Pitch to agent at conference who already rejected your query

If they've already said no, I think it would be wasting both your time and theirs, unless the manuscript has been substantially revised/changed since you queried them. Pitch to someone else, if possible. And good luck in July!

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I once pitched to an agent who'd never responded to a query. I had a good experience, but no she didn't ask to see more.

Not sure I'd pitch to an agent who'd actually rejected it. Unless you've a longish pitch time and really want to know why she/he didn't bite.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I pitched to Agent A at a conference in August, and his agency partner, Agent B, at the same conference. At that pitch, I told him, "Agent A already saw this and requested more." He told me there was no need for him to look if Agent A was interested, so we talked about random writing stuff. I went to another small conference in November, two days after I got a final rejection from Agent A, and Agent B was there. By a total fluke, I had an appt with him, so I sat down and said, "I just got a rejection from Agent A, but I'd love to get your input on how to build platform and work on marketing." It was a very valuable conversation, and he ultimately told me that once I get my platform to Levels A B and C, to send him a query, even though Agent A declined it.

I look at it this way: It's your time. Use it to ask questions or chat about the industry or ask them to look at your query and see if they have suggestions on how to strengthen it.

I pitched to Agent A at a conference in August, and his agency partner, Agent B, at the same conference. At that pitch, I told him, "Agent A already saw this and requested more." He told me there was no need for him to look if Agent A was interested, so we talked about random writing stuff. I went to another small conference in November, two days after I got a final rejection from Agent A, and Agent B was there. By a total fluke, I had an appt with him, so I sat down and said, "I just got a rejection from Agent A, but I'd love to get your input on how to build platform and work on marketing." It was a very valuable conversation, and he ultimately told me that once I get my platform to Levels A B and C, to send him a query, even though Agent A declined it.

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All this is new to me. What does "platform" mean in this context?

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"-- a Sikh greeting)

Platform in this context means "readership." It usually isn't important for fiction writers, but it's crucial for non-fic.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Cobalt Jade said:

All this is new to me. What does "platform" mean in this context?

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Pretty much what Siri said. They want you to have a following so they're somewhat assured there is at least a base group of people who are likely to buy your book. I'm finding that in my genre anyway, even though it's fiction, a lot of agents are expecting a platform.

chracatoa said:

Two agents that already rejected my query will be in a conference in July, and I'm planning to go to the pitch sessions. Is it bad to talk to him/her, discuss my query and perhaps pitch again?

Note: I don't want to do anything pushy or to be seen as rude.

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I had an agent at a conference tell me about a story like this. My chat with the agent was a friendly one because we ended up in the smoking area together and he doesn't rep what I write. He said he picked up an author at a conference pitch event even though a few months earlier, he apparently rejected the query. The author was really uncomfortable and started off with something like, "Um, you already rejected this book, so I don't know what to do with my five minute session." He told the guy to pitch it anyway for practice, but the agent ended up loving the pitch and thinks maybe he was just in a bad mood or something when he read the query or maybe it never made it past his intern. So one agent may hate that you do it, another may not mind at all. This is a tricky one. If you are already signed up for sessions with them, you could contact the conference and see if they can switch you. If you are for sure going to pitch to them, I would be upfront and honest. I'm sure they will be nice about it and at least, like the agent I spoke to was planning on doing for his guy, let you practice your pitch...then who knows what might happen.

If you can't pitch to a different agent, I would see if the rejecting agent wouldn't mind giving you some advice on your query. That way, you're not pushy in the "I'm going to try you again," way, but if the query does end up interesting the agent this second time, then they can say so.

Carrie in PA said:

Pretty much what Siri said. They want you to have a following so they're somewhat assured there is at least a base group of people who are likely to buy your book. I'm finding that in my genre anyway, even though it's fiction, a lot of agents are expecting a platform.

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This is a bit OT from the earlier post, but I've heard so much conflicting advice about this, from yes you must have an online presence and lots of followers to interest agents these days, to no, it's a time sink that takes away from your writing and is unlikely to yield many returns if you are unknown.

One question I've had is how does an unpublished author who doesn't work in any field relevant to writing or publishing get a following? With so much competing for people's attention online nowadays, why would anyone want to follow yet another blog or have meaningful chats with yet another stranger on social media? And do followers of blogs and so on usually end up buying books? I ask the latter, because there are some authors whose blogs and social media I follow and enjoy, but I haven't gotten into their novels.

StoryG27 said:

If you are for sure going to pitch to them, I would be upfront and honest. I'm sure they will be nice about it and at least, like the agent I spoke to was planning on doing for his guy, let you practice your pitch...then who knows what might happen.

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I'd agree with this advice. Maybe the agent will still allow you to pitch it for practice, at least, or you can use the time to chat about the process of querying etc.

If you want to develop a following online you have to engage. Talk to people. That's all. It does take some time but if you're interested and interesting it's not as hard as you might think.

Jim Butcher got published for the first time by pitching to an agent who rejected his query. I would say go ahead and pitch, and there is no need to mention that they already rejected it because there is a good chance they already forgot about it.