Can We Talk?

NJRW’s Editor/Agent Appointments

by Kathye Quick
Copyright ©2007

Despite the enormous free-flow of information over the internet and the technical changes in publishing over the last few years, the most effective way to get to the head of the line is still a one-on-one editor/agent.  And there are none better in arranging it for you than NJRW’s Editor/Agent Conference Chairs.  Pick a year, any year.  The Chairs for this important aspect of NJRW’s Put Your Heart in a Book Conference have done superhuman jobs in scheduling appointments for those hoping to get into to print, those hoping to stay in print and those ready and poised for mega-star status.

Okay, you’re going to the conference and you have written a great book.  First two requirements filled.  Now you need to sell it.  NJRW’s editor/agent appointments are second to none, in my humble opinion, and the best place to start.   Much better than a query letter lost on a big, old desk with a hundred others.  This is face to face, mano-a-mano, up close and personal.

First thing – breathe.  The editors and agents are there to find great books, and you have one.  They want to love your book.  They want to find the next Nora Roberts or Susan Elizabeth Phillips (did I mention she was a member of NJRW when she first started out?).  They want YOU.  You just have to make them realize it.

Go in, introduce yourself and shake her hand.  Now you’re a person, not a piece of paper, and she knows that you are ready and confident. 

Make sure you are armed with your “Blurb” and an in-depth knowledge of both the editor with whom you are meeting and her publishing house, or the agent and what her agency is looking to represent.  The easy part is the editor and publishing house or agent and agency– internet, Google, you know the drill.  It’s the blurb and the pitch that can stop your heart.

But it doesn’t have to.  Go in prepared.

You need three basic facts right from the start – the genre or sub-genre of the book you have written, the length, and whether the book is complete or not.  If the book is not done and you can’t finish it within six months, don’t pitch it.  After six months, there’s a good chance the editor’s desk will be so full that your great story will be lost amid hundreds of others.  By the time she gets to it, she may not remember the great appointment she had with you at the conference. 

When you get these basic facts, you’re ready for the blurb.

Horrors of horrors.  How do you condense a 75,000 word, or worse yet, a 100,000 word novel into the proverbial “TV guide” description that grabs the editor’s or agent’s  attention and make her want more?  It really isn’t as hard as it appears.  It just takes a little practice and Debra Dixon’s WHO-WANTS-WHY- AND WHY NOT method.  It’s the best I’ve ever found for condensing your wonderful book into a serious sales pitch.

WHO - Describe your heroine in as few words as possible.

Holly Winters, owner of an internet gift-basket company, loves the holidays

WANT does she want more than anything in the world

She wants to continue enjoy the feeling of family and love the holidays bring

WHY does she want this?

Because her father is Santa Claus and she enjoys helping him fill Christmas wishes

WHY NOT – what’s going to stand in the way of the heroine getting what she wants

Because Santa has quit the business and won’t return to his sleigh until Holly can turn one cold heart back to the true meaning of the season.

The Blurb:   Holly’s father has quit the family business.  The problem is, he’s Santa Claus.  Santa will return to his sleigh only if Holly can turn one cold grinchy heart back to the true meaning of the season.  Another problem, he gets to pick the “Grinch”.

This blurb turned into ‘TIS THE SEASON, a 2005 holiday release from Avalon Books and  2006 Holt Medallion nominee.

Breaking your book down into Debra Dixon’s 4-W’s will help you communicate the heart of your story to the editor or agent with whom you are meeting and make her ask for more. 

So also be ready for the questions.   Do the same 4-W’s for your hero.  She will ask about him.  What are his goals, his conflicts and why?  How do they meet?  How do they interact?  How do they finally resolve the problem and live happily ever after?

There, you got it; your wonderful book distilled down into key information and ready for the most important fifteen minutes of one-on-one you may have all year.

Write the 4-W’s on 3x5 cards -  one for him, one for her.  Then practice them until saying them out loud is second nature to you and you are comfortable with the words.  When you hear your children reciting them with you word for word, you’re ready!!

Okay now, summing it all up:

• Know your book category and length.
• Be sure your book is done or almost done.
• Write down the 4-W’s for your hero and heroine and use one or the other to construct your blurb
• Write the blurb so it sounds like speech
• Practice, practice, practice
• Be ready to answer questions of conflict and resolution

Good luck.

Oh, at appointment time, when you get to “the” door, relax and remember to breathe.  If you don’t,  you’ll turn blue and that’s not everyone’s favorite color. 

Go in and sell that book.  I’ll be first in line for an autographed copy.