Back from the WLT's conference, I'm tired, but not much wiser. I followed my own advice to smile a lot, and I made the conscious effort to walk up to strangers standing by themselves and introduced myself--be friendly. I met many new authors, wanna-bes, and got reacquainted with a few familiar faces, so the weekend was pleasant, as I worked on my person to person skills. Attending as many break-out sessions possible, I got familiar with many agents and editors--good info for future queries. But at my one-on-one pitch interview, my nervous reaction to talk made me my own worst enemy.

I had the opportunity ($) to attend a pre-conference pitch session Friday afternoon lead by Rebecca Oliver, an agent from the William Morris Endeavor. She also happened to be the agent I was scheduled to have my personal pitching session with the next day. Ecstatic to be so fortunate, I took notes determined to follow her 4 C's of pitching.

1. Connect with the agent, research them prior (no problem-I had done this!).

2. Context, compare my writing to published authors
(that was where I fell down last time, so I had my 3X5 ready).

3. Compeling, a description of my novel encapsulated. (another stellar 3X5)

4. Credentials, (not much to remember on my part, but I was ready).


I was relaxed, confident, and armed with the soccer score, of which Ms. Oliver had mentioned she was a fan. Later, when I played back my miserable pitch session in my head, I realized I had forgotten to even introduced myself. Never shook the woman's hand or thanked her. I remembered the 4 C's (sort of) and forgot my manners. Oh, well, back to the query letter. The words are going to have to sell themselves, cause Kathy Lee, I'm not.