Pitch a story and pull a crowd

How easy it was for me to sit, with the sun on my back, and to wait to hear what the Perfect Pitch entrants 2012 would come up with. It was easy for me, this time, just to watch. When it’s you standing up talking about this book that you have poured your heart and your work and your belief into, and when you are confronted not only by an audience but real life publishers, any one of whom could be the one who loves your book, and may publish your book… In the first moment of panic on stage you can forget that the publishers and audience simply want to hear a about the story you created, and something about the story of you, as someone who created a book, something that remains a wonder and that most people won’t ever do….
Susanna Freymark, who pitched her novel a few years ago was superb in the MC role and Shamus Sillar, another former pitcher, kicked off proceedings.

It sounds like Christopher Dewhirst has written a rollicking crime thriller, Fractured, set in Shanghai and Casino and many places in between. Chris received very positive feedback from the panel of three judges to say there was lots of detail in his pitch about the story plot, They mentioned they would like to hear more about character motivations, and particularly of the love story.

Kathryn Lyster told us about her epic love story of Rip and Sahara torn apart when Sahara left Byron for Sydney.  It is a story of love, and longing and loss, and none of us was in any doubt that Kathryn spoke from the heart beautiful pitch from Katherine about her story of epic love dedicated to Sam who took his life weeks after their last kiss.

 Feedback from the judges  including HarperCollins publishing director Shona Martyn and Meredith Curnow from Vintage said the wonderful characterization gave the story extra poignancy. The judges said to be careful of telling publishers how marketable a story but still asked to speak to her afterwards.

David Roland’s book, “How I rescued my brain” was a firm favourite with the judges, who described him as a confident performer. One of the judges spoke of “soundlessness of the first chapter as being amazing.” The judges said they could clearly see where the book is going. David said he would be finishing the book in eight months. He received a clear signal to continue his work on just as he has been going until now.

        
Anthony Brown is an ex-policeman who did grueling, heart-rending work in dark, damp places diving to find bodies. It’s work that would affect anyone profoundly. Anthony is now a psychotherapist for men supporting boys through to manhood. His book describes his journey from dabbling in drugs and prostitutes and his realisation he was ticking off the list of “an unconscious death wish”.

Diving beneath the mask will be a part memoir, and part guide of what to do, and what not to do, from a ‘macho cop’ using reiki and crystal as his weapons of choice.  The judges said it was a fantastic pitch. They suggested he consider whether he was writing a memoir or guide and that there might be two books in there.

 

 

I had heard and could recall clearly a chapter from Sharon Dean’s White Heron read before and had not forgotten it. It is the story of a banana farmer, Janice Bostok, who was also a world-leading writer of haikus. Sharon was enthralled by Bostok’s life, a narrative that included twice marrying her husband, the second time after he had shot himself missing all vital organs. It also describes the pressure Janice was put under to stop her from writing but how she persisted publishing several volumes of haiku and even writing apornographic book set in a nursing home! The judges said it was a lovely pitch in s conversational style and that the wild details Sharon shared in the pitch should definitely be part of the written synopsis. The book emerged as part of a PhD.

The judges mentioned in general terms that books written as PhDs need to be written differently tor trade publishing.

Julia Prendergast impressed the judges and the audience with her quiet presence and the fact that she has written a book that sounds powerful yet disturbing. It also impressed us all that she had done so amid a busy family life with six children. It must be a good number of children for writers as John Marsden mentioned he has six children. Julia Prendergast’s novel is complete and the story about Chelsea who is on a quest to save her mother.  The judges felt Julia’s book is brave and complex and said they would like her to “Tell us more about the story and sell it to us.” It was dark and interesting, they said.

The six authors exchanged cards with the publishers, paused to bask in the occasion, before returning to their homes with a new list of things to consider before sending off their finished works to agents and publishers. 

