That’s why I recommend participating in pitch sessions at conferences even if your manuscript is not complete. Practicing my pitch has helped me find my story. Let me explain:

I’m working on a memoir about the power of hope through faith.  After three years of writing, rewriting, attending writer’s conferences, taking writing courses, I am just finding the heart of my story– a prerequisite for pitching any book.

In 2009, I attended my first national writer’s conference armed with an idea and a passion to write, I stood in long ,winding lines to pitch my story idea to any available agent or publisher, practicing my pitch with anyone who would listen.

I learned from one agent: “Your story may be fascinating in its detail but it will all be in the telling.”

So I set out to learn my craft, signing up for memoir writing courses and workshops and spending the next two years writing vignettes. I also started a memoir writer’s blog in December, 2009.

In 2011, I practice-pitched again at another writer’s conference…and learned from a publisher: “If you aren’t a celebrity, you need a strong author platform to show you have an audience for your book.”

So I signed up for Dan Blank’s Build Your Author Platform Course and continued to work on building my platform.

In 2012, I attended my first Writer’s Digest Conference and participated in “Pitch Slam.”  Standing in more winding lines, practicing my pitch with others in line, I realized something important: I did not know what the heart of my story was yet. I learned by pitching that I wasn’t ready to pitch. I had more writing and rewriting to do.

So I went on a quest to find the heart of my story. I began pulling my vignettes together into a story board. I took a few more writing courses. I blogged about my journey until I was ready to send my first 100 pages to a manuscript consultant.

In 2013, two weeks before the Writer’s Digest Conference and after two rounds of professional edits and feedback from several beta readers, I found the heart of my story. It was not the story I had been working on.

I wasn’t even sure I would be attending Pitch Slam. What story would I be pitching? But on the train ride into New York City, I wrote out my pitch. Even though the process was taking a new direction, I decided I would attend Pitch Slam with no expectations other than to gain clarity and focus for my job ahead.

Here’s what happened:

Agent #1:

“Your story sounds interesting but you have to offer a unique twist to a common topic. What do you have to offer that similar stories don’t offer?”

The answer came to me as I stood in line for the next agent. I’m a nurse and can speak about a cancer diagnosis from the other side. I incorporated that into my next pitch.

Agent #2:

Nodding and engaged, she asked me what my platform was. When I told her about my blog and audience, she advised that I incorporate that into my pitch. And she asked me to submit a proposal. I was getting warmed up. Two new points to incorporate into my next pitch gave me increased confidence.

Agent #3:

“Sounds intriguing. Send me three scenes. I need to see how you write and if it fits in with what I need.”

Two out of three was not bad. I was feeling excited until I sat before the next agent who asked me the most challenging question of all.

Agent#4:

“What is your narrative arc?”

I stumbled through and she politely told me my story did not fit what she was looking for.

I knew I didn’t have the narrative arc down clearly yet. But when I went off to the side to think about it, I ended up jotting it down. It flowed like it had been there all along just waiting for me to notice. By the time I reached my final and most valued agent, I had incorporated all of the above—my story’s uniqueness, platform, narrative arc—into my pitch.

Agent #5:

“Send me a proposal. Do you have a business card?”

I had met this agent at my first writer’s conference in 2009 and had sent her a proposal way before I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. The cumulative feedback from all the previous agents and publishers had led to my best pitch yet.

Practicing my pitch has helped me refine my focus and clarify my story.

You can’t hit a home run unless you get up to bat. Or in the words of Babe Ruth:

Are you ready to pitch your story? If you have already pitched your story, how has it helped you move along in your writing? Share your thoughts in the comments.

•   •   •   •   •

Kathleen Pooler is a writer and a retired Family Nurse Practitioner who is working on a memoir and a sequel about how the power of hope through her faith in God has helped her to transform, heal and transcend life’s obstacles and disappointments:  domestic abuse, divorce, single parenting, loving and letting go of an alcoholic son, cancer and heart failure to live a life of joy and contentment. She believes that hope matters and that we are all strengthened and enlightened when we share our stories.

She blogs weekly at her Memoir Writer’s Journey blog: https://krpooler.com and can be found on Twitter @kathypooler and on LinkedIn, Google+, Goodreads and Facebook: Kathleen Pooler

Read Kathy’s work:

“The Stone on the Shore” is published in the anthology: “The Woman I’ve Become: 37 Women Share Their Journeys From Toxic Relationships to Self-Empowerment” by Pat LaPointe, 2012.

“Choices and Chances” is published in the mini-anthology: “My Gutsy Story” by Sonia Marsh, 2012.

The post How Practicing My Pitch Helped Me Write a Better Book appeared first on DIY MFA.

Self-publishing is no longer a synonym for vanity publishing. Authors have more options than ever before to get their books in the hands of their ideal readers. And even if a writer gets a book deal with a big publisher, they still have to don that entrepreneurial cap and help sell and market their books. One thing is clear: you can’t be just a writer anymore. There’s a certain business savvy that’s now expected of writers and we have to accept that, whether we like it or not.

But I feel like the pendulum has swung too far. In a world where writers used to work in quiet solitude, they now have marketing responsibilities and social media foisted on them (along with all the noise that comes with it). It used to be that writers’ primary responsibility was honing their craft and writing the best book possible. Now writing the best book possible is a given and writers have a mountain of other jobs as well.

I’m beginning to worry that in the course of this shift, some amazing writing voices are going to get lost in the shuffle.

