So in my “ample” spare time, I’m trudging through revising my book. It’s turning out to be a long, slow, somewhat painful process, as this is my first revision of this project, and frankly, I’m rewriting a lot.
The characters have changed and grown. I’m getting rid of plot ideas that are frankly “silly.” I’m adding in new plot directions. And I’m planning on fleshing out more as far as subplots and romance.
So much to do, I feel like I”m starting over again.
However, I’ve also been polishing as I go along. The product of this revision is much more reader-friendly, and I’ve been chopping and cutting so the pacing is more appropriate.
Want to know what I’m writing?
Well, at RADCON, I took a workshop on pitching your project to publishers, editors, agents, whoever. A number of great authors and one publisher sat on the panel, and took sample pitches from the audience, critiquing them.
What’s a pitch? A few sentences describing your project. The fewer words, the better. For the most part, people were a bit vague and long. I had a chance to give my pitch, “Barista chick has trouble with Mesopotamian Demon,” and I was proud to say they pretty much all liked it.
Why? One author liked “Mesopotamian.” Most folk would have just said “Demon” which is somewhat generic. And someone mentioned the pitch gave a feeling of the book and my writing style. Probably the phrase “Barista chick.”
I think now I would extend the pitch to be. “Barista chick has trouble with Mesopotamian Demon. With witches and vampires”
Few more words, but puts it firmly in the urban fantasy genre.
An attendee actually came up to me after the workshop and asked me when it’d be out.
How cool is that.