Write On, Wednesday: Perfecting the Pitch
By Leslie Lindsay This past weekend, I packed my overnight bag and headed to the University Wisconsin-Madison’s Continuing Ed Writer’s Workshop: Marketing Toolkit. Besides the hotel room all to myself and the uninterrupted time in a coffee shop, it was a glorious–if mildly terrifying–time away from family and the hustle and bustle of”real-life.” I got lost in my fiction world. A little bit. But I also got a good dose of reality. Our instructor, Laurie Scheer started our three-hour workshop off with this statement: “There is no conspiracy against you as a writers. You are all capable. The publishing industry wants to hear from you.” Wow. Read that again if you have to. They want you. A wave of relief. But still, it’s not easy. For a writer to get noticed in the marketplace, this is what needs to happen before you pitch your book (we’re sticking mostly with the fiction model here, so if you’re a non-fiction writer, don’t take this to heart, although some of the elements do overlap). #1 Your Logline. Your what?! …