Not only will writers conferences include talks, panel discussions, and readings with prominent writers in the field, and perhaps a book fair and networking opportunities, but many conferences will also bring in reputable literary agents to take pitch meetings with the writers. A writer’s conference is a highly favorable condition in which to have a pitch meeting with a literary agent as they’re there expressly to discover new voices and books that excite them.
Knowing what to expect and how to prepare for a writer’s conference literary agent pitch meeting will help you feel calm as you talk about your book, anticipate additional questions they may ask you, and manage your expectations so you can make the most of the experience.
At best, you will meet your future agent who signs you and sells your book and all your subsequent books; at worst, it’s a chance to practice your pitch on someone who hears a lot of them, experience the pitching process, and maybe get some tips or revelations as to how to refine yours for the next time.
A literary agent pitch meeting at a writers conference will last anywhere from 5-15 minutes. While you will need to get to the heart of your book early on, make sure to be a person as well: greet the agent, engage in some pleasantries if they seem interested in making the meeting more of a conversation, or get down to it if not.
Your pitch, also called a logline or “elevator pitch” (so named because that’s about how long you might have to compel someone if riding in an elevator with them), should be 30-60 seconds long, which comes out to 1-3 sentences.
A pitch should pinpoint these four elements:
–> Theme. Conflict. Stakes. Question (and largely in that order).
Alternatively, your four elements could be:
–> Inciting incident. Obstacle. Quest. Stakes.
This blog lists 48 elevator pitches for published novels across different fiction genres- great for helping you get into the rhythm of how a pitch works and modelling yours.
I have a completed [word count][genre] titled [title] about [protagonist name + small description] who [conflict].
Answer the following three questions:
Note that your verbal pitch will differ from your written elevator pitch, which may be skewed to serve different purposes: compel an agent/publisher, in your marketing materials, etc. It’s not a bad idea to have that at your mental elbow as well to provide deeper insights to the project.
Above all, here are some best practices to help you prepare for your pitch meeting with a literary agent at a writer’s conference.
If you feel nervous about taking these meetings, remind yourself that the agent is shopping for you and they want you to succeed because that means it will serve them (and the world at large, on a more global scale.
Friedman advises writers to “prepare by overpreparing.” and gives great points for fiction and nonfiction writers to hit during the meeting.
If your pitch is compelling, the agent may ask questions to get more information on your project or on your background as a writer. Also if the agent is particularly nurturing and they see you’re nervous or green, if your pitch is incomplete, or if they sense that your work isn’t hitting its mark as you’ve pitched it, they may prompt you to steer you toward finding the right elements of your pitch.
In her Substack “Agents & Books,” Literary Agent and VP at Morhaim Literary Kate McKean lists a series of questions she poses to writers during pitch meetings.
Among them are those she tends to ask more often:
(This is a practical question as she can’t do anything further if your book isn’t done. You can’t bank pitch meetings as things move quickly in an agent’s world; by the time you complete your project, she may have signed on another author whose project is similar to yours or business may have shifted her toward another genre, etc.)
*Note: if the agent is interested, they may say you can be in touch/send them your opening chapters or the whole book once it’s done, but that’s less common.
She asks this because if your pitch doesn’t include a climax, your book may need further development.
Some people write “starter books” to warm up to the process of book writing. They may choose lower-hanging fruit in terms of emotional or intellectual investment, something they can write more easily or quickly. But if the book isn’t a heart project, the writer may not have the energy to keep up the enthusiasm required for selling enough copies.
This goes both ways; if your book is too short, it’s probably not done or else could perhaps be a short story or even novella; if it’s too long, it might be better off as a series.
Or what’s in it for the reader? What about the story/characters touches a particular nerve in you?
In a pitch meeting about your nonfiction book, the agent will want to know more about the book’s intended audience and your background as the writer (e.g. what makes you qualified to speak to your particular topic).
An agent will also ask about comparable titles: which books in the bookstore would be shelved beside your book? Also, on the flip side, how does your book fill a particular niche no other book on the market does? Or: what makes it singular and marketable?
There is a sweet spot that you and your book need to occupy for you to have your most effective pitch meeting with a literary agent:
If one of those three elements is slightly out of sync; for example, the conference is in May, and you know that you’re still about two months from finishing your manuscript, or the agent has already met with two other people that day whose projects are similar to yours, or they’re hungry/tired/have a toothache, even if you have a most compelling pitch, nothing may come of your meeting.
Friedman says, “prepare for a lukewarm response,” which is great advice. An agent meets with writers at conferences the way someone goes shopping at a thrift store; they don’t necessarily know what kind of pants they’ll encounter, but they are looking for pants. They’ll know they’ve found them when they see them. Meaning how they receive you is rarely personal (unless you two totally don’t hit it off, which can also happen!)
Most agents at conferences are going to be on board for this being a learning experience for you if nothing else. They know you may not be a seasoned pitcher, but if they’re interested in your project, they’ll help you tease out the necessary information they will need to see if the project is something they could get behind.
Or if the project isn’t for them, but they have time, they may ask you the kinds of questions Kate McKean does or prompt you to find your way into sharing the right information. And if they’re flat out not interested because your book isn’t in a genre they represent or they already have too many authors who write similar projects as you on their roster, that’s life, and you can chalk it up to part of the broader experience.
Pro Tip: If you are going to be attending a conference whose dates don’t line up with your book being completed, you can still take the meeting, but be up front with them when you sit down and ask them if they’ll give you constructive feedback on your pitch. Your candor may be a welcome reprieve from all that “shopping” they’ve been doing, and they can give you some pointers or ask good questions.
Above all, keep plugging away on your writing, and when you’re getting close to the finish line, try to time it with a conference that offers agent pitch meetings.
Our guide to writing residencies, retreats, and conferences includes many conferences and residencies, that offer literary agent pitch meetings.
Until then, practice and perfect your pitch, which will help you get very clear on your project, its purpose, what it will add to the canon of literature, and how you know it will influence your readers- when the right time comes.
If you have any tips or insights (or stories of your own pitch meetings), please share them in the comments below!
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