Juggling



It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. The longest break I've taken from my blog since I started it in February of 2012. I needed a break...still do. I've been juggling numerous balls these past few weeks and I had to drop one of them--and blogging it was.

The two heaviest balls I'm juggling right now are planning for the ACFW Conference in Indianapolis this week and starting our family homeschool.

Planning for the conference involves more than just preparing one-sheets, practicing my pitch and packing my bags. Over the past week I've been doing laundry, creating meal plans, shopping, coordinating schedules for four children, one dad and a grandma, cleaning the house...and cleaning some more. I don't want to forget anything! I've also been polishing my manuscript, ordering business cards (and reordering business cards...long story), putting together outfits, editing my one-sheets, and making flower pins (see my blog post about being memorable here).

I'm looking forward to so many things at the conference this year. I will be meeting my agent, Mary Keeley, in person for the first time. I am a finalist in the My Book Therapy Frasier Contest. My friend, Melissa Tagg, will be celebrating her first book release while we're there (her book Made to Last releases September 15th). Seeing old friends and meeting new. Attending amazing workshops. Meeting (and pitching to) editors. And fellowshipping with other like-minded writers and Christians. What could be better?

Homeschooling is the other ball I'm juggling right now. I was homeschooled as a child and it has always been my hope and prayer that we could homeschool our children. We've decided to start with just our oldest this year. She entered the third grade and she was excited to start. Our second daughter (first grade) has stayed in the private school we've had the girls in for the past few years. We plan to eventually start homeschooling her, as well--but we're going to take it a year at a time.

The other balls I usually juggle are also lying next to my blogging ball. I've had to decline some of my volunteer activities, postpone much needed visits with friends, and miss a few events I would have loved to attend--but I know when September passes, I'll be able to go back to my regular activities and pick up those balls again.

I can't wait to meet you back here to share all my conference experiences when I return! I plan to post pictures and an overview of my conference experience when I come back. I'm sure I'll be posting pictures on Facebook while I'm there, as well.

I also have a really, really exciting list of guest authors coming up in October! Six weeks. Six authors. One really great prize! I'll share more when I come home.

Your Turn: Are you going to be at the ACFW Conference this year? What do you have planned for the coming week?

Preparing for a Writers Conference: One Sheets, Business Cards & Pitching

With the ACFW Conference less than five weeks away, I'm busy preparing for the meetings, classes and networking I'll be doing while there.

For an unpublished author, pitching appointments are at the top of my preparation list. Everything else pales in comparison when I start to think about pitching. We can never start practicing and preparing for these important meetings too soon.

Three areas I'm preparing right now are one sheets (or pitch sheets), business cards and practicing my actual pitch.

One Sheets. When I start to prepare for my pitching appointments, the first place I start is with my one sheet. This is the piece of paper I'll place in front of the editor when I sit down to pitch. Here's mine from last year (modified with my agent's info for this year):

On my one sheet I have my story question (or hook), an image that represents my story, my picture, the "back cover copy," information about the book's length, genre and series potential, and my bio. Last year the bottom contained my contact info, but this year it contains my agent's info.

I feel that this one sheet captures the essence of my writing and I've received some great feedback on it from my agent. Make sure your one sheet does the same.

Last year I took Beth Vogt's advice and organized a pitching folder. You can watch her great vlog here. Since she does such a fabulous job explaining pitch folders, and how to have a successful pitching appointment, I won't go into too many details. But I want to share what I felt worked really well about her advice.

My pitching folder from last year



I bought three sturdy folders and placed my one sheet on the left, my full book proposal on the right (including the five page synopsis and first three chapters of my novel), as well as my business card in the little slots on the bottom left. When I sat down for my pitch appointments I took out my one sheet and placed it on the top of the folder. It was great to have the pitch sheet ready to give to the editors when they extended their hands. I based my pitch on the "back cover copy" and if I needed to, I could easily look at it for reference if I forgot my words.

Having everything together in one place came in handy when an agent--who I talked to in the hallway before a meal--ask for my entire folder.

