Coffee & Writing

I got critiqued by three literary agents on Saturday at the Writers Day Workshop online in Colorado. Brutal would be an understatement.

The first agent was told me to go ahead with my pitch, then she asked me “Where do you see this on a shelf in a bookstore?” and “What are your comps?” (Comps are comparable titles that have been published within the past five years.)

Admittedly, I did not have have a manuscript, I kept changing my topic. My final topic that I settled on was changed on Monday, then it went to something else, and finally back to the one I originally examined on Monday. So, I had to come up with a one sentence summary and an elevator pitch. Neither of which were good.

That literary agent told me the rules of querying (query is a whole bunch of stuff you have to give when you submit a couple of pages to a literary agent, like comps) She at least gave me her email and told me when the time came to give her 25 pages and query properly. She had a sour look on her face but at least she was professional enough to give me her email and tell me what she needed.

The second literary agent said that memoirs are hard to sell (which is very true), she had only worked with one before and it took her four years to move it. She didn’t even give me her email address. When we finished, I said to the air in the apartment, “Maybe it’s because you’re a boutique agency!”

When it was my turn for the third agency, I knew she didn’t accept religious memoirs, and it was going have a modicum of religion in it. I thought she would just brush me off. Instead, she helped me with my book. She literally showed me not to judge a book by it’s cover.

I collapsed in my chair when all was said and done and then I took a nap.

Miriam Kavanagh