Marian Edmunds

 

Have pitched, cards exchanged

Perfect Pitch 2012 – Sharon Dean, Chris Dewhirst , Julia Prendergast, Kathryn Lyster, David Roland, Anthony Brown

How easy it was for me to sit, the sun on my back, and to wait to hear what the Perfect Pitch entrants would come up with. It was easy for me, this time. Last year I stood there with five others. When it’s you standing up talking about this book that you have poured your heart and your work and your belief into, and when you are confronted not only by an audience but living breathing publishers any one of whom could be the one who sees you, and likes you, and loves your book, and may publish your book… well that part is not easy. And yet it is. It’s a beautifully simple moment where you can share the book that you alone made in all those quiet moments strung together into a productive whole. In the first moment of panic on stage you forget that the people sitting there, including the publishers on the panel and in the audience, simply want to hear a story. They want to hear about the story you created, and they want to hear something of the story of you, as someone who created a book, something that remains a wonder and that most people won’t ever do.
And so we in the audience watch and waited…

It seems Christopher Dewhirst has written a rollicking crime thriller, Fractured set in Shanghai and Casino and many places in between. Chris received very positive feedback from the panel of three judges to say there was lots of detail in his pitch about the story plot, and they would like to hear more about character motivations, and particularly of the love story.

Kathryn Lyster told her story of young lovers Rip and Sahara torn apart when Sahara left Byron for Sydney. It is a story of love, and longing and loss, and none of us was in any doubt that Kathryn spoke from the heart. The judges said the wonderful characterization gave the story extra poignancy.

David Roland’s book, “How I rescued my brain” was a firm favourite with the judges, who described him as a confident performer.
One of the judges spoke of “soundlessness of the first chapter as being amazing.” The judges said they could clearly see where the book is going. David said he would be finishing the book in eight months. He received a clear signal to continue his work on just as he has been going until now.
Anthony Brown is ex-policeman and now a psychotherapist for men supporting boys through to manhood. A former policeman, Anthony’s book describes his journey from dabbling in drugs and prostitutes and ticking off the list of “an unconscious death wish”.
He was doing grueling, heart-rending work in dark, damp places diving to find bodies. It’s work that would affect anyone profoundly.
“Diving beneath the mask ‘ will be a part memoir, and part guide of what to do, and what not to do, from a ‘macho cop’ using reiki and crystal as his weapons of choice. The judges said it was a fantastic pitch, and that their could be two books here maybe go for simpler idea not too much in one book
I had heard a chapter from Sharon Dean’s White Heron read before and had not forgotten it. It is the story of a banana farmer, Janice Bostock, who was also a world leading writer of haikus. Sharon was enthralled by Bostock’s life, a narrative that included twice marrying her husband, the second time after he had shot himself missing all vital organs, and surviving the pressure Janice was put under in stop her from writing but she persisted publishing several volumes of haiku and even writing a pornographic book set in a nursing home! The judges said it was a lovely pitch in s conversational style and that the wild details should definitely be part of the written synopsis. The judges said they wanted stories for trade publishing and that whether something was part of a PhD was of no relevance to them and would have to be written differently tor them.

Julia Prendergast impressed the judges and the audience with her quiet presence and the fact that she has written a book that sounds powerful yet disturbing. It also impressed us all that she had done so amid a busy family life with six children. It must be a good number of children, as John Marsden mentioned at a panel that has six children. Julia Prendergast’s novel is complete and the story about Chelsea who is on a quest to save her mother. The judges felt Julia’s book is brave and complex and said they would like her to “Tell us more about the story and sell it to us.” It was dark and interesting, they said.

There was a palpable sense of relief from the six authors as the session finished. The authors exchanged cards with the publishers before they could bask in the occasion before returning to their homes to add a whole new list of things to consider before sending off their finished works to agents and publishers.

Marian Edmunds

Check through the twitter feed #bbwf2012 for live comments on the pitch and much more.

