So I did a thing. I pitched my book. And pitching was easier than I thought. Way back when I thought that Kindle Scout would be around, the plan for ‘Blood of a Fallen God’ was for me to attempt to get this book traditionally published. When Kindle Scout went away, (see here) I was not happy. I hate selling myself and my work in the direct way, I never was a very good salesman, makes me feel slimy. Maybe it’s just the salesmen I’ve met in my life that make me feel that way.
But anyway, once I finished Blood, I didn’t know what to do. I could self-publish again, but since I’m crap at marketing, did I want to just throw it out there and have it do nothing? Again? No, I didn’t want that. Then, I remembered, pitwars/pitmad. Where you make up short pitches, tweet them with the appropriate tags on the right day for agents and publishers to see. If they ‘like’ your tweet, then you send them the requested information, and see what happens next.
I like this because I don’t feel like I’m forcing my way into their awareness. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but for me it works. Pitwars is a bit different animal, maybe I’ll write a blog post on that down the road, but the next pitmad was coming up.. March. I can do that, I can get ready, give me a month to perfect my query letter, my synopsis, etc.
Then I found out #SFFpit.. the morning of the event.
SFFPit is like pitmad, but just for SciFi/Fantasy. I had no query letter, no synopsis ready, but I pitched anyways. And got likes! More than one, more than 5, less than 10. So in one day I put together a synopsis, a query letter, and sent off the requested info.
I’ve gotten one full request so far, and the others haven’t answered back yet. I’m a bit surprised. Nothing may come of all this, but still, it’s good to hear from an outside source, who doesn’t know you, that your first three chapters were great, they love the story, and that your writing is very good.
So, maybe pitching isn’t so bad after all.