Getting Ready for Pitch Week

Over the past few months, there's been a bit of radio silence on my blog. Not because things weren't happening behind the scenes - perhaps because too much was going on!

I've had a number of acceptances and publications, which I'll post about later on. I changed over my newsletter mailing list, since I was using a service that was discontinued. And, finally, I rejoined a competition that I had to delay taking part in last year because I was sick with coronavirus and homeschooling my kids.

The competition I'm doing is called "Pitch Week," and it's held by the When Words Count Retreat, located in picturesque Vermont. There are two parts to it - "Meet the Judges" is the first part, which will be held next week virtually. It will include each author (there are 6 contestants per cycle) running through their presentation material and getting feedback and help from the staff of editors. The second part is when each author presents their final material for their book to the judges and gets their scores (which will take place at the end of September in person). Top prize is a publishing deal, literary agent, and a national PR launch.

I'm both excited and nervous to be a part of this competition. I chose it because, however contrarian it is, it played to my weaknesses. I am a white-knuckler when it comes to speaking in front of people. So, to challenge myself, as soon as I saw that this competition was pretty much 100% presenting your material in front of both judges and audiences, I signed up (although not without a TON of butterflies in my stomach!).

While I have most of my material ready to go, I am doing the perfectionist author thing and obsessively checking things over and over. It will almost be a relief to get this week started!

So wish me luck - I'll see you on the other end. :)

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