Washington Writers Conference Recap

How to Pitch an Agent Panel

I spent this past Friday and Saturday at the Washington Writers Conference in Rockville, MD, and I'm so excited to share how it went!

My overall experience at the conference was great. There were multiple sessions to choose from, so the schedule I created for myself looked like this:

The Schedule

Friday 6:30pm - How to Pitch an Agent (Panel)

Saturday 9:00am - What Do Editors Want? (Panel)

Saturday 10:00am - Debut Authors Share Their Publishing Stories (Panel)

Saturday 11:00am - Writing Through the Block (Workshop)

Saturday 2:18pm - Pitch #1 (Eric Bauman, Aevitas Literary Agency)

Saturday 2:34pm - Pitch #2 (John Rudolph, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC)

Saturday 2:50pm - Pitch #3 (Catherine Ross, Corvisiero Literary Agency)

Saturday 3:00pm - Marketing and Publicity Workshop

The Pros

1. It was so nice to be surrounded by people who know about genres and agents and pitching and publishing–topics I've been into since I was twelve and haven't ever really had anyone to talk to about. Not only that, but everyone I met was so nice, and I felt totally safe at the conference. It actually felt a lot like the competitive speaking tournaments I participated in throughout high school. 
2. Not surprisingly, at a writers conference you meet a lot of ... writers. And while there are certainly exceptions (and I believe I met a few of them), many writers tend to be introverts. Which meant that nearly everyone I met was just as uncomfortable with socializing as I was. It was lovely to have an instant topic of conversation with everyone I met: "So what are you pitching?" The other great question to ask was, "So where are you from?" One lady I met had driven from Michigan and another was from Texas! I really enjoyed meeting other writers, which was a huge part of the reason I went.
3. Another big reason I chose to attend this conference was the opportunity to pitch to three different literary agents (listed above). There was a large room set up with 21 small tables; each table was numbered and we had a diagram showing where each of the agents was. The time slot for each pitch was six minutes with two minutes between each wave, and they would let all the writers in at once for each time slot. I chose to schedule all three of my pitches in a row to minimize the anxious waiting time, and I'm really glad I did. Those six minutes really fly by when you're in the hot seat, although the agents are great at putting you at ease. All three agents I pitched asked for pages, which was very encouraging! One even told me that my pitch was good. The panel the previous evening came in handy not only for writing my pitch, but for setting expectations on the kinds of questions an agent might ask (e.g. "Do you have any questions for me?" "What inspired you to write this book?").
4. I really enjoyed the workshops, especially Lynn Auld Schwartz's workshop on overcoming writer's block. They were extremely helpful and I took a lot of pictures of the presenters' slides! 
5. The panels were also very helpful. The one pictured below is the debut author panel.
6. I appreciated that the conference wasn't focused on one particular genre; it allowed all different types of writers to mix and mingle and learn from each other! I met a lady writing a thriller about a burlesque dancer, a man writing a book about how we can "fix" or reform the U.S. constitution, a couple people writing memoirs, a woman writing a "cozy thriller" about a community theater group that meets at a synagogue, and many more!
7. Also, side note, the conference was super affordable compared to some others out there!

Debut Author Panel

The Cons

1. The food was good, but there were no allergy friendly options (although they did have some vegetarian options). It wasn't a huge deal for me, but I did wonder if they had any special options for those with gluten, dairy, or nut allergies.
2. I would have loved clearer signage for where to line up for the pitch room. I was waiting outside the exit for a while without knowing it. 

 

The Pitch

After sitting in on the "How to Pitch an Agent" panel on Friday evening, I went back to my friends' apartment, where I was staying, and wrote my pitch. I had written a couple different iterations beforehand, but didn't really like any of them. After the panel that night, I scribbled out what I ended up using the next day in all three pitch sessions:

What if fairy godmothers and knights in shining armor really did exist? And what if their world wasn't so very far from our own? In my Middle Grade contemporary fantasy The Shining Armor Agency, Sam gets to meet his fairy godmother. (Well, she almost runs him over in the woods.) And she takes him to the Shining Armor Agency so he can learn courage from the knights. (Well, she sort of kidnaps him.) Soon, Sam finds himself trapped in a castle that changes every night with a bunch of aging, cowardly knights whose leader disappeared 50 years ago. With the help of a mysterious girl named Skipper who shows up declaring her intention to become a knight in shining armor, Sam must break the castle's curse–or face being trapped there forever.

Random rabbit hopping around outside the conference center

I really enjoyed my experience, in case you couldn't tell! I would definitely consider going back. Have you ever been to a writers conference? Would you ever consider going to one?