Entrepreneurial Authors

Fans of self-publishing love this idea of author entrepreneurs putting their books out into and owning their publishing careers. But let’s not forget that we’re no longer working in a one-style-fits-all publishing world. Just as self-published authors didn’t like what they saw in traditional publishing and carved out a model that worked for them, we must also understand that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.

Not all authors want to be entrepreneurs but we all have to be entrepreneurial.

There’s a difference.

I recently had a conversation with a writer who expressed apprehensions about this growth in self-publishing. She said that self-publishing could be great for some writers, but that she herself wouldn’t do well in that situation. She confessed that she didn’t want to be her own boss.

This came as a shock to me because–as an entrepreneur practically since birth–it never occurred to me that some people might actually like working in a traditional job with a regular boss and normal schedule. Similarly, for many writers having the structure of working with a traditional publisher is worth all the difficulties (dozens of query rejections, loss of control over many details, etc.) Not all authors are cut out to be their own publishers–or in other words, be author entrepreneurs. This is why traditional publishers will never disappear altogether.

But whether you publish via the traditional model or you choose to break out on your own, every writer needs to be the CEO of his or her career. You need to be entrepreneurial no matter which publishing path you choose. Being entrepreneurial means being constantly on the lookout for:

• Potential partnerships both inside and out of your field,
• Opportunities to get your work in front of new audiences (i.e. marketing and PR opportunities),
• New possible business models (i.e. ways to get your stories into the world),
• Information about new technology and learning how to make it work for you.

It might look like I’m letting writers off the hook, giving them opportunity to complain about the injustices of the changes to the publishing industry. That’s not what I’m doing. I might be saying that not all writers need to be entrepreneurs, but if we must all be entrepreneurial then it means there is no longer room in this industry for writers who are lazy. There’s no room for excuses and no room for complaining. We just have to do the work.

There are two ways we can look at how things are evolving in the world of publishing. On one hand, we can throw our hands in the air and wail “the end is nigh!” until we’re hoarse, but how much good is that really going to do? The other option is to accept that change isn’t just around the corner–it’s already happened–accept it, and start looking for new opportunities. In this new publishing model there’s no more opportunity to get comfortable with the status quo because things are going to continue to change constantly. The industry is going through some growing pains and we’ve got to grow with it.

The post Why You Don’t Need to Be an Author Entrepreneur appeared first on DIY MFA.

Novice writers can enjoy the inspirational keynote speakers and great lectures on writing craft and technique. The sessions on platform-building and self-publishing are great for writers at more advanced levels who are considering the many options available to them for publication. Finally, for writers who are ready to get their work in front of agents, the Pitch Slam is an exciting and high-energy way to get immediate feedback from industry professionals. I myself have attended this conference for three years running and always learn so much from it, no matter where I am in my writing journey.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing articles based on things I learned at this conference. There was so much great material that I want to share with you, and I also connected with many of the speakers and industry professionals and will be bringing you interviews or guest articles from them as well. Stay tuned because while the writing conference itself is over, the DIY MFA coverage of it is just beginning.

During the conference, several themes came up again and again and these themes reflect a lot of what’s been happening in the publishing world at large. Today I’ll share an overview of some of these themes, but stay tuned for longer articles where we’ll delve into them in more detail.

Publishing or Platform? Which Comes First?

One of the messages that kept coming up throughout the conference is this idea of publishing as a process as opposed to a static goal. Many writers, particularly early in their careers, tend to think that once they publish a book they will have “arrived.” In today’s publishing climate this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Which brings us to that chicken-and-egg conundrum if publishing vs. platform-building. One of the most surprising (but also most delightful) take-away messages I got from WDCE was this idea that you can build your platform by publishing. Now, I’m not just talking about publishing in the current, traditional sense, I’m talking about that old-school definition of publishing (i.e. to make your words and ideas public and generally known). Several speakers emphasized this idea that the best way to build connections with readers and stay in front of your audience is to publish.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to publish a new book every week. Maybe it means self-publishing some short stories or a novella between novels. Maybe it means writing a newsletter and staying in front of your audience that way. Maybe it means writing a regular blog. The idea is to keep putting your words out there and to stay salient in the minds of your readers. In this way, publishing can become a very effective platform.

“Discoverability” Means Discipline

“Discoverability” is one of those trendy new terms that everyone seems to be throwing around these days. The truth though is that “discoverability” is a myth. It implies this notion that there’s a magic bullet, a cure-all pill, a secret solution that will suddenly make your book rise to the top of all Google searches and make it appear on the front page of Amazon.

There is a magic bullet–sort of–but it’s called discipline not “discoverability.” Discipline means staying connected with your readers. It means making sure that your book’s metadata is complete. It means crafting excellent marketing copy. And it means writing the best dang book you can possibly write, then editing the heck out of it until it’s even better.

Sounds a lot like “work” doesn’t it? That’s the beauty of discipline. If you craft a smart plan and work hard at it, your book can rise to the top. Maybe not to the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list, but you can get it in front of your ideal readers, and isn’t that the point anyway?

 Write the Best Book You Can

One of the main messages at Writer’s Digest Conference East was that quality of writing still trumps all. You can try all the marketing tricks and tips you want, but they won’t make much difference if your book isn’t good. Writing the best book you can means learning to be your own best reader. It also means getting feedback on your writing at all stages but also knowing how to interpret that information. It means forging connections with your readers, with other writers and with professionals in the industry.

Gone are the days when writers worked in isolation. Nowadays, we all need a network of supporters. Conferences are a place where you can initiate and develop these relationships and Writer’s Digest is one of the best.

The post Writer’s Digest Conference East 2013 appeared first on DIY MFA.