WRITERS CONFERENCE TIPS
1.
To get an editor’s attention at this writer’s conference have a handle or tag line about your article idea or book on the tip of your tongue. HANDLE/TAG LINE: the topic or theme of your book or article. The selling handle should relate to the audience rather than the writer. Not, “a collection of my favorite anecdotes from kindergarten,” but rather “inspiration for lost grown-ups from the lessons of childhood.” The editor is teased and decides he wants to ask you moreto find out what it is about you and your ideas that would make you a good match for his publication/publishing house.
2.
Create a strong, strategic sales “pitch.” Sales Pitch: what is unique/different about your book/article. What editors really want is a catch-phrase, an ad jingle, so to speakfor a project that has taken you years of work and mountains of research. So how can you prepare a “pitch” that sounds off-the-cuff and polished? Imagine that you’re talking to an old friend and you have just a few minutes in which to describe what you’ve been writing. You’d keep your description short and snappy, right?
3.
When you are asked this week by an editor “So, what are you writing?”—don’t blow it! This is your big opportunity to “pitch” your projects. Give them a quick summary of your project. Summary/synopsis: a concise statement of the main points. If you stumble and answer, “Duh!…a...a...” You may have just given up your big chance at “the pitch.” Have a two-sentence or oneparagraph summary of your article or book ready. Before an editor sits down with your query, book proposal, or manuscript, most of them want to know the gist of what you’ve got. Your goal is to capture their attention. Sure, you might feel as if you’re putting your work through a Cuisinart. You may find the practice downright demeaning. But it is undeniably part of the process.
4.
Always introduce yourself by handing them your business card. They will want it to remember your name, and to refer to later when they think about you and your project. If they are interested and tell you to “send it in,” or ask you to meet them later in the week, write the TITLE of your proposed project, and the TIME AND PLACE on your business card for them. Also, ask them for their business cardso you can put the same notes on it to remind you of your commitments. 2003 by Elaine Wright Colvin, Writers Information Network