Has anyone ever scheduled an appointment with an agent?

doctri said:

I was just curious if anyone has ever tried this approach. Is it even possible to call up an agent's office and schedule a time to sit down with him or her and pitch a book idea to them? I would be willing to fly across the country in order to sit down with an agent for fifteen minutes. I know that you can sometimes meet with agents at writer's conferences, but I can never seem to hit on the right combination of agent and a time that fits in my schedule.

Click to expand...

I read on one website (can't remember which agent site it was) that if you show up to pitch a manuscript, they'll either sic their dog on you, or something evil to that effect.

I would be shocked that any would do this, considering the volume of queries they receive. I would imagine a meeting would only happen if they're gonna sign you.....and heck, maybe not even then....lol

I doubt that would work. It's almost like you'd be depending on the strength of your verbal pitch, when in the end sellable writing is what gets the deal.

Yeah, agents go to conferences, but only to find publishable material; how verbally excited the particular writer is about their work is secondary. Good writing trumps all. Period.

doctri said:

I was just curious if anyone has ever tried this approach. Is it even possible to call up an agent's office and schedule a time to sit down with him or her and pitch a book idea to them? I would be willing to fly across the country in order to sit down with an agent for fifteen minutes. I know that you can sometimes meet with agents at writer's conferences, but I can never seem to hit on the right combination of agent and a time that fits in my schedule.

Click to expand...

Many have, but it does not work. Don't try it.

Agents will not just meet with you. And when someone tries to get to them in dishonest ways, like pretending a meeting or call is about something else, then pitching for representation, it majorly ticks them off.

Go the appropriate routes. Do your research on how/when to approach agents, and follow those guidelines.

good luck.

~suki

You may have the time. Agents don't. Stay at home and save your energy and write the very best, perfect pitch you can and send it off. Alternatively, you could attend a conference you can book a session with an editor or agent.

Why don't you post your query letter in SYW? Maybe it needs work.

look at queryshark (queryshark.blogspot.com) to see if your query can be improved.
And keep looking for pitch appointments at writers conferences.
I've done them, they work

doctri said:

I have done something very similar. I had my query reviewed by two editors with publishing experience, and after several revisions, I felt like I had come up with the best query possible. But given my failures to this point, I think I will post it and see what feedback I get.

Click to expand...

Well, and in addition to working on the query for this book, maybe this one won't sell but the next one might. Write another book.

Or take some classes if you think the writing is holding you back.

But sometimes some books just don't sell, and sometimes some don't sell from unpublished authors, but sell as book 2 or 3.

So, if this one doesn't work out, try another.

~suki

33 rejects on the letter or counting partials and fulls?

doctri said:

I have done something very similar. I had my query reviewed by two editors with publishing experience, and after several revisions, I felt like I had come up with the best query possible. But given my failures to this point, I think I will post it and see what feedback I get.

Click to expand...

I know this stinks to hear, but it IS possible that there's nothing wrong with your query letter, but the book or idea isn't grabbing for whatever reason. Even if it's well-written and does everything right, if it's in a market that's saturated, too close to another book, or uses an idea that's been done a lot, you'll get rejections. SYW could give you some insights there.

Writers get so excited about those pitch sessions at writing conferences...and yet...do they really help aspiring authors get representation?

I just got back from Pike's Peak Writers Association's annual conference, where one of the things I did was to be a "pitch coach" for about 20 writers, helping them prepare for their speed pitch session the next day.

I did the best I could to give my pitchers useful suggestions, and most of them reported that they'd been asked to submit something as a result of their pitch.

But you know something? All these years of attending writing conferences, meeting and talking with editors and agents...and yet I'm not aware of any writers who were subsequently "signed" with an agent as the result of such a pitch. I asked a couple of top-flight agents on Saturday whether they'd ever heard of any writer that was signed as the result of a conference pitch. They hadn't.

Same goes for editors at conferences who take pitches. No sales that anyone had ever heard of as the result of a writing conference pitch.

If your query letter has gotten 33 form rejections, with no requests to read anything, not even a partial, you need to chuck it and write a different one.

And as for the idea of flying across country to verbally pitch to different agents...no. No. No. Uh uh. Don't.

Agents universally say "Don't call!" when they list their "Don't ever do this" lists at conferences. So, obviously, showing up at their office would be even less appreciated.

-Ann C. Crispin

AC Crispin said:

Writers get so excited about those pitch sessions at writing conferences...and yet...do they really help aspiring authors get representation?

Click to expand...

I know of at least one who signed with a major agent and then the agent sold the book to a major publisher after an SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) conference.

But it came out of a writers intensive, not a "pitch" session. So, the agent had 5 pages of the manuscript in front of him, as did the editor. And I know of many others who have gotten requests for manuscripts off of SCBWI critiques. Now, have they translated into being signed/sales? that I can't say, and I can't say whether these same people wouldn't had the same result off cold queries to agents.

But there does seem to be, at least in my anecdotal experience, a better opportunity to get your pages before an editor/agent at SCBWI conferences with critique or intensive sessions, as compared to cold querying.

FWIW.

~suki

Nathan Bransford's latest blog entry is about maximizing pitch sessions

http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/

My understanding is that a pitch session can help an agent to single out your query from the slush pile, or put a face and idea to a requested manuscript, but in the end it's all about the writing.

doctri said:

31 outright rejections. 2 rejections after requesting partials.

Click to expand...

You've barely started!

Keep pitching BUT do make sure you're writing something new and fresh as well. Often acceptances come when you're more interested in a new project.

Good luck.

AC Crispin said:

But you know something? All these years of attending writing conferences, meeting and talking with editors and agents...and yet I'm not aware of any writers who were subsequently "signed" with an agent as the result of such a pitch. I asked a couple of top-flight agents on Saturday whether they'd ever heard of any writer that was signed as the result of a conference pitch. They hadn't.

Click to expand...

I pitched at a conference. I signed with my agent ten days later. But she did say I was the first she ever found at a conference.

I do feel that had I queried her in the standard way the results would have been about the same though. She liked the book, and I doubt how it came to her mattered much.