October 11, 2011 How to Make a Writer’s Pitch Kit
photo by Craig Childs
A pitch kit may be the last thing you think about during the first three semesters of your MFA. And then fourth semester is on your doorstep, accompanied by the irrefutable deadline for your book-length manuscript. While toiling away on your novel, memoir, essays or short stories, it is likely that the notion of promoting your work was just a distant possibility. Perhaps you even practiced an elevator pitch for the story line during residency or with a stunned but polite cashier at the office supply store after too many hours spent in writer’s isolation. At some point the pages will be at rest and you want to be prepared for the next stage: shopping the manuscript.
Here’s fourth semester student Wendie Leweck (spotlightpublicity@comcast.net) to the rescue. Wendie is the owner of Spotlight Publicity, a comprehensive publicity firm which specializes in assisting authors, artists and entrepreneurs with media exposure. She offers the following check list for a pitch kit.
- biography sheet
- sample chapter
- one-page synopsis
- business card*
All pages should be typed in a conventional font (Times New Roman or Arial) and double-spaced. Use white or cream paper stock. Paginate the chapter pages. Assemble everything into a fresh presentation folder. The fancier ones come with a die-cut for your business card.
You and your manuscript are now good to go. Wishing you good shopping in the new universe of literary agents!
*A word on business cards — these do not have to cost a small fortune. Staples Office Supply recently ran a coupon special for 100 black-and-white business cards for *free*! For the cost of shipping only, Vista Print frequently promotes an order of 250 free business cards. This morning’s Google search for ‘coupons business cards’ produced 146,000,000 results in 0.25 seconds!
Tags: "literary agent", "pitch kit", "shopping the manuscript", low-residency, MFA, publicity
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- Posted under 2011, Book Promotion, SNHU-MFA
