New Pitch Sessions Guidelines

Once again, we will be offering Pitch Sessions at the SCWW Conference.

What is a pitch session? It's a one-on-one meeting with one of the conference faculty. You will have five minutes to “pitch” your novel and the faculty member will have five minutes to respond. The faculty member will not have any notes on your work. They will be counting on your verbal pitch to sell them on your writing. Learning to pitch effectively is a very important step in turning your manuscript into a published work. These short meetings give you a chance to share your book with a professional and get feedback on the marketability of your story.

An effective Pitch Session means you need to be professional and prepared. Prepare and polish a two- or three-sentence summary of your work. Memorize it. Practice your delivery. You don’t want to come across as rehearsed, but relaxed and confident about your work. If an agent or editor likes your pitch, they may ask for a partial or a full manuscript. If your story needs a little work, you may get priceless feedback on what elements and/or changes would make it a more marketable story.

Pitch sessions cost $10 and will be available on a first come, first-served basis during registration process. In the online registration system, you’ll first select the number of pitches you want to purchase and then select the faculty you’d like to see (this might appear on another page of the registration site). You WILL NOT be able to purchase a pitch session at the conference. You should receive an email with your appointment time and faculty member shortly before the conference. Because of problems in previous years, you will not be allowed to “swap” appointments with other attendees or buy appointment times from other attendees once you arrive at the conference. The best way to get an appointment with your dream faculty member is to register early.

So, haul out your manuscript and your synopsis and get to work! You never know, this might be your BIG chance.

For a complete list of faculty members accepting appointments, please visit this blog post, http://scwwblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/conference-alert-looking-for-some-one.html.