Got Some Good News Today

[Will Lavender]

I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.

[freethrow]

Hey that is great Will. Best of luck while there. I hope to see it on a shelf at the bookstore soon. :)

[Littlemeyer]

:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:t humbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup

Congratulations, Will. I have NO doubts that you deserve any goodwill that comes your way. Adria and I wish you the best of luck with this, and we'll keep you in our prayers.

Definitely, keep us posted.

[wildcatfaninnc]

Congrats man! Please keep usi informed.

[Buddah]

make sure they pay you, not the othe way around.. besides that congratulations. congratulations will.. you deserve it. :thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:t humbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thu mbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumb up

[capcat]

Best of luck to you, Will. :cool:

[Buddah]

will here is a very important article.. the other two parts are great as well, but i can't find them.. may want to look on this site and you can find the other two parts. I can't stress to you enough, if this conference is on the up and up, which i know you have done your homework. A pitch will make or break your story. PITCHING is very important, i am speaking from personal experience that even the best story will be rejected, if the pitch is not up to snuff. pitching is an art form in and of itself. these articles are written by my former editor at platinum.. if you can find the other two parts, it would be worth your while. good luck regardless, let me know if there is anything i can do..

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/106478386819087.htm

[Will Lavender]

Buddah wrote: will here is a very important article.. the other two parts are great as well, but i can't find them.. may want to look on this site and you can find the other two parts. I can't stress to you enough, if this conference is on the up and up, which i know you have done your homework. A pitch will make or break your story. PITCHING is very important, i am speaking from personal experience that even the best story will be rejected, if the pitch is not up to snuff. pitching is an art form in and of itself. these articles are written by my former editor at platinum.. if you can find the other two parts, it would be worth your while. good luck regardless, let me know if there is anything i can do..

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/106478386819087.htm
Thanks a lot, Devin.

As anybody who's read my posts knows, I sort of have a long-winded way of getting at my point. This is, I'd assume, not the way to pitch a story.

Thankfully, the first day of this conference is a day to teach writers how to pitch. But at this point, I'm looking for any help I can get.

[Will Lavender]

Buddah wrote: will here is a very important article.. the other two parts are great as well, but i can't find them.. may want to look on this site and you can find the other two parts. I can't stress to you enough, if this conference is on the up and up, which i know you have done your homework. A pitch will make or break your story. PITCHING is very important, i am speaking from personal experience that even the best story will be rejected, if the pitch is not up to snuff. pitching is an art form in and of itself. these articles are written by my former editor at platinum.. if you can find the other two parts, it would be worth your while. good luck regardless, let me know if there is anything i can do..

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/106478386819087.htm
This is a VERY helpful link.

[Buddah]

no problem, my editor was militant about this.. i personally just like to do a page over view and some art work.. but he wanted a broad strokes outline, never hitting major plot points, but got the point. think dust jacket cover of a novel, that was what he was wanting. i am sure it would be the same if it was verbally pitching a prose novel. i personally found it hard.. may want to read that article and find those other articles.

[Buddah]

isn't Rick Pitino the best coach of all time Will ?

here will.. LMAO

part two

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/106538301215335.htm

part three

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/10659851965461.htm

[Caveman Catfan]

Will Lavender wrote: I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.

Do you have someone helping you with the pitch?

[Will Lavender]

Caveman Catfan wrote: Will Lavender wrote: I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.

Do you have someone helping you with the pitch?
No. In Hollywood, agents normally perform pitches. I don't have an agent, and that's the main reason I applied for this conference. Agents are fairly difficult to get unless you attend one of these writers' conferences. I've gotten a few nice letters from agents about the book, but in all the rejection letters I've received, the agent has said something along the lines of, "I receive thousands of proposal letters a year." It's highly competitive, and so if you can get in a one-on-one pitch situation with an editor, then you have a leg up.

At least that's what I'm hoping.

[TrueblueCATfan]

That is great news Will.............Good Luck:lol::thumbup

[Caveman Catfan]

Will Lavender wrote: Caveman Catfan wrote: Will Lavender wrote: I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.

Do you have someone helping you with the pitch?
No. In Hollywood, agents normally perform pitches. I don't have an agent, and that's the main reason I applied for this conference. Agents are fairly difficult to get unless you attend one of these writers' conferences. I've gotten a few nice letters from agents about the book, but in all the rejection letters I've received, the agent has said something along the lines of, "I receive thousands of proposal letters a year." It's highly competitive, and so if you can get in a one-on-one pitch situation with an editor, then you have a leg up.

