Your experience with the pitch process

Her pitching is for various editors at various houses (publishers) to allow her to submit your novel to them. My situation was an anomaly as LOTTERY went straight to auction which means several publishers were already interested so they had to bid to get it-
Your agent should explain the process that she will go through - if she knew you had no previous publication history there is no reason to suspect you would know this-
No worries tho-
While an editor might say right away "sure sent it on" it can take months for them to finish reading and then usually your novel has to in turn be pitched by the editor to the editorial board and usually marketing as well.
IF they all like what they see they may make you an offer-
IF that happens -- your agent will discuss any offers with you- it is your ultimate decision --
but say you accept it- then another couple months will go by and your agent and publisher will iron out the contract details then you sign the contract and then several more weeks will pass before you get your check-
For example my auction was held Dec 6,2006 my contract was signed the end of February and my first check was given to me April 1 2007.
Some of my foreign sales have taken a year (or more).

Before my agent submitted she asked whether I wanted just to hear interest or the rejections- I opted to see everything- She also phoned me each day to let me know which editors wanted to interview me and how the auction was to be handled...
Be prepared for this process to take months and then be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't-
My suggestion for what it's worth is finish your next book and your next- don't be waiting for "this one to sell before you do anything" ...
Best of Luck!

Advances normally come in portions. For ex: a third when you sign the contract, a third when they accept the final draft of the manuscript, the final third when the book is published.

ORION basically explained the pitch process.

I was told when my agent was going to start pitching and he gave me the list of first six editors he'd targeted. About a week later he let me know that five had requested the material, but the sixth was on vacation. When she got back, she also requested it (and was, funny enough, the one who ended up getting the book). I know my timeline was pretty exceptional, because within a month, we had three rejections, two offers, and one who hadn't yet responded. A week later we had an auction, and the best offer got it.

The majority of the communication for this happened over the phone--the rejection updates, the offers, and auction results. I accepted the best offer over the phone, and a few minutes later got a call from my new editor.

Payment all depends on the house structure for advances. Most still use the 3-payment model waylander mentioned. My house uses a 2-part structure--half on signing, half on delivery-and-acceptance of the final manuscript. The first part of the advance (the part you get on signing) can take months to actually get, because first your agent negotiates the contract. This can take weeks to months, in and of itself. Contracts are very detailed, and your agent may want to negotiate certain points. Those changes must be approved before the changes can be implemented. Then you get the contracts to sign, and even after they go back to the publisher, it can be weeks to months before they actually cut the check. My signing half and D&A half for the first book came within weeks of each other.

So yeah, even once you have a handshake deal, money is still many months away from being in your pocket.

ORION said:

She also phoned me each day to let me know which editors wanted to interview me

Click to expand...

ORION:
What was this "interview" part of the process. They just wanted to talk with you about the book...before they made an offer? Was this also over the phone?

I'm so anxious and curious about this whole process...and am still weeks, perhaps months away from all of it!

when I asked my agent how to prepare she just said "don't worry...it's a beauty contest but you're not the contestant...they are."
Each were trying to "sell" me on the fact that they'd be the best publisher and editor for Lottery. Some talked about the editing process and others talked about their "vision" for the book and still others talked about how their marketing and sales would really get behind the book.
I took notes and then when the auction was finished and I got to choose which offer I accepted- I used that as part of my decision...

And yes it was over the phone...

Thanks Orion. That's a beauty contest I can get behind

lol!
I felt special. That's why I went out and got a tiara.