Pitching to Agents in Person
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Jan 30 2020
There are so many ways to reach agents–conferences, Twitter pitch events, social media, and of course querying. While all definitely have advantages, the hill I will die on is that querying is always the easiest, fastest and best way to reach an agent.
Even with the ease of queries, many authors love the speed of pitches and the opportunity to meet agents in person.
Is going to conferences the only place when writers can pitch to agents/editors in person? Follow up question do agents ever post which conferences they will be attending?
–From Questions for the Blog
I’m going to ask for help from readers here. Other than conferences do you know of a way to pitch agents in person? I’m afraid I couldn’t come up with any. Certainly, I’d never recommend showing up at the agent’s office.
Many agents do post which conferences they’ll be attending, either on websites or social media, but the best way to find out is the conference site itself.
The Power of Pitching in Person
While pitching at conferences is a great way to meet an agent, it’s not the only way to pitch. I’m still on my hill. The best way to get an agent is old-fashioned querying. It’s where 99% of all BookEnds clients have come.
For more information, check out this video on our YouTube channel:
I have often wondered how to get to know an agent to see if our personalities mesh. The only other resource I’ve come up with has been interacting during webinars, which has been helpful though not exactly face to face. Thanks for taking the time to help us on our journeys.
When an agent calls to offer you’ll have plenty of time to talk with them and get a sense of whether you’re a match. We’ve done both blogs and youtube videos on how to handle this.
When I was a Bookseller, my store hosted an occasional agent/editor pitch event, but it certainly wasn’t anything like the private sessions that you get at a conference. It was all on-stage with an audience, so I suspect that certain personality types did much better than others. I think the professionals involved got a higher percentage of “I’ll send it as soon as it’s finished,” too.
Thanks. This was really helpful and eases the pressure of trying to get to conferences just to pitch!
For an industry to rely so heavily on a single means must be a concern. Especially in an ever diversifying world. How many are missed as a result?
I don’t think many are missed at all. Authors truly seeking a career in publishing are definitely being seen, read and heard.
I can’t think of any either. At least, not here in Oz.
If it is pitching, rather than the face-to-face, then some publishers do run online pitching sessions. Harlequin do (at least, they have previously) and in Australia (where you don’t need an agent to be published by the big publishers), they also occasionally have online pitching opportunities.
Many agents say they are looking for writers but when push comes to shove they give the applicants the silent treatment. The author does not know if it is because her book is being considered or just ignored.