Last week I attended the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association's 2019 conference. While there, I got the opportunity to pitch my story to agents.
I had never done this before.
So prior to the conference, I researched how to write a pitch. I only had four minutes for the pitch and I had to leave some of that time for questions, feedback or (hopefully) requests for my story.
I watched webinars and read articles. I needed to write a tease of my story, not the plot summary.
So, I created a pitch to pique an agent's interest and desire to hear more, but one thing was lacking. I couldn't figure out a personal opening that would show passion for my project before getting down to the nitty-gritty.
But PNWA didn't leave me hanging. The night before the pitches began, there was a Pitchfest session. I got to sit down at a table with a few other conference attendees and a table leader who would helped me hone my pitch.
My group was great. It quickly became evident that the best openings told the agent either why the story was written or how the idea for the story was developed. That made the pitch personal and relatable.
Then, I learned that I must always end my pitch with the following: "Do you have any questions about my story, or would you like me to send you a copy?"
In case you wanted to know, here was the opening to my pitch:
"The idea for my story comes from my experience working on a psych ward and from seeing the benefits of music as an intervention."
Now, I get to wait to see what happens next.
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