This weekend I went to the Northern Colorado Writers Conference. Writing conferences are great opportunities to meet agents, writers, publishers, etc. They also have great classes to help writers learn the biz and how to write better. I went to
NCW last year, and this year I was better prepared.
I also got to pitch my puddlejump story to an agent (from one of the most prestigious children's agencies) and a small press publisher. I decided to pitch to the publisher first, to get my sea legs and practice my pitch. I was her last pitch session (they only last 9 minutes, which is tiny amounts of time to sell your story), so she offered to keep talking to me till I met with the agent. She immediately saw the value and commercial appeal of my story and said I had an idea she felt definitely belonged at the Big 6 (nickname for the top publishing houses). Then she gave me ideas for how to pitch and present my story to the agent. She also requested a partial, in case the agent wasn't interested. Biggest help, so lucky to get the extra 9 minutes with her.
Then I met with the agent. I actually ate dinner with her the night before and talked casually with her several times before we met (I'm learning), so I wasn't nervous and after having the small press excited about my story, I felt very confident. I gave her my pitch and she wanted to know more which usually means she's interested. The tricky part about pitches is that they can't actually see your writing. But she wanted to see more and get into the story. She gave me her card and told me to definitely send my first 15 pages. Later in the day, the agent was critiquing first pages, and I told her my first page was in there.
Then I met up with some other friends, compared notes and went to another class. I definitely had the most positive pitching session of the group. Then came lunch. Before going in I told my friends to save me a seat because I needed to run to the bathroom. (You drink all day at conferences.) I came out of the stall and bumped into the agent at the paper towels. This is an awkward moment, because I've read countless stories of agents complaining about being pitched to in the bathroom. But I kept it cool and made small talk. She followed me out and then this is where it gets interesting. She asks me if this is my first pitch, and I told her that I pitched a different story last year to another agent. Then, very interested, she said, "oh yeah, what genre?"
To which I responded "contemporary middle grade"(which I later learned from the agent's class is a new trend for MG).
I can see her face have an ah ha and then she says, "Another MG."
And this is where I know I have her because agents don't want you to jump around in genres (picture, YA, poetry, MG, etc), and I say, "It's all about MG. It's where I want to live." I find my friends over at a table, and the agent came and sat with us. Poor thing, she barely got to eat because I rounded up some other MGers to our table and we picked her brain. By the end of lunch, based on my questions, I was able to demonstrate that I know the market and the industry and that I'm not a newbie. Winning.
During lunch, the small press pulls me over and tells me that she talked my story up to the agent. That I was the story to pick up. More Winning. I could have kissed the lady but kept it casual instead and just thanked her.
After lunch I had volunteered to be the agent's admin assistant for her class. So we walked and talked to the session. Then we had the anonymous page critique session afterword. My page was 1 of 20. They only liked 3 or 4. Mine was one of them. And they used it as an example of understanding the mindset of MG. Points. The session ran late, so everyone had to run to the keynote.
After the keynote the conference ended, I couldn't see the agent but I found the small press. I shook her hand and thanked her again. (Knowing she would be with the agent for dinner that night), I called out which first page was mine. She said she had guessed it and told me I had a gift and a ton of potential. I'm pretty sure she'll cheerlead for me later.
So I have a lot of work to do...they had recommended that I write the story in first (which I generally don't like) instead of third. I plan to convert the story and polish some more over the next month or two. Then send my pages. Cross your fingers for me. I'm almost there.
And even if she rejects my manuscript, I'm in great shape to query other agencies. I can almost taste it. Loud screams. Points.
