The Pitch

Dun, dun, duuuun (scary music).

The Pitch...
Could there be scarier words when it comes to an author? I doubt it. Well, except for the dreaded "Your book sucks."

For weeks I've been trying to write my synopsis, perfect my first 3 chapters, write my cover letter (which I kicked ass at by the way), and type up my pitch.

At first, I tried to use my cover letter as my pitch, but it filled a whole 2 minutes instead of the minimum of 4 that I need to fill. So, scratch that one! Instead, I started using parts of my cover letter (because again, I really did kick ass at writing that thing up), but I had to make it flow a bit better for the way I talk. I didn't want to go in there and sound like I was reading something. I wanted to be bright and cheerful and... me.

Welllllll.... nothing really goes as planned, does it.

I had the hardest time memorizing my pitch. Even in front of my wonderful husband, I would freeze up and giggle. (Yes, I'm a giggler). I started to panic.

I can't do this, holy crap I'm going to puke on the agent...

So, my friends and I get to the conference. On and on, I kept memorizing my pitch, and I finally got the dammed thing memorized. I had it flowing well (in my head), and I thought that maybe I could really pull it off! Yeah, not so much... As soon as I tried it outloud (meaning on the phone with my husband while trying not to look at my cheat sheet), I blew it.

Panicking... Shaking... Sweating... Urge to puke building.... This is going to suck.

So, my time comes up, and it is time for me to pitch. I walk to the elevator and hit number 6 to go up to the suite for the pitch appointments. I feel sooo sick. I'm going to screw up this chance and I'll never try it again...

I get to the suite, and sit down. The agent took a quick break to grab some food, which left me some more time to rehearse my memorized pitch in my head. My shirt was sweaty under my pits and I just knew I would die if I eff'd this up. The agent walks in and sits down, and the strangest thing happened.

A calm came over me. Now, really its the strangest thing. Every time I go in for an interview, I'm nervous as hell before it. But as soon as I actually see the person I'm meeting with, I calm down. Cue "me."

I smiled. I introduced myself. Introduced my novel as Dark Seduction, and that its currently 100,000 words. Yes, I said currently, I couldn't help myself. You just never know if you need to add a little or take a little away. The only thing I said to her that I actually memorized is my hook line. Everything else I pulled out of 'Calm Kristie's" mind, and I nailed it! The agent actually liked my idea and asked me to send the synopsis along with the first ten pages of my novel.

And here I thought I was going to puke on her and screw the hole thing up. I guess things never go as you planned. Sometimes they are better!