newly published author who had just hit the bestseller list; and two super-fans, who spent their summers driving around to various book festivals, filling their car boot with stacks of first edition signed copies. They admitted to not having room in their house for all of their books. And I could have listened to them talk about their favorite (and least favorite) autograph experiences all night.

Later, sipping cocktails in the bar with some of the newer authors sealed the deal: This was what I wanted to do with my life. In those 48-hours, my mystery writing hobby, became a passion. I vowed to do whatever it took to try and make it to the other side of that panel table.

It's a good thing, too. Because my pre-arranged live pitch session on Saturday morning was about to become the most difficult 30 minutes of my writing career thus far.

The Brick Wall

Last year, right around this time, a quote about brick walls from Randy Pausch was trending: 

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people." 

I vowed to do whatever it took to tackle my brick wall. This inaugural blog post, and the launch of my website celebrates my climb to the top of it. In May, I signed with the amazing Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary. Like they always say, it only takes one “yes.” I am so thrilled that Terrie was the one who said “yes.” 

Like others before me, I have stacks of rejection letters, and took a few wrong turns. I want to share some of that here. Others inspired me on my climb and helped to get me on the right path, it’s my turn to pay it forward if I can. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there will be many more walls to come. I will stop for a moment to enjoying the view, but I’m also ready to climb the next one.