Imagine 20 tables of 10. Eight of the chairs at each table are filled with listeners. The other two are for authors who are pitching their latest book(s). All of the listeners stay put while the pairs of authors move around from table to table. At each table, each author has 2 minutes to pass out postcards, bookmarks, etc. and talk about their book(s). Every 4 minutes the authors move on to the next table. There’s a 21st table where the authors get a four-minute break. Approximately an hour and 45 minutes later all the pitches have been done and everyone is exhausted.
For those listening, it’s a great way to learn about books and authors you haven’t heard of before. On the pitching side, it’s a great way to make others aware of your work.
I teamed up with fellow Henery Press author, Christina Freeburn, who writes the Faith Hunter Scrap This mystery series. Here we are looking chipper as we wait to begin pitching.
Christina’s giveaway was a stamped frame with a postcard of her latest book while my giveaway was a set of postcards of the two books in my Aurora Anderson Mystery series.
We put both our items in Ziploc bags so they’d be faster to give out. Here are our packets of giveaways.
Here’s the ballroom as the authors gather and get ready. Tip: If you’re pitching get there early and snag a table as close to #10 as you can get. That way your break will be halfway through your round.
And here’s the ballroom when the Go Round is in full swing.
Type Mer Vicki Delany and Cathy Ace were right behind me so I kept on hearing “We’re the Criminous Canucks...” every time we moved to a new table. I have to admit I wanted to hear the rest of their pitch. I learned later it continued “We kill people, but we do it politely.” My pitch wasn’t quite as interesting, but I think I did okay for the first time. It was definitely an experience I’m glad I had. So that’s my experience at Malice Go Round.
Oh, and by the way, I sent my third book to my publisher on Monday. Yay!
This is so cool. Wondered what it was like from the pitching author's side...and I can vouch for you and Christina having done a GREAT job! Huzzah!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on #3. #celebrationtime
Thanks. I learned a lot from the pitching side. It's just so incredibly noisy with everyone talking at once. And, toward the end (probably your table) my mind switched out about halfway into my pitch. I had to mentally remind myself what I was doing.
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