Writer’s Conference Prep: What To Bring To Your Appointment

Most writers will tell you the only thing you need to bring to an appointment with and editor or agent and a writer’s conference is a One Sheet. While this may be true, I believe in being prepared. These are the things I suggest you bring to your appointment.

One Sheet: One sheets are nice for editor and agents because they only have one sheet to take on the plane home. But I suspect that most One Sheets are disposed of unless the agent was unduly impressed with the writer. Still they’re nice to have because they do have all the information you need to make your pitch.

First Five Pages: If the agent or editor looks interested, it’s nice to mention that you have the first five pages of your novel if they’d like to look at it.

Author Page: This is a One Sheet with the purpose of telling about the author. If you’ve had anything published or have any other information an agent would be interested in knowing, this would be the sheet to present.

Synopsis or Summary: It’s very unlikely you’ll get to this point. If the agent is interested after the One Sheet and the First Five Pages, he’ll tell you to send him the rest. But my motto is be prepared.

One Sheets, First Five Pages, and Synopsis of other projects: You decide to pitch that historical you wrote about the Civil War and the agent says they already have too many of that time period. What she’s really looking for is something having to do with the War of 1812. You’ve written a novel about that war, but at the time, nobody wanted it. If you have available information on every book you’ve written, you can change your pitch to another novel without missing a beat.

Business Cards: You won’t really need these, but they’re fun to hand out to friends you meet at the conference. You can get nice looking business cards at Vistaprint.

Of course you don’t want to carry a filing cabinet or a big briefcase to the meeting, so here’s some ways to organize you’re information.

Accordion File: These are very portable and have files for each project.

Folders: You could purchase an oversized folder for each project and carry them in a folder binder.

Conference Notebook: This is my favorite idea for carrying everything you need. This link  will tell you how to make your own Conference Notebook.

Writer’s Conference Prep: Manners

Manners are a very important part of approaching editors and agents at writer’s conferences. This is something you should have been taught as children, but alas, not all people have proper manners. Even those of us that do, need refresher courses at times especially in new situations where we don’t know what’s expected. There is a standing joke of a writing following an agent or editor into the restroom and pitching while they are captive audiences. This is not the way to positively influence an editor or agent.

Here are a few pointers on manners at writer’s conferences.

Be prompt: Arrive for all appointments a few minutes early. Who knows? If the person before you doesn’t need the whole time and you’re already there, you could get extra time. If you can’t make an appointment, let the appointment director know so the editor or agent doesn’t waste time waiting for a no show.

Don’t monopolize: At some conferences, you will have the opportunity to sit and eat with editors and agents. If this is the case, don’t monopolize the conversation. Most agents and editors will give each person at the table a chance to talk. Wait for that opportunity or you will appear rude.

Elevator pitches: If you find yourself on an elevator or alone with an agent or editor, be courteous. Introduce yourself, and ask if this is a convenient time to make a pitch.

Appointment Manners: The best way to make an impression is to be kind and truthful. First ask the agent or editor how his day has gone? Has she found any likely prospects. Treating them like human beings gain help you gain respect. Next, if you’re nervous or if this is your first pitch, say so. Most agents and editors will help you through your nervousness if you’re honest with them.

Be prepared: When it’s time for your appointment, know what you’re going to say. Have one sheets or sample pages ready to give the agent or editor. Have yourself and your materials ready.

Showing professionalism by displaying manners may just be the edge you need to land an editor or agent.

Writer’s Conference Prep: What To Wear and What Not To Wear

I have never known of a publisher or agent who was looking for a writer with a great power suit. Dress in the business world is important, but in the writing world, not so much. Good writing will always trump a good wardrobe. But it is good to show you can be professional and can convey a put together image. Here’s some tips for what to wear and what not to wear at a writer’s conference if you’re a woman writer.

Business Casual: The mode of dress for most writer’s conferences is business casual. Business casual usually means a pair of dress slacks or slightly flared skirt, a nice shirt or blouse, and a blazer or jacket. If you’re under thirty years old, blue jeans can sometimes be considered business casual but only if they’re dress jeans dressed up with a nice suit jacket. Dress slacks or a skirt are usually a better way to go.

Fitted: When shopping for dress slacks or a jacket, make sure to get the fit right. If you’re not sure of the right fit for your body type, go to an expensive clothing store with a friend who dresses well. Spend the day trying on clothes you might not normally wear. Ask the store clerk lots of questions. Then take what you’ve learned to the discount clothing store or the sales rack to find the right items.

Shoes: Choose a nice pair of shoes to go with your outfits at the conference, but make sure they’re comfortable. If you’re not use to high heels, toppling into an agent’s lap because your heels are too high is not the way to make a good pitch. Also you’ll do a lot of walking between sessions. If the pitch is at the end of the day, you won’t make a good impression if your feet hurt.

