Being a Groupie

I decided I had avoided pitching long enough.  Chutzpah or not, I signed up to pitch at the Georgia Romance Writers' Moonlight and Magnolia Conference.  I bounced back and forth between regretting my rash action and telling myself this was a good thing.  My husband never waffled on the issue.  Pitch.  Since I couldn't figure out a way to get out of doing the pitch gracefully, I determined to stumble through it and console myself later that at least I had experienced the horror for myself.  I treated it as marking off another step in becoming an author as well as a step in personal growth.

Once I learned I was scheduled for a group pitch, I was both relieved and disappointed.  I'd heard different things regarding group pitches.  In some, one writer hogs the whole appointment and the rest feel cheated, but all is somewhat forgiven if the editor or agent throws out a blanket request covering everyone at the end.  The consensus seems to be that a group pitch is almost a guarantee for receiving a request.  I didn't really like that, though it had an odd comfort to it.  I could sit there and do nothing, yet get what I wanted.  But was it really what I wanted?  I want the editor or agent to be truly interested in what I pitched and be looking forward to receiving my material.  Otherwise, it might as well be a shot in the dark rather than a targeted effort.

When my group session rolled around, I was herded in with the other writers to a large round table in the midst of other round tables.  There were also one to one pitches going on in the same room.  The hum of voices didn't swallow the burst of sound from a few distinct writers pitching louder than the rest.  The agent for my group started off to her right, treating each of us as a single pitch as she made her way around the table.  All five of us received a request.  This was not the case in other group sessions that day.  I enjoyed having the opportunity to listen to other pitches, but I can't say the group dynamic was a breeze.  The one to one pitch I landed in by happenstance the day before was less nerve wracking.  In that meeting, I had no time to build on being nervous, question what I was doing or compare how I pitched with anyone else.  Go in, pitch, discuss, go out.  Much cleaner.

For me, going through a pitch, group and single, dispelled some of the notions I had from listening to other people exclaim over doing pitches.  I didn't find it near as bad as I expected.  Actually, I didn't find it to be bad at all and I rather enjoyed meeting them however rushed it felt.  Maybe in the future I'll go through one that changes my mind, but for now, I see no reason to dread the process and a lot of reasons to plan for the next time I have an opportunity.