Pitching in person

In the last two weeks I’ve been at two events where aspiring novelists have had the opportunity to present their work and ideas to me face-to-face for feedback. I never did anything like this when I was an aspiring novelist and so I was trying to imagine how terrifying this might be for participants. I used to get sweaty palms just standing in the post office queue with a requested manuscript so I don’t think I could have done it. WELL DONE YOU BRAVE LOT. I hope I didn’t scare you too much.

The first event was Pitch Your Novel which took place in Westminster, London and where writers had five minutes to pitch their work/ideas to an industry panel which comprised agent Lorella Belli, m.d. of Legend Press Tom Chalmers and I. From my point of view I was disappointed when writers used their five minutes only to share ideas and I didn’t get to hear any writing. But I did my best to give feedback on those ideas in the context of today’s marketplace. Several of the writers presented material that might have interested a publisher twenty years ago but styles and fashions move on. You may not want to write for the market but do write for today’s reader.

The real benefit of the day lay in watching and learning from the feedback on everyone’s pitches, not just your own. I was also interested to find I agreed with and was thinking the same as my fellow panelists 90% of the time.

I heard a couple of writers who I thought I were promising so certainly not a wasted day from my point of view.

Last weekend I saw about 15 writers one to one at Winchester Writers Conference. No audience this time as the meetings between writer and I were private, albeit in a very noisy room. I intended to give feedback both on the writing as well as marketability but I did notice that writers were disappointed when I didn’t ask to see more material. In one case I’m sure the writer will find an agent but her work was simply not for me. It’s a subjective business and we all have our personal tastes.

I saw one very promising novel but felt it needed work on the plot so it could be more marketable. I don’t think the writer agreed with me but maybe she’ll have second thoughts. Unfortunately it’s not good enough these days just to write a novel of publishable standard, it also must be marketable.

Winchester Writers Conference – 2

A quick round-up of the conference from my point of view.

I arrived on Friday, spent about three hours in the student coffee bar locked away in my imagination writing… bliss! Then I checked into my room, which to my surprise, wasn’t en-suite. Having stayed at various University campuses over the last few years and always had an en-suite room I was unprepared. (The large bath towel I had brought with me was vital after all!) I spent the rest of Friday chatting with writers, which really is the pleasurable part of conferences. Caught up with Jean Fullerton, Catherine King, Sally Spedding, and Susan Franklin. I also met for the first time over the weekend Adrienne Dines, Lesley Horton, Sarah Ellender, agent Judith Murdoch, members of a writers group from Leicester and another from Worthing, and many other writers with whom it was a pleasure to meet and talk to.

Saturday was a marathon for me with my one-to-ones but most people attending the conference had a mixture of talks, workshops and a plenary session by Michael Morpurgo to enjoy. The evening ended with a gala dinner and a great talk by Lola Jaye in which she explained the determination needed on the long journey to publication. Lola got her lucky break at Winchester, which reminded me that I can attribute the “lucky break” to getting published first time myself to a conversation I overheard in the queue to the Ladies at a meeting of the Romantic Novelists Association. Get out and about, or as Lola described it, put yourself in position for those lucky breaks to become more likely.

This coming weekend is the Romantic Novelists Association conference in Penrith so I suspect I may get a little behind with submissions again. Do bear with me.

Winchester Writers Conference – 1

This weekend I spent at the Writers Conference in Winchester. I got down there on Friday so had a chance to relax before the big day which for me was Saturday when I was down to see 21 writers for 15 minute one to ones. I’d received opening chapters and synopses from almost all the writers in advance and had made notes on them so I could deliver useful feedback.

What I think I was most surprised about were the number of writers who clearly hoped that, on sight of their opening chapters, I would spend the 15 minutes offering them representation. Although I saw some promising work, I only requested to see more from a handful of writers, partly for reasons of personal taste, secondly for reasons of marketability, and thirdly, because a handful of the writers were clearly at the very beginning of their quest to write a publishable novel and still had a long way to go.

I thought I would share some of the things I ended up repeating on the day:

• Start your novel with action. Action does not mean there has to be an earthquake, but just that something is happening. Don’t write a first chapter full of backstory or introspection.
• I am always looking for great characterisation. Great characterisation is the most likely to be the magic bullet for me as to whether I love your story because I believe it’s what makes great stories. So if I say “work on your characterisation”, take this seriously.
• As a general rule, 1st person is more limiting for many novels, especially in certain genres such as thrillers. If you’ve tried 3rd person character point of view and are certain its not working for your story I’m fair more likely to take you seriously than a writer who tells me they’ve never written anything in 3rd person or that you can’t have charcater viewpoint in 3rd person.
• Know what your genre is. Most commercial fiction is either women’s fiction or crime.
• Crime novels are not only stories about detectives solving murders. (In the US crime is actually called mystery which is probably a better name to encompass the width of the genre).
• I represent the kinds of novels I like to read. So when I say “your writing is good but it is not for me” I’m rejecting it on the grounds of my personal taste. Keep trying other agents.
• I have to think about marketability. So when I say “your writing is good but there is no market for this kind of novel at the moment” I’m not just fobbing you off, I mean it. I could be wrong though, so keep trying other agents.
• Writing is not only about craft. First novels must have a wow factor. There must be something that makes them stand out.
• If I tell you your literary novel is a crime novel, believe me rather than arguing with me! I don’t care if its a literary crime novel or not. I just have to love it and it must be absolutely gripping and readable.

More about what happened at Winchester later.