At least that's what I'm hoping.

There are a couple of attorneys in town that might be able to help, if NY does not work for you.

[Will Lavender]

Caveman Catfan wrote: Will Lavender wrote: Caveman Catfan wrote: Will Lavender wrote: I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.

Do you have someone helping you with the pitch?
No. In Hollywood, agents normally perform pitches. I don't have an agent, and that's the main reason I applied for this conference. Agents are fairly difficult to get unless you attend one of these writers' conferences. I've gotten a few nice letters from agents about the book, but in all the rejection letters I've received, the agent has said something along the lines of, "I receive thousands of proposal letters a year." It's highly competitive, and so if you can get in a one-on-one pitch situation with an editor, then you have a leg up.

At least that's what I'm hoping.

There are a couple of attorneys in town that might be able to help, if NY does not work for you.
Thanks for the tip, CC. It's interesting how many literary agents are attorneys by day. (Publishing, I suppose, does not pay as it did in the past. Even in the '80s, you could make a killing as an editor. Not so much anymore.) I received a great letter from a lady in Washington, DC who is an agent and also a copyright lawyer.

[Buddah]

a lawyer in kentucky is of no help to you, especially one who isn't specialized in literary works. unless your company is not a 2 in 1 content producer and publisher like platinum was .. then lawyers outside the publishing business of either new york or calif, is pretty useless. it isn't unheard of for writers outside those two areas to be able to obtain a literary agent in either LA or New York. remember the different between a manager and an agent, will ? an agent can neg. deals, while manager aren't allowed to do that. you're going about it the right way, by going to this conference. get some contacts, also grab a copy of the writer's market. just watch out for sharks, cause they are out there. make sure your story is tight, very tight. be good if you had a short story credit, that you could throw into a query letter to an agent.. but this conference is a good starting off point.

just read those articles, those helped me. Lee formulates things very well. he worked for disney, la times, Dc Comics, Nickoloden etc. So he knows about pitches... he is pretty conventional on scripting a comic book, but that isn't the issue at hand.. the man knows what he is doing as far as pitches.. does those articles help you at all, will ?

[Terry L. Wildcat]

:thumbup:cool:

[Caveman Catfan]

Buddah wrote: a lawyer in kentucky is of no help to you, especially one who isn't specialized in literary works. unless your company is not a 2 in 1 content producer and publisher like platinum was .. then lawyers outside the publishing business of either new york or calif, is pretty useless.
Will, if you want to meet with the two I have spoken of, I will set it up for you. Don't believe that you need an agent from NY or Cal. to get your pages read.

[RxRusty]

Awesome news! I've always wanted to write a thriller but I doubt I have the talent. Best of luck. Be sure to keep us informed. I'm sure lots of us would buy it. I know I would.

[Will Lavender]

Caveman Catfan wrote: Buddah wrote: a lawyer in kentucky is of no help to you, especially one who isn't specialized in literary works. unless your company is not a 2 in 1 content producer and publisher like platinum was .. then lawyers outside the publishing business of either new york or calif, is pretty useless.
Will, if you want to meet with the two I have spoken of, I will set it up for you. Don't believe that you need an agent from NY or Cal. to get your pages read.

I'll keep that in mind.

This conference is meant to sidestep the agent process, as I said above. If the editors like the book, then the conference has "relationships" (that's what the website says) with several agents to work out the details of the deal. The reason for the conference is so you don't have to send a manuscript to an agent who's getting hundreds of other manuscripts a month.

I've spoken to several agents about the book already. (When I say "spoken," I mean I've written to them to see if they're interested, and some have gotten back to me.) I have The Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents, which is a useful tool. Some have been interested, some have passed, some I'm still waiting on. It's a crap shoot.

The only reason that New York agents are desirable is because these people work in close proximity with the publishing houses, which are mostly in NYC. Contacts are paramount when so many people have manuscripts they want to pitch and sell. But if you flip through the agent guide, you see that agents are working from everywhere: Milwaukee, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington, Eugene, etc. It is, as you say, about getting the stuff read.

[Littlemeyer]

RxRusty wrote: I'm sure lots of us would buy it.
I don't know....I'd have to wait until the reviews come out, see what the critics think about it and all. Then, depending on the reviews, I'd probably wait until the paperback version comes out. You can't be too careful with your money these days.



:ggrin: I'm kidding, of course.

