Agents attend conferences because they're looking for new projects; authors attend because they're looking for an agent - what's wrong with scheduling time for them to sit down face to face?
From talking to authors and agents, and from observing how pitch sessions are handled at other writers conferences, Backspace believes that formal pitch sessions are not a productive way for authors and agents to connect.
In his blog post,
How to Get the Most out of your Writers’ Conference Experience on the Folio Literary Management website, Scott Hoffman explains why:
I don’t like formal author-agent pitch sessions for a couple of reasons. First, most conferences schedule too many of them. If you’re one of the agent’s first pitches you might be in good shape. But if you’re the agent’s 30th pitch in two days, honestly, you would have been better off sending a query letter.
Here’s an inside tip on how agents deal with conferences. Most agents are too polite to say “no” to your face. You can pitch them a book that they KNOW—100% KNOW-- they would never in a million years sign up. But rather than deal with the pressure of rejecting you to your face, they’ll say something like “Well, I don’t know. For something like this it’s all in the writing.” They’ll ask you to mail them the first three chapters and then they’ll glance at them for about 5 seconds and then pass, politely, with their standard rejection letter.
Here’s a statistic from experience: in the past three years, I’ve sold about ten books from people I met at conferences. Not ONE of those authors did I meet at a one on one pitch session. So, how did those authors get to me? After my workshop. In the elevator. In the bar after dinner. Basically, in normal, organic situations that aren’t terribly forced like those awful one on one pitch sessions. In ways that proved to me that they would be effective advocates for their work once it hit the shelves.
Another agent agrees:
"Being pitched face to face is hard – for authors and agents. I know agents who request at least a sample chapter or two from everyone, simply because the agent finds it easier to say “yes” than to say “no” in a face-to-face meeting with an author. I guess I’m not so nice, because it’s not easy, but I do say no. And then I wind up leaving pitch/slam formats feeling like Cruella, because I say “no” a lot. To almost everyone. Usually it’s because they’re pitching me for something I don’t handle (romance, sci fi, etc.). But because too often conferences are set up where authors bounce from agent to agent, most authors have no clue about what I handle, anyway. Sure, they’re getting “face time” with me, but what for? To me, that kind of “rotating pitch session” is akin to reading a query addressed to “Dear Agent.” I *always* say no to those. I figure if the author can’t be bothered to at least take 30 seconds to type in my name, they’re not the kind of client I want. So, at a conference if someone sits down and pitches me their apocalyptic thriller when I’ve made it clear that, when it comes to thrillers, I’m into psychological, domestic and political thrillers, only, well, I’m not only going to turn down that author, I might even be grouchy about it."
Authors
have signed with agents they met at Backspace events, but not as a result of a formal pitch session. Backspace believes that the authors who invest time and money to attend our conferences deserve better than a few stressful minutes of face time with a bored and exhausted (and quite possibly grouchy) agent.
That’s why we’ve built so much free time into the program. The full fifteen minutes between panels allows plenty of opportunity for seminar registrants to talk to agents. Many of the agents will also be available during the noon hour, and during the afternoon mixers. Agents attend conferences because they want to help authors. They’re looking for new talent, and welcome the chance to hear about your work.
Instead of a tense, angst-filled pitch session where it’s difficult for all but the most confident authors to put their best foot forward, an interesting, relaxed, enjoyable conversation leaves a much more positive impression. And even if authors don’t get the chance to mention their project, the pleasant conversation gives the author a point of reference when sending a formal query letter to the agent’s office after the conference is over.
Agents have a wealth of knowledge about the industry. When agents are on the faculty in teaching positions, authors can benefit from their experience. Specifics about how the business works and what agents are looking for in a query help writers by giving them the knowledge they need to succeed.
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