Get Conference-Ready: Perfecting Your Pitch to Literary Agents & Publishers

Querying a publisher or literary agent is almost harder than writing a book. The St. Louis Writers Guild’s April 7 workshop will explore the process from start to finish--how to find agents and publishers, how to contact them, how to pitch to them…and just what is a log line? This free workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at The Lodge Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd, St. Louis, Mo. 63131. 

Leading the workshop is someone who has sat on both sides of the pitching table—author, blogger, and lecturer Brad R. Cook. Participants will learn what goes in a query letter and a face-to-face pitch, as well as explore tools to find agents and publishers online and at conferences. Upcoming conferences include the Missouri Writers Guild conference in Columbia (May 19), and the St. Louis Writers Guild’s Gateway Con (June 15-17) and Penned Con (Sept. 20-22) in St. Louis. 

“I can’t guarantee you’ll find an agent, but you’ll have the tools to do so!” Brad said. For those who attended last year’s workshop, Brad said this talk is all new, incorporating tips he learned at last year’s Gateway Con.

Author of historical fantasies, The Iron Chronicles, The Airdrainium Adventures, and Tales of the Gearblade, Brad is a former co-publisher and acquisitions editor for Blank Slate Press. He is a SCBWI member and currently serves as Historian of St. Louis Writers Guild after three and half years as President. A founding contributor to The Writers’ Lens and The Sword Writers Academy, he can be heard weekly as a panelist on Write Pack Radio. He learned to fence at thirteen, and never set down his sword, but prefers to curl up with his cat and a centuries’ old classic. Find more @bradrcook on Twitter, Instagram, and tumblr. BradRCook.com

Learn more about the St. Louis Writers Guild at www.stlwritersguild.org. 

Justin Wells tells writers how to land an agent at Jan. 6 workshop

UPDATE!!! 

Agent Justin Wells will join the group via Zoom technology. Alternately, Guild members can view the workshop from their own computers. Check the Member’s Room (www.stlwritersguild.org) for details.

As an added bonus, Justin is offering a giveaway for those in attendance. Two winners will receive a 30-minute consultation at a later date to discuss their book and ask more personalized questions relating to their goals as a writer and about the writing industry.

Finding that one agent who is the right fit, and then trying to get them to take you on, can be tough. At the St. Louis Writers Guild’s Jan. 6 workshop, literary agent Justin Wells will discuss a lot of things that you need to know in order to land your dream agent, and maintain a healthy relationship with that agent once you do. 

The “Landing an Agent (query letters, relationships, and more!)” workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in the Dogwood Room at The Lodge Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131. Free to Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.

Justin is a Literary Agent with the Corvisiero Literary Agency. He will be graduating with a B.S. in Mass Communications with a focus in Public Relations. Justin loves being able to utilize his skills in public relations to assist the agency and his own clients through his work as a literary agent. His main focus is young adult, middle grade, and new adult, though he has been known to branch out and explore other books that catch his eye.

To learn more about the St. Louis Writers Guild, go www.stlwritersguild.org

Advice on Pitching and Querying to Literary Agents and Publishers

March 2015 workshop, picture by Steven Langhorst

Advice on Pitching and Querying to Literary Agents and Publishers

By Brad R Cook

In March 2015 I gave the annual conference kick-off workshop to St. Louis Writers Guild titled Querying andPitching: How to Track down Literary Agents and Publishers. I wanted to share what we talked about that day, and what I’ve written about before for the Writers Lens, wrapped up in a single post.

In my workshop I referenced two previous articles on the Writers Lens where I discussed pitching. The first was The Mechanics of a Perfect Pitch and the second was Lens On: Pitching. Just click on the titles to view the articles.

I’ll let you read the articles – they repeat what I said at the workshop and then definitely check out the SLWG Author Series interview where I discussed the workshop.

SLWG Author Series interview with Brad R Cook 

My workshop is an amalgam of several other workshops and articles I’ve read or experienced over the years. It started when I first heard Chuck Sambuchino at The Writer’s Digest Conference in New York back in 2011 and mixes in advice from Jane Friedman, literary agent Kathleen Ortiz and several other sources with a few of my own experiences added in.   

If you are looking for query letter examples you can find hundreds of examples online, but I highly recommend Chuck Sambuchino’s website where he’s posted successful query letters. The best part, not only can you read the letter but you can also see comments from the agents themselves. Click Here for Query Letters. 

We also discussed ways to “Track” down literary agents and publishers using the website QueryTracker.net. I am a huge fan of the site and have used it for years. But it’s not the only one, you may prefer AgentQuery.com or see if an agent is listed in AAR, or one of the large literary groups, they often have lists of approved publishers or agents.

Let’s run over some of the basics –

These suggestions are for fiction genres. Non-fiction has a different set of rules. We touched on them in the workshop but I would recommend searching for tips and examples online.

A query letter should have three parts:

           

            First an introduction where you mention the title, word count, and genre. This is also the place to mention why you picked the agent or if you’ve met them before.

            Second a paragraph about the book, include the hook, the main character, and the main theme and plot of the book.

            Third is a short paragraph about the author.  

A log line is a short sentence or two about the book. It can also be referred to as an Elevator Pitch.

A synopsis is a 1-2 page single-spaced document that outlines the entire book – including the ending.

Don’t forget fictional manuscript formatting is 12 point standard font, in black, with a one inch border, and the first line of every paragraph indented.

There are now some online ways to pitch - but only at certain times - check out Pitch Madness on Twitter using the hash tag #PitMad. 

Allow me to leave you with this advice. It comes from literary agent Kathleen Ortiz. I asked her, what was the best advice she could offer someone who was pitching – “Keep it short, to the point, and deliver a good hook.”

Good luck with your query or pitch!

Literary agent helps writers prepare query letters at Guild’s July 12 workshop

Inklings Literary Agent Whitley Abell

Literary agent Whitley Abell will help writers gear up for the Publish Your Dreams contest by explaining the dos and don’ts of writing query letters from 10 a.m. to noon, July 12, at the St. Louis Writers Guild (SLWG) workshop.

Whitley, who joined Inklings Literary Agency in 2013, will also talk about what agents look for in submissions. The workshop will be held at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Rd. in Kirkwood. Free to St. Louis Writers Guild members; $5 for nonmembers.

Jennifer Stolzer, SLWG secretary and contest coordinator, will join Whitley to explain the Guild’s submission guidelines for the members-only Publish Your Dreams contest. The winner will be announced Aug. 23 at SLWG’s free conference, Writers in the Park.

Prior to joining Inklings Literary Agency, Whitley completed successful internships with Carol Mann Agency and P.S. Literary Agency. She is based in St. Louis, Mo., where she daylights as a production manager for several medical and S & T journals. She graduated in 2011 BA in English and Creative Writing, and again in 2012 with a MAT in Secondary English Education, which basically means she can tell you anything there is to know about feminist literary theory and the Common Core Standards. Whitley is primarily interested in Young Adult, Middle Grade, and select Upmarket Women's fiction.

The winner of SLWG’s Publish Your Dreams contest and entries from other Missouri Writers’ Guild chapters will be submitted to Walrus Publishing Inc. for possible publication. If the SLWG manuscript is selected, it will be placed on their editorial schedule for publication between Winter 2015 and Summer 2016, said Walrus founder Lisa Miller. If not selected, Walrus will provide a one-page review of the manuscript with recommendations for editorial assistance.

Learn more about the St. Louis Writers Guild at www.stlwritersguild.org