I’ve spotted a trend.  It’s about the many authors who have appeared in the Perfect Pitch session at the festival over the years who have had books published since. There’s Lisa Walker and Liar Bird, Fertile FC’s One Got Past The Keeper, Jol and Kate Temple’s Parrot Carrot, Shamus Sillar’s Not Quite Tuscany, and there’s Susanna Freymark who has had some publishing news.
There are others too, so if you know about someone who ‘pitched perfectly’ and has gone on to be published, please add a comment. I hope this trend continues. Last year I was one of the six writers selected for Perfect Pitch. I was terrified beforehand but I soon became more confident after 30-hours of preparation. Of course not everyone needs that. I first had to overcome a fear of public speaking. I took the pressure off by allowing myself to read.

I would do Perfect Pitch all over again. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had on the road to publication. It made me see and present my book as if it was already there. The feedback was incredible. Complete strangers stopped me and told me they loved my pitch. The publishers on the judging panel gave great feedback with two saying I could send them the manuscript.

 So what happened about that? Life. And redrafts. The book was supposed to be finished in order to enter the competition, and mine was. Then, a week before the pitch I was telling my hairdresser about it, and she made a comment, and suddenly I was staring down the barrel of a redraft. Since then the redrafting has continued. Then last month there were two title changes in a week, as well as rewrites of the end.
All the while I was being nudged along by brilliant and supportive new, and old, friends, who kept saying, ‘don’t waste your chance’, ‘just send it’. Soon, I kept saying, and kept at it. But life would crop up, and that hungry wolf would appear at the door. He can be difficult to calm, especially when the only work you’ve ever done, or know to do, relates to writing.

It is 51 weeks since I pitched. On Wednesday at 6.35.p.m I finished. I mean, finished, and emailed the book to one of the publishers. The other publisher prefers paper submissions. The publisher replied on Thursday saying, taking longer than expected over a redraft is a good thing as it shows I’ve done some hard yards. My synopsis and first chapter ‘tickled’ their ‘fancy’ and I may hear quickly, “one way or the other”.
I have some insight into how this year’s participants are feeling right now. I will watch Perfect Pitch next weekend with empathy, and immense curiosity, and pleasure. It’s compelling.

Marian Edmunds

A terrifying prospect turns to pleasure

Finalists hear the judges' feedback after making our 'perfect' pitches

I’ve always had a fear of public speaking so naturally I entered the Perfect Pitch.
What I was thinking of? Pitch Perfect was session where six writers were selected to talk about their manuscripts for five minutes. It means putting your work and your ideas right out there.
I was still nervous when it came time yesterday to pitch my novel, The Search Engine. I hadn’t slept well and had been busy with the blogging team but had a good support team of friends. That helps. The public speaking book and visualizations I had done helped as well. It felt a bit like going in for an operation. You have to take a deep breath and know it will be better when it’s over. I watched all the previous pitchers first – Annette Kendall with her Lost in Kakadu novel from which she read. (The judges said they hoped everyone had selected something to read. Tick.)
I watched Marissa Treichel with her excellent sounding parenting book, and Annette Marfording with her fascinating idea for an anthology of her Australian writers’ radio interviews and Sue Vader with her book that sets out a magical connection with David Boyd and his family, and Francis Dundovic-Cloake and her Sarajevo tale following me.
The judges, publishers Louise Thurtell of Allen and Unwin, Penny Hueston of Text Publishing, and John Hunter of University of Queensland Press made excellent and helpful comments.

As I began, I started to read my notes but looking up and smiling when I could, seeing many familiar faces. The crowd laughed mostly when I hoped they might, and then something happened. I started to enjoy it.
I’m sure this was because of the preparation – years on the book, and weeks, and hours on the pitch. The feedback from the publishers was positive with them identifying a couple of points in my pitch. I should more closely define my market and not mention any rejections.
Now I must go home and polish my manuscript for submission.

Marian Edmunds