American Christian Fiction Writers Conference

My Pitch & Promotion Buddies

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend my first writers conference - and it's the biggest one in the nation. The American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference was held in Dallas, Texas with almost seven hundred people in attendance.

Some of the reasons to go to a writers conference are to connect with other writers, attend workshops/seminars and to pitch your book idea to agents and editors in person - a privilege you don't get anywhere else. If you don't attend a conference, it can take months for an agent to get around to looking at your book proposal and it's almost impossible to get your idea in front of an editor without an agent.

At a conference you are given two fifteen minute appointments with agents and editors of your choice (but you don't always get your first choice). It's your job to communicate your book idea and get the agent/editor excited about it in fifteen minutes - a daunting task, to say the least. 

When I arrived at the conference on Wednesday I signed up to attend the Pitch & Promotion Seminar presented by Susan May Warren with My Book Therapy - and I'm so happy I did. Susie spent four hours teaching us how to present our book idea to agents and editors during our conference experience and then her skilled team members help us practice that pitch until we felt confident to present it.



Susan May Warren and Jim Rubart Teaching

During the Pitch & Promotion Seminar I had the awesome privilege to work with Beth Vogt - one of my favorite authors and friends. Beth helped me craft my "hook" line - the line you start with to grab your audience's attention. Here's what we came up with for my hook:

"Can the ultimate act of love be to break someones heart?"

What do you think? I had quite a few raised eyebrows when I asked that question - and it's the question that my book explores.

Two of my friends offered me pitch sessions with editors from some really amazing publishing houses. I was nervous going into my pitching sessions, but both of them proved to be awesome experiences.

I have much to share over the coming weeks about my time at ACFW, the people I met, the lessons I learned, the doors that were opened, but, for now, I'll leave you with the greatest truth I've gleaned:

God is in the business of blessing - and He's good at it.

What about you? What blessings are you counting today? What do you think about my hook line? :)