Alright friends. I think of all the posts I’ve written about Pitch Wars, this one might be the most important. Even in the best possible circumstances, the PW showcase can be a total mind fuck. There’s just no nicer way to put it. And I will make it very clear from the get, I had the ideal showcase experience. My mentors were supportive, my pitch was well received, I got plenty of agent likes, and when it came time to sign with an agent, I had multiple offers. Even with all that magical goodness, the showcase and the couple of weeks that followed were very tough emotionally and mentally. And I honestly don’t know if there’s any way to come out of the showcase without having it be a rollercoaster of an experience, but if nothing else, I want all of you to be prepared. So here’s what I (and a couple of fellow PW alum) want you to know about the showcase before it begins:
The PW showcase does not define you, your book, your PW experience, or your career. After so much build up, this might be a hard thing to reckon with, but it is absolutely true. Plenty of people have books that don’t get a lot of showcase hype that go on to sell. Plenty of books with lots of agent likes never get sold. Hopefully what you take away from the PW experience is so much more than the showcase. This is the most essential portion of this post, which is why I’m putting it first. All the rest are practical things you can do or should keep in mind, but this is the most important thing I want you to know. No matter what happens during the showcase, you and your book and your writing and your career are so much more than what happens over the next few days.
Alright, now some practicalities:
*On your first day of the showcase, make other plans. I know this is tough this year given the whole pandemic and all, but try to find something safe you can do to keep you busy, and most importantly, keep your mind occupied.
*Set up a plan with your mentor. Do you want to know as soon as you get an agent response? Do you want your mentor to check in once a day? What is going to be the best way for you to receive the info without letting it consume you. Personally, on the first day, I asked my mentors to wait until the end of the day before sharing the details with me. We cheated a little when I was having anxiety about getting no responses and my mentor reassured me I had “at least one”. Once we made it to about 7:00 est, I asked for an update (this was timed perfectly on my end because I asked for the update right before I was going to head into a work event with an open bar ;o)). From that point, they gave me new responses as they came in (almost all of mine came on the first day). Do what works best for you, just make sure to have a plan!
*It’s totally okay to stay out of PW groups for the day/week. Probably the hardest part of the showcase is playing the comparison game, and if you know it’s going to be tough for you to see other people’s responses, it is legit okay to sit out the group chats. Despite the name, PW is actually not a competition, but that certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel like one, and the showcase was definitely the time for me that felt the most competitive. And almost all of that came from people sharing their news in the online groups. WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE. Just not mentally healthy for everyone. Make the best choice for you. Don’t feel like you have to be there to cheerlead everybody else at the detriment of your own mental health.
*On that note, be mindful that everyone is going to have a different showcase experience. If you are one of those folks who gets a ton of requests, be aware that there are going to be folks who might not get any. I guess to put it bluntly, don’t be an asshole about it. (And congrats :o))
*Quality is more important than quantity. The goal is not to get a hundred agent requests. The goal is to find the best agent for you, your book, and your future career. If you only get one request, but it’s from an agent who loves your story and is going to fight for it, then in the long run, it doesn’t really matter how many requests you got. It’s an arbitrary number that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Like your SAT score or high school GPA.
*Once you do have the names of the agents who’ve requested your work, make sure you take the time to research them. PW doesn’t vet the agents who sign up for the showcase, so that is your job. Check out their websites, social media pages, MSWL, and if you have access, their sales records (though keep in mind sales are not always reported and are often reported months after they are made, so newer agents might not have many, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t selling). If you have questions or feel weird about an agent on your list, talk to your mentor. You don’t have to send your package to the agents who request, so if something feels off, trust your gut. There were at least two agents on my list I chose not to sub to for various reasons. It happens!
*Take the time during the showcase to prep your query packages. Have your query letter ready, of course. But also get together the files you might need to send off for requests. Some agents want first chapter, some want first three chapters, some want first 50 pages. I recommend prepping all possible combos so you have them ready to go.
*Figure out which non PW agents you want to sub to. A lot of agents don’t participate in the PW showcase so put together a list of other agents you want to query. My agent actually didn’t partake in PW, she was one of the ones on my list who I queried at the close of the showcase.
*For the showcase and beyond, figure out your email preferences. When I was sending out queries and requested PW materials, I didn’t have my email notifications turned on. Which sounds good in theory, but it meant I actually was obsessively checking my phone every five minutes to refresh my inbox. I figured out it worked better for me to have my notifications on so I would know when an email came in (and when they hadn’t). Again, this is a personal preference thing, but try to figure it out beforehand. Also, if you haven’t already, create an email address you use just for writing purposes! There’s nothing worse than thinking you’re getting a writing response only for it to be some kind of spam.
*Remind yourself that every PW experience is unique. Again showcase time is ripe with comparison. Who’s getting requests, whose mentors are still involved in the process, which agents are requesting which books. It’s a lot, and not going to lie, it is pretty impossible to not compare at all. Even though I had a great showcase, I still had those moments of thinking I wish that agent had requested mine, why did that agent pick hers and not mine, all those yucky yucky kind of thoughts. As hard as it might be, try to focus on your own experience and don’t play the comparison game.
And again, just to reiterate, THE PW SHOWCASE DOES NOT DEFINE YOU. It’s worth repeating. Repeat it to yourself throughout the week, as many times as necessary.
Also, I would just like to put it out there that my Twitter DMs are open (@falonballard). If at any point throughout the next couple of weeks you feel like you need some extra support, I am here. If you get fifty requests and don’t want to brag in one of the PW groups, come tell me and I will cheer for you. If you’re feeling down or depressed or like nobody is ever going to like your book, come tell me and I will tell you how awesome you are. If your mentor isn’t super involved at this point and you have questions, come ask. Seriously. We might be strangers, but there aren’t many of us who have been through the mind fuckery that is the PW showcase and I am happy to lend an empathetic ear.
And please remember, at the end of the day, no matter what else happens, you not only wrote a book, you went through one of the most grueling revision processes out there. And you did it! You made it! It’s fucking awesome, no matter what happens next. I’m thinking of you PW class of 2020! You got this!
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