Business Cards. I discovered business cards were mostly used to connect with other writers. When I came home from ACFW last year I had dozen and dozens of business cards from people I met. It was a great way to gather contact information. The editors I talked to didn't take my one sheets, but they did take my business cards.

Here's what my business cards looked like last year, with modifications for this year:



I tried to make my business card and one sheet look similar. (I included my personal phone and address on the original, but deleted it for this blog post.) My best advice is to make sure you put your picture on your card! This will help people put a face with your name later on.

At the conference be sure to have these card easily accessible! You'll find yourself exchanging cards all the time.

Pitching. Ah, pitching. I admit, I was very nervous to pitch my story last year (and nervous to pitch again this year!). But I learned a few things before I went to the conference, and I learned a few things while I was there, that have put my nerves to rest...a little bit.

First, practice, practice, practice! Practice in front of the mirror, practice with a friend or family member, and practice while you're doing household chores. It's hard to condense a 100,000 word story into a two or three minute pitch (because that's about how long it should take you)--but you can do it! You want to hook the agent or editor in the first thirty seconds and then keep them hooked for the next few minutes. After that, hopefully they want to know more and they'll ask.

Start with a great story question. Last year I asked: Can breaking someone's heart be the ultimate act of love? Both times the editors raised their brows and said: "Can it?" This year I'm going to ask: Can best friends compete for the same lady--and remain friends?

Here's a great tip: register for the Pitch & Promotion Seminar with My Book Therapy taking place before the ACFW Conference. It was the best thing I've done for my writing career. You can see the promotional video I made for the seminar here.

In the video I talk about how the Pitch & Promotion Seminar helped me land an agent!

One thing that surprised me about pitching was how it was actually done. It's hard to imagine what it will be like, so I thought I'd explain it as best as I can. First, you show up for your scheduled meeting about fifteen minutes early and wait in the waiting area with a lot of other very nervous people. :)You're told to be quiet, since meetings are taking place close by.

People are talking quietly together, encouraging and praying for one another. A few minutes before your scheduled time, the coordinator with call all the writers to one place and explain what will happen. There is a long hallway with many meeting rooms. You will be told where your agent/editor is waiting.

A minute before you go into your appointment a whole group of other people will be exiting the meeting rooms, done with their appointments. Then the coordinator will tell you to find your meeting room--quietly. At this point, you walk down a long hallway with about fifty other people. It kind of feels like you're being herded!

The meeting room is well lit (I say this, because for some reason, when I imagined my pitching appointments before last year, I imagined sitting at a table in a dark room with a large light shining directly on my face...) :). There are about five or six small tables set up in the room, with two chairs at each table, directly across from one another. There will be name tags on their tables so you know which person to go to. The agent or editor will be sitting on one side and you'll take the chair on the other. Hopefully they are smiling at you when you walk in! :) You sit down, with a smile on your face, and take a deep breath. Remember there are about a dozen other people in the room talking, so don't let their chatter distract you.

My first editor started by introducing herself and asked me to tell her a little about myself. This immediately set me at ease. I love talking about my home and family. After that, we launched into my pitch. The second editor greeted me with a handshake and told me to tell her about my story.

My first pitching appointment! The editor had this lovely smile
the entire time I talked to her. She put me at ease and asked
great questions about my writing.

Five minutes before your time is up the time keeper will come into the room and say: "Five minutes left" or something like that. My first appointment I used my entire time, the second one I finished with a minute or two to spare, but I felt like everything had been accomplished and I said my goodbye. Both editors asked for my manuscript, so I felt good!

There is nothing I can say that will magically prepare you for the conference. It takes a lot of time, hard work and determination--but you can do it! Remember that you are the expert concerning your story and that God has called you to write it--no one else. Don't forget to be confident, yet humble. Try to put your nerves in their proper place. God gave you these nerves to keep you alert and conscious of your performance, but if you let them have too much control they can work against you.

And last, but not least in any way, pray, pray, pray. If God has called you to it, He'll walk you through it. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).

Your turn: What makes you the most nervous about pitching? If you've pitched before, tell us about it. If you have any advice about one sheets or business cards, I'd love to hear it.