This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
By Carlie Lee
Oh, Oh! I’m excited. And frightened. I have secured a ticket to The Lit Factor Pitch. Golly. I keep veering from extreme nerves to an almost fanatical belief that this could Change My Life.
Which is ridiculous. Even if I did attract a literary agent, I would still have to get up at silly o’clock every day to write. I’d still have stoves to sell, children to find vests for, dogs to dig out of rabbit holes.
In fact, it would probably all get much harder, because suddenly someone else is investing in me. I can’t just scrawl out a thousand words and swan off to eat cake. If I had an agent, now more than ever before, every word must be a good word.
So, I’ve decided not to think about that too much, and instead concentrate all of my angst onto the Lit Factor Pitch.
Ostrich? Pah! Anyway, let me tell you about it.
About Lit Factor
Lit Factor belongs to Authoright, and is a new online social community comprising of unpublished authors and literary agents. The idea is that the community advises the Aspiring Author on his submission package (and presumably his actual product), and then the Aspiring Author uses a form to submit to the right agent.
It means that as Aspiring Authors, we can get feedback on all the tricky stuff that can stop an agent ever even reading our work. As an experienced lurker in writing forums, I suspect this might be a painful thing. It might involve some marching around our kitchens, raging at our laptops with a wooden spoon. But it’ll be useful.
Not as useful as talking to an actual agent, but hey. That’s why we have The Pitch…
About The Lit Factor Pitch
Lit Factor is being launched at the London Book Fair, and it’s kicking off with the Lit Factor Pitch. Originally, I’d heard rumours of some grisly Dragons’ Den type scenario, but actually, it sounds more like a clinic (I’m thinking Street Doctor). We’re going to get 15 minutes one-on-one with one agent – pitching our novels, synopsis, intro letters etc – and they’re going to give us feedback.
Part of me wishes for the drama of a den-like scenario, but the more sensible part acknowledges that 15 minutes of quiet conversation could be the most useful thing an Aspiring Author might need.
I don’t imagine there’ll be anyone filming it.
Or that Evan Davis will pop up, chatting about weak metaphor, or the sub-plot you introduced in Ch3 and forgot to resolve.
But still. Come Monday the 15th April, at 11:30, I’ll be nose-to-nose with an agent.
Oh blimey. Preparation. Must do some preparation.
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