Color: Writers are creative. Use that creativity by adding a splash of color to your wardrobe.

Jewelry: Jewelry is a great way to complete an outfit, but you don’t want to overdo it with too much. If you are wearing a simpler outfit, loud colorful jewelry can accent it beautifully. But if your outfit has a lot of flair, stick with a couple of simple pieces of jewelry.

Tattoos, Piercings, Etc.: This can be a tricky subject. If you’re planning to make a splash in the horror market or pitch your latest young adult novel, tattoos and piercings might be the way to go. But if your novel is a prairie romance, you might want to use make-up and clothing to cover the tattoos and take out the piercings.

Make-up: If you’re unsure of how to apply make-up properly, have a Mary Kay party or have a make-over at a make-up counter at the mall. Make-up can enhance your looks, but don’t wear too much unless you’re going for the gothic horror feel.

Banquet: Most larger writer’s conferences end with a banquet that they advertise as formal. If you don’t have a formal outfit, any dressy outfit will do. But if you do have a formal, go ahead and wear it. How often do you get a chance to dress up? Go for it.

Writer’s Conference Prep: The Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a tool that every writer should have at a writer’s conference. An elevator pitch is a thirty-second speech you have memorized that summarizes you book in case you get in an elevator with your dream agent of publisher. That agent asks what your book is about.

Unless you’ve thought about it ahead of time and have memorized your elevator pitch, you may end up saying something like, “Well it’s a kind of a like a story about, well you know, it’s about a guy and a girl, and they fall in love, and then stuff happens.” At this point, the elevator opens, and the agent leaves without offering you the chance to send a proposal because he has no idea what the book is about.

Don’t worry about frantically writing the perfect elevator pitch. Many writers panic about this, and there’s no reason to. The reason for an elevator pitch is to tell someone what the book is about if asked. Here’s a few tips to make writing your elevator pitch easier.

Length: An elevator pitch should be two to three sentences long, around fifty words. If it’s the right length, you should be able to deliver it in about thirty seconds.

Title and Genre: Start the elevator pitch by stating the title and genre of your book. For instance – “My novel is called Yellow Bonnets and is a category prairie romance.” This part won’t be included in the fifty word count but will help the agent know if you have a book that fits her current genre interests.

Main Character: Your elevator pitch should mention the name of the main character.

Main Plot: Don’t mention things that are secondary. Limit your pitch to the main plot.

Study the Movie Industry: The movie industry does elevator pitches better than anyone. Study how they describe movies in only a few words to get an idea on how to develop your elevator pitch.

Here’s a few sites that go into depth about how to write an elevator pitch:

50 Word Elevator Pitch

What Is High Concept?

Getting Your Pitch Right 

Writer’s Conference Prep: The One Sheet

ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference is in September, and I’m looking forward to going. For the next month, every Monday, I’ll post a tip to help you prepare for a writers’ conference so you can get the most out of it. This week is the One Sheet.

The one sheet, while not necessary, is a great tool to have at a writer’s conference. But many times, it makes writer’s worried that they must have the perfect one sheet to get a book deal. This is not the case. A one sheet is basically one sheet of paper that tells the agent or editor the gist of what your pitching without giving him much to carry on the plane ride home.

A one sheet is printed on white paper. It can have .5 to 1.5 inch margins. It should have font that is easy to read, but doesn’t have to stick strictly to Times New Roman guidelines. You can use sidebars, clip art, and boxes in your one sheet, and you can add a dash of color. But be careful not to overdo it. If you have MS Publisher or another desktop publishing program, it’s the perfect tool to use for your one sheet.

Elements of a One Sheet:

Title: Have the title of your novel at the top of your One Sheet in bold letters. Under the title, make sure you have the author’s name.

Tagline: After the title, have one line, twenty-five words or less, telling what the novel is about. This is your tag line.

Short Synopsis: Have a two to five paragraph synopsis. This will sort of be like what would be on the back of the book jacket. However you’ll want to include the surprise ending.

Manuscript Status: I usually have this in a sidebar. You should have if the novel is completed, word count, series or stand alone, genre, agent if any, etc.

Biography: Have a short resume with your picture and what you’ve already had published.

Contact Info: Under your biography, include name, address, phone number, email address, and blogs or websites.

Here’s an example of one of my One Sheets. I’ve deleted some information that would be a plot spoiler for my novel.

Work In Progress Writer’s Conference

Work In Progress Writing Conference

July 13-14th in Troy, Ohio

Early bird registration by April 30th is only $60. Regular Price – $75.

Check out the web site for details and a registration form: www.acfwohio.com

Price covers workshops, meals, and pitch sessions. 2 agents and 2 editors will be available for appointments.

