Pitching the flu

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the 2009 swine flu outbreak is officially a pandemic. According to WHO’s director-general, “The virus is now unstoppable.”

As a writer of medical thrillers, I’m slightly deranged and my reaction was, great news! The book I will pitch at AgentFest features a weaponized influenza virus. The first real-life flu pandemic since 1968 creates billions of interested readers, right? What could be a better sales pitch than that?

Then I read this marvelous article on pitching in person by Shirley Kennett, the 2009 ThrillerFest chair: http://www.thrillerwriters.org/thrillerfest/Pitching%20in%20Person.pdf Unfortunately, nowhere in the article does she say, “Simply mention a recent headline and agent will be convinced that anyone who follows the news will want to buy your book. Your job is done!”

I have some work to do before July.

To make the most of the opportunities ThrillerFest will give me, an unpublished author, I need a pitch that is as unstoppable as swine flu. A successful pitch “goes viral.” People who hear it remember it and are compelled to repeat it.

Using Kennett’s article and the CraftFest sessions on Wednesday, I hope to write and memorize such a pitch. And not only that crucial one-line hook. Once I’ve grabbed an agent’s attention and he or she asks me for more, I need a compelling book-flap type of summary to flow smoothly off my tongue. The main advantage of a face-to-face pitch is the chance to present myself as a professional. That’s why I’ll be practicing in front of a mirror for the next several weeks.

See you at ThrillerFest, dear readers, where I hope to infect you with my contagious pitch. By the way, enjoy the crowds of New York now; the flu is on vacation in Australia.

Dr. Amy Rogers, author of The Han Agent

TWF seeks PWM

Thriller Writing Female seeks Published Writer Mentor.

For this match, Craigslist simply won’t do. ThrillerFest 2009 is the pickup joint for me!

Fear not, fellow writers. I’m happily married and emotionally stable, not a predatory cougar on the prowl. But I do have an unmet relationship need. I’m an aspiring author—an unpublished novelist—and I could really benefit from a friendship with a more experienced writer. The Internet and bookstores are loaded with wonderful information about the business and craft of writing, and I’ve made good use of this material. But just as textbooks will never replace good teachers in the classroom, no amount of study can replace the role of a good mentor in a new career.

Thus one of my goals for ThrillerFest is to make connections with published writers who will give me the kind of advice that only a mentor can. A year and a half ago when I attended my first writers’ conference in San Francisco, I had the single-minded agenda of an eager beginner: get an agent. That was my only goal, but at the conference I learned so much that I was not only content to leave without an agent, I ditched most of my manuscript and started a massive rewrite.

Since then my writing, and my perspective, have changed. I still want to sell my book—so meeting an agent is important—but I’m thinking beyond that first book to my career as a whole. A published writer mentor may be the greatest asset I could have.

With that in mind, to prepare for my first ThrillerFest I’m reading as many books as possible. My choices come from a list I made of thriller writers who are currently publishing novels with a scientific or medical angle. I’m trying to read at least one book from each author to get a feel for their style. Then I’ll try to memorize the names and titles to give me instant conversation starters.

In a perfect ThrillerFest, I’d find myself seated at a table next to James Rollins, the bestselling writer who (like me) uses real science in his fantastic stories. We’d share a bottle of wine, and I’d tell him about all the remarkable things we have in common: we both live in Sacramento, we’re both doctors who trained in Missouri, and we both have secret Polish surnames. Given that such an occurrence is about as likely as some of the events in one of his Sigma Force novels, I hope to at least run into him in the hotel lobby or something. My one-second self-pitch still needs a lot of polishing: “Excuse me, Mr. Rollins, would you be my friend?” “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Czajkowski,” (horribly mangling the pronunciation, of course). “Howdy, Jim, I’m your biggest fan!”

Barring the perfect Rollins Encounter, I’ll take advantage of whatever networking opportunities come my way. My mentor doesn’t have to be famous, just knowledgeable and willing to share. My attitude for the week will match the tourism ads I’ve recently seen for Aruba: ThrillerFest. Hundreds of friends you haven’t met yet.

Dr. Amy Rogers, author of The Han Agent

What Makes Authors Tick

I’m always so curious about what makes authors tick. My family and friends often wonder about me. How can such an outwardly calm, gentle, happy, laid back individual such as me write an horrific thriller such as Worst Nightmares yet not be hiding a very dark side to his nature - one they’ve never been aware of before?

