June 28, 2008

Speaker: Laurie Schnebly-Campbell

Learn to be Pitch-Perfect -- and Survive!

Let's say you've written the world's greatest novel, and now here's your chance to sit down with an agent or editor, face to face, and convince 'em that THIS is the book Readers Everywhere have been waiting for. So it's the day of the conference and you have ten minutes -- or actually, more like eight -- to make the editor or agent want you and your book.

How do you do it?

Part of your job is overcoming the fear that most writers feel when it comes to selling themselves and their work. (If we were the naturally outgoing type, we wouldn't BE writers!) So "Surviving The Pitch" begins with a look at seven fear-fighting techniques. You'll have a chance to practice these techniques by presenting your pitch – don't worry, you'll only do this if you want to. But since this offers you a chance to pitch among friends, why not? Your payoff will be great feedback, something you'll never get from editors and agents during those crucial eight minutes!

Next comes the pitch itself, with hands-on work to prepare what you'll tell the agent or editor during a formal appointment or an elevator meeting. Laurie will explain tricks for improving your presentation and following up for the best chances of success.

Laurie Schnebly Campbell loves speaking to writers about issues that draw on her background in two unrelated areas. She worked as a therapist for 11 years after getting her Masters in Counseling from ASU. (Although she felt really guilty about that, having grown up in UofA country). She's also an award-winning romance novelist who beat out Nora Roberts for "Best Special Edition Of The Year."

Besides her non-fiction "how-to" on creating characters, Laurie also enjoys writing for an ad agency, teaching psychology and synopsis classes, narrates for Talking Books, playing with her husband and son, and vacationing near Schnebly Hill Road in Sedona, the red-rock town named for her great-grandmother. She wishes she could take credit for the scenery along that road, but she always winds up admitting that "great-Grandpa wasn't much of a road-builder."

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