ACFW Writers Conference Highlights

Last week I was at the America Christian Fiction Writers Conference. There were so many great things that happened at the conference that there’s no way I could share them all. Here are a few highlights.

I got to spend time meeting people I only know from the Internet and from the books they’ve written. I also got to spend time rooming with my critique partners and getting to know them better. You never really know someone until you share a room with her.

James Scott Bell’s early bird session was better than I expected, and I expected a lot. I loved how he described the different kinds of heroes, anti-heroes, and villains and showed us how to be more adept at writing them.

Tim Downs spoke brilliantly about “What is Christian Fiction”. Here’s an overview and a few thoughts about what he said.

 Jesus spoke in parables (fiction). Most of the time, he didn’t explain his parables. He told the disciples why in Matthew 13:13. “This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” He expected those who were allowing God to deal with their hearts would find the hidden messages (the Christian worldview), but those who didn’t care would enjoy the stories, and maybe at a later dates, the message would sneak up on them. Jesus occasionally explained the parables to the disciples but only when they asked. He allowed his stories to be a puzzle and mystery that needed searched out.

Downs talked about how when we hide Easter eggs for children. At the age of 2, we lay the eggs on top of the ground and stand near them telling the children “look over here”. But when they get a little older, they would be angry that the eggs were so easy to find. So we do a better job of hiding them to make it more fun. Some eggs aren’t hidden that deep, some are hidden so well they won’t be found for weeks. But we resist the temptation to make the eggs too easy to find.

Sometimes, because the message is so important, we are tempted to preach (to lay the eggs on top of the ground) to make the message easy to find. But Jesus didn’t do that. He buried the message deep within the story disarming the audience enough to listen and to search it out. He didn’t worry they wouldn’t find it. That’s was the Holy Spirit’s job.

Downs also talked about David and Bathsheeba. When Nathan confronted David, he told a story using images that resonated with David (sheep and injustice). He disarmed David with the story so when he said “You are the man” David’s defenses weren’t up. He readily confessed.

So Christian fiction has hidden in it the message of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the message is so hidden, we don’t even see it and wonder why it’s called Christian fiction. The message may not be found until months of years later after it germinates in our hearts. Sometimes the message is a little easier to find, but not so easy we don’t have to search it out. It’s not a sermon, it’s a story – a story that glorifies God even when we don’t see God in the story.

The question is can we avoid the temptation to explain the message and just tell the story so those who have ears can hear and those who have eyes can see.

I also enjoyed meeting some of the greatest authors in Christian fiction and having some of them sign novels to me. Among them were Julie Lessman and Jill Eileen Smith who have written some wonderful novels I’ve reviewed. I was honored to hear Jeanette Oake speak about her Love Comes Softly novel and how it got published. She is a pioneer in Christian fiction.

Chip MacGregor, literary agent, spoke one day about the definition of success. Success in Christianity is not meeting your goals in publication. Success is obedience to what God is telling you to do.

The Christian atmosphere was prevalent at the tables at lunchtime. The room was too noisy for anyone to pitch to editors unless he or she was sitting next to them. At one meal, we played musical chairs so each writer had a chance to pitch to the editor from Tyndale.

I also loved the spiritual aspect of the conference. The prayer room was a time of blessing. And the choir sang beautifully. The worship was uplifting and powerful, and we all remained grown-ups allowing everyone to have freedom to worship the way they wanted.

Overall this has been the best writer’s conference I’ve ever attended. I look forward to next year.

ACFW Conference – Help With My Elevator Pitches

Thursday morning I leave for the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. I’m excited, and I have two books to pitch. I’d love to have feedback on improving my pitches.

The first novel, probably my first choice to pitch, is a historical with strong elements of romance, suspence, and adventure. It’s called Red Sky Over America. Here’s my elevator pitch.

In 1857, America is the daughter of a slave owner. But she’s also an abolitionist and a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, the only multiracial and co-educational college in the country before the Civil War. Oberlin is in the center of the abolitionist movement. America goes home to Kentucky during school break to confront her father about freeing his slaves. William, a friend and Oberlin student, goes to Kentucky to preach abolition to churches that condone slavery. America and William find themselves in the center of the approaching racial storm and may not live long enough to return to Oberlin.

My next novel is a historical western adventure I’m rewriting as a young adult novel. It’s called Forks In The Road. Here’s the pitch.

We all have forks in the road that affect our lives. For two brothers, Joshua and Jonathan Jackson, those junctions begin during the Civil War when their world crashes around them. Quantrill’s raiders murder their family and leave them orphaned and at the mercy of an abusive man. They escape and head West but find that life is hard when you’re young with nowhere to go. At every fork, they make the wrong choice, leading down the road, where by the time they become men, they will spurn their upbringing and end up as train robbers. But they will find God’s grace goes further than they ever thought possible.

So any comments or suggestions are appreciated.