I know that those who have read my novel now look at me in a new way. Perhaps their opinion of my nature has changed; they now view me as some kind of a Hannibal Lector?

What’s interesting is that usually serial killers look very normal. Almost kind. Ted Bundy for example. Yet what do we really expect in such deviants? Someone with fangs, dripping blood? Killers with strong hands and a demented look in their eyes? No.

So, why does my sister-in-law as well us her mother harbor thoughts that I am morally twisted in some fundamental way? Because I am able think up the most devilish and delicious way of terrifying my characters, and putting them to death in unusual and intriguing ways? (According to their worst nightmares, it goes without saying!)

The fact is, I find conjuring up horrific fantasy images fun! I admit – I enjoy it. Quite often it makes me laugh aloud when I come face to face with my extreme dark humor. And in case you now think I am barking mad, let me assure you that I find actual violence anathema. I’m the first to be shocked when I see people involved in any ‘biffo’ at all.

Before I start reading a new novel I always look for a snapshot of the author. It’s important to me to look into the eyes of the creator and imagine his mindset. More often than not, authors look quite normal. Occasionally they don’t—for instance, there’s something about a hugely celebrated bestselling novelist’s hair that I find just a tad disturbing. Maybe it’s the eyes—like the Mona Lisa’s, they follow you around the room. I’m sure he’s a gentle man, and he certainly writes superlative thrillers, but.... it’s that look....

That’s most probably what my sister-in-law sees in me now. Is it possible that Worst Nightmares, the novel, is a clue to my innate madness?

Which brings me to another point. Why did I choose to write what my wonderful agent referred to as ‘the most cruel and brutal novel’ she had ever read? The answer to that one isn’t so easy. I’ve though about it quite a lot recently. Worst Nightmares is not the catharthic experience of a would-be homicidal maniac. I’m simply attempting to write a gripping thriller that’ll keep readers turning pages way into the night, while reaching for strong liquor.

Readers love being scared. I know I did as a child reading Edgar Allan Poe, Dennis Wheatley, Steven King and Truman Capote. I was transported from castles in Transylvania to fields of horror and bloodshed in Texas; yet the moment I closed the cover I was back in my safe world.

Now I feel like a starving man looking forward to dinner at Cipriani’s! The thought of meeting all my favorite authors at Thrillerfesr, those who’s books I’ve been reading all my life is mind-boggling! And to be debuting my first book in America, with all the hype Vanguard have given it, is massively exciting.

Just yesterday I received an email from a blogger in Boston. “Are you sure your novel Worst Nightmares is not autobiographical?” he asked; somewhat rudely, I thought. “You write of an author who plagiarizes the grizzly diary of a brutally sick serial killer. Did you, in fact, receive such a diary from a real killer? Are there bodies out there?”

I took great pleasure in replying to this man. “Of course! You found me out. There are bodies....lots of them...everywhere. And strange as it may seem, I live only a block from your home. Let’s go find them. What do you say?”

Shane Briant
Worst Nightmares
Available May 12, 2009

WIV Positive

My name is Amy, and I’m WIV positive.

Do you know your status?

Visitors to the ThrillerFest blog are not a random sample of the population. Voluntarily reading these words is itself a simple test with a positive predictive value of greater than 90%.

In other words, you too probably have WIV, or Writing Impulse Virus (subtype: thriller).

For years, I tried to conceal my desire to write fantastic tales under the veneer of a respectable career as a biology professor. It worked for a while; the demands of teaching and family made it easy to resist the temptations of Microsoft Word. But I didn’t do enough to protect myself. Late-night trysts with a thesaurus, flash drives filled with secret back-up files, and hushed references to “my book” could only lead to one thing. I became WIV+, afflicted by a disease for which there’s no cure, only lifelong keyboard therapy.

At first I was ashamed. How could I tell my husband that the scientist he married was really a writer at heart? How would my children manage the stigma of answering the question, “What does your mommy do?” (“Oh, she sits at a computer a lot and doesn’t make any money.”)

I’m in the early stages of the disease, and I have the classic symptoms:a completed manuscript, a decent pitch, a few requests for partials, and a growing stack of rejection letters. What I need (besides an agent) is a support group. Luckily I learned about an organization dedicated to serving the needs of the WIV+ community—International Thriller Writers.I registered for ThrillerFest at once.