[Irksum]

You need someone to "pitch'? I got a 4 tine for straw stalls and a 10 tine for sawdust stalls.:cool:

Good luck Will. Remember, you're the doctor and when you go in there, you're the one that's gonna' fix 'em up!!

This good news has inspired me to go back and string some stories for our local newspapers again. Not much money but it sure was fun.:ggrin:

[Buddah]

Will Lavender wrote:
Caveman Catfan wrote: Buddah wrote: a lawyer in kentucky is of no help to you, especially one who isn't specialized in literary works. unless your company is not a 2 in 1 content producer and publisher like platinum was .. then lawyers outside the publishing business of either new york or calif, is pretty useless.
Will, if you want to meet with the two I have spoken of, I will set it up for you.Â* Don't believe that you need an agent from NY or Cal. to get your pages read.

The only reason that New York agents are desirable is because these people work in close proximity with the publishing houses, which are mostly in NYC. Contacts are paramount when so many people have manuscripts they want to pitch and sell. But if you flip through the agent guide, you see that agents are working from everywhere: Milwaukee, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington, Eugene, etc. It is, as you say, about getting the stuff read.


yes, and they are taken more seriously.. sure they are exceptions. getting stuff read is the easiest part. it just depends on what you want.. sure there are agents working from everywhere, and sure you can get stuff read. but what type of relationships have they had built up and so forth. think of it as going to play bball at morehead and going to uk for the same thing, you are getting to play basektball at both places. so what is the big deal, but i think you get the idea ? i would explore all aves., but from my experience, it is pretty safe bet to at least try to go with the tried and true. i know comics/graphic novels are different from prose novels, but alot of the same people handle both mediums. also the writer's market is a better resource, it weeds out the sharks than the other novelty publications. also the writer's guild has a great break down of sought after agents, and who accepts unsolicited material, who wants a reference etc. www.wga.org you said it though will, contacts are paramount, which is why you should at least try to contact agents in new york or la first, because they would have more contacts or so it would seem, since they are in the thick of everything.

on a side note and per cc admissions, i never knew there were such sought after and hi profile entertainment lawyers in louisville, learn something new everyday. maybe they have strong relationships/contacts with publishers from their front desks. explore everything though, and good luck.. hope those articles helped somewhat.

[Jeff Craddock]

Congratulations, Will. :thumbup

Go get 'em.

[SamKat]

Great Will!

Go for it! Jeanie andI will be praying for your success.

There are some good nuggets in these posts.

[SamKat]

Devin aka Buddah,

I have read your silverbullets link above and I am interested in reading parts 2 and 3. I haven't found them, but if you do please tell me and the forum.

Thanks,

SamKat

[flacat22]

good luck Will

[VIIBanners]

Will Lavender wrote: I found out today that I have been accepted to a writers' conference in New York City. The conference is called a "pitch conference," and during a four-day weekend in September I'll try to pitch my novel to several editors from big New York City publishing houses.

The novel is a thriller called Polly.

I'll keep everybody informed on how it goes. I'll need a lot of prayers and goodwill sent my way, because it ain't gonna be easy. I've never pitched anything except a baseball.
Duuuuude, you are constantly pitching ideas around here... you'll be fine, congratulations.

[Sir Richard F. Burton]

If you become the next JK Rowling can you donate some money to the new practice facility? The Lavender Training Facility has a nice ring to it;);)

Seriously congratulations and good luck.



http://www.virtualstampclub.com/2005/rpwarren400.jpg

[POEKLM]

Congratulations Will. I hope your trip to New York brings you what you need.

[Buddah]

SamKat wrote:
Devin aka Buddah,

I have read your silverbullets link above and I am interested in reading parts 2 and 3.Â* I haven't found them, but if you do please tell me and the forum.Â*

Thanks,Â*

SamKat


already linked them for will, just scan back over the thread.

[CATHYnKY]

RxRusty wrote: Awesome news! I've always wanted to write a thriller but I doubt I have the talent. Best of luck. Be sure to keep us informed. I'm sure lots of us would buy it. I know I would.
So would I. Congrats!

[Calsegs]

Hooray for you, Will. We are all in your corner.

I love your prose style, even if it isn't likely to become your pitch style.
You scan easily, with tasty elements artfully embedded.

[SamKat]

Thanks again Devon!

I now have all three artiles saved into my favorites and have read the first.

Cathy- I know Will writes well. I also would buy his thriller- Polly- when it becomes available.

[Bluesong]

Wow! That is awesome! I wish you all the best.