Stampede as 500 writers attend annual 'pitch slam'

Enole Ditsheko
Correspondent | Wednesday January 26, 2011 00:00

The pitch slam is probably the most anticipated session in the three-day event that Writer's Digest organises annually, as a platform to coach writers on the needs by the publishing industry as well as accord them the chance to pitch their works. 

With 500-plus writers dying to have their manuscripts in book form, the one-on-one encounter with a literary agent representing one or several mainstream 'big name' publishing houses, the writer gets only 90 seconds to grab the attention of the agent with a solid book proposal that elicits an outright rejection or embrace.

If the agent thinks your plot gives something peculiar and with potential for the market, they invite the writer to submit parts of the manuscripts or the whole of it.  Though not an absolute guarantee, a 'yes' means the manuscript has more than half the chance of success with a major publisher that the agent would identify and market to. 

The emotions ranged from distraught and despair to joy and excitement as many lines of patient writers waited for their moment of reckoning. Literary agents who are in fact representing both the interests of the writers and publishers, negotiating good contracts that favour their clients, are however more often than not, accused of 'going to bed' with the publishers and ganging up against the small player in the game - the writer. 

At the Saturday pitch slam, 53 literary agents scattered on the floor of the lower level of Sheraton Hotel engaged each writer one-by-one on their writing projects, rejected many and solicited just few projects for the 2011 titles with major publishers. She said I had a strong pitch, but it is not suited for her agency,' said one writer.

For Lee Carlson, the pitch slam is an ugly session, which creates competitiveness and creates animosity among writers when some make it and others fail to impress the agents. 'But we are all given a fair chance, so why grumble when you did not have a solid proposal? I disagree - pitch slam is a great opportunity to test whether we know our book ideas as well as we like to talk about their greatness,' Kate Ferris said. 

Ferris had a chance to talk to three agents and was successful in two. 'I don't take anything personal. When she said I had a great pitch, but it was not what she was looking for, I had to believe her because she knows what the publishers she represents are looking for,' she explained.

Meanwhile, publishers are interested in stories that are well-thought out and in which writers show they had carefully identified their audiences.  Former director and publisher of Writer's Digest, now lecturing at the University of Cincinnati, Jane Friedman, said writers must know their strengths and not overestimate their talent to mean they can write and produce pieces that are outside their area of expertise. Because writers tend to generally believe in themselves and do not take kindly when they are rejected, the state of affairs has led many writers to self-publishing and subsidised means to remain in print and sell copies of their books.

'Writers do not like to be at the mercy of someone else - patience must be your strength. If your manuscript is rejected, ask yourself - did I map out my audience enough for the publisher to see? Until you feel someone is listening to you and that your piece will be appreciated - do not waste your energy writing because you will continually feel frustrated. Writers must belong to a community of listeners and those are your readers,' Friedman told her audience.  Writer's Digest has been running conferences for 80 years, in order to create platforms for writers and players in the book industry to get together, review works deemed publishable and if they share similar sentiments - it is at this forum where deals are clinched.  Writers in their hundreds attend the annual event, paying in advance for online registration sums of P3,600 ($500) per person in order to get immeasurable amount of coaching from the industry experts for the future, if not successful at one event.