Pitching to editors at conferences

If the house already rejected them, chances are slim. I believe most houses have a sales/marketing/acquisitions committee of some type that makes final decisions on manuscripts. It's usually not one person saying yay or nay.

Of course, if you have nothing else to pitch and it's been years since you submitted, you lose nothing by trying.

Though, do you really want to submit to a house that held your ms. for two years?

These conferences tend to be pricey. If you don't have anything to pitch beyond manuscripts that have already been rejected by these particular houses, then it's probably not the best use of your funds to attend.

There's a LOT more to conferences than just pitching. If the workshops are good and the presenters knowledgeable you can learn the things you need to write a novel that will get you an agent and a book deal. It happened to me. I went to a conference, had my eyes opened, came home, wrote a novel based on what I learned, went back to the conference the next year, pitched my agent and signed with her, sold my novel.

If there are things there you will learn, go. If all you're doing is going to pitch one or two editors, then you have to make the call whether or not it's worth it.

I found it interesting to talk with editors and think it could be useful to hear what they say- keep in mind that if it's a different editor but the same house it could very well be useful to pitch again. What does your agent say?

I'm going to ask a question that veterans in here will surely find stupid. How does one pitch a story to an editor at one of these conventions? I'm attending one in April and possibly another in May. Do you just gush at the editor over your masterpiece (rofl) or do you hand him a query or a synopsis or just tell the premise of the book or what? What's the procedure to anyone who's actually done it?

Not a stupid question at all A very common one actually.

If you have a meeting with them, you sit down, tell them the title and genre, give them your one-line pitch. They usually ask questions at this point, and you can go into more detail about what your book is about. It's pretty much the same setup as your query hook, though remember that speaking a line and reading a line are very different. Some lines read fine on paper but are awkward out loud, so practice what you're going to say.

If you want to pitch editors at random...
Remember they get attacked on a regular basis. Be friendly, strike up a conversation, don't assume they want or have time to hear you right then and there. Mention you'd love a chance to pitch your novel if they have time. Sometimes they'll ask about the book, other times they'll gracefully bow out. They're time is pretty booked at a lo/t of these things, so be considerate.

Above all, be friendly, be professional, be brief. Sharpen your one-line pitch to a razor point. Perhaps something like "I have this (genre) novel about ... short one line hook, would you have time to talk sometime this (length of conference)?" Give them an out if they aren't interested. Give them a reason to be interested with the hook.

And don't corner them in a bathroom It's just tacky.

Jiggs,

As Patricia said, if it is a different editor at the same house, the outcome could be different. I don't think it's ever a waste of time to pitch to editors and agents at conferences. You learn how to tell the story of your book succinctly, and you get a chance to talk to these people and ask them questions. I sold my first novel to Putnam through a pitch session with an editor at a conference. I had the best possible outcome. But even if I hadn't sold it, the session would have been valuable.

And I agree with everything Danthia said.

Good luck!

Is there a good listing somewhere of writer conferences that involve agents/editors?
Thanks

If you resubmit the same book, I'd at least change the title.