Pitch practice....

Wow, last night was great!  It was an amazing learning experience.  Last night was not long so I will recall the whole evening. 

I am OCD and always overly prepared.  My bag was packed file folder with synopsis, pitch and cover letter, note pad, 2 pens, breath mints, 3 bottles of water and my awesome business cards.  We showed up an hour and a half early.  Went to the bookstore there was no sign up sheet and no real information to allow me to prepare.  Luckily there was a coffee shop right next door.  Went and relaxed with Ryan and Emily.  We people watched while drinking our coffee trying to guess who were possible writers, agents or just random people.  Quick trip to the bathroom and then back to the book store.  By this time about 20 people were seated.  We had to put our name and email address on a piece of paper.  They were going to pick your name out of a bowl to see who got to pitch.  I started to get very nervous.  I had prepared and worked so hard on this that if I was going to get to pitch I might cry.  My friend Ashley showed up about 15 minutes into the event.  It was great having so much support there.  The first couple of people that went helped me to relax some had good ideas but their pitches were long and not all that prepared.  I heard maybe one or two decent pitches and then I heard my name, thank God! 

My heart pounded and my palms sweaty while I waited behind the guy at the microphone, I didn’t here anything he said or the judges said to him.  I went to the podium and 30 seconds later I was done.  I smiled and nodded as the judges critiqued but I really was not hearing them because my heart was pounding so hard in my ears.  Luckily my three supporters heard and later relayed that it was all positive and they liked my pitch.  After it was over I felt bad for the ten or so people that did not get to pitch but was relieved that I wasn’t one of them.  I went to the agent and author who was putting on the event, I handed them their book I purchased to allow a phone consultation, to have them sign it.  They both remembered my pitch and gave me praise.  I handed my cards to them, which they commented on positively.  I told them I was going to WDC next week, which caught their attention.  They said they are always busy and on the road but they wanted to talk to me before I left to help me with my pitch.  Then they gave me their phone number and told me to call!!  To call them, oh my God.  If that isn’t a huge vote of confidence I don’t know what is.  I can’t wait to call later today and set up a time to talk to them.  I know they will give great tips and hope to make a contact for the future. 

Last night was a great dress rehearsal and I am now even more excited about next week!!