Sunday, May 22, 2011

Stoker Weekend 2011

Want to write horror? Give yourself a deadline and simultaneously go on a diet. Suddenly, everyone's dying gruesome deaths. Well, that's what I've taken on. Originally, I'd planned on finishing my novel by the end of June to leave time for fixing editor's remarks, then ready to send out to previous inquiries in early July and possibly pitch again in September. I've been convinced to attend Stoker Weekend in Long Island, New York from June 16 thru June 19 which ups my work ante to an insane level. I'm prepared to do it though. Determined.

There's a form I have to fill out to "open" pitch. I've got to research the agents/editors/publishers. It'll be like my two minute speed pitching experience at the PNWA convention last year, but to a lot more people than four. I've got to tighten up my first fifty pages, get my synopsis into shape and practice the loathesome "pitch". It comes natural to some people, but I've always been horrible at selling anything, and the pitch to me is like the dentist to a candy fiend. Yes. I can do this.

The thing I learned last year and readily forgot, was that it's not about selling. It's about telling. And who knows my story better than me? No one. I remember now, how I did it last year. I had my pitch "somewhat" memorized, but spoke it naturally and left time for questions. Just like they tell you to when you read about pitch sessions. Once I was able to relax and get into a groove, it felt like giving friends a quick overview of the story. Something I'd done many times before.

This memory has me feeling a little more confident, but it's still going to be an interesting day I'm very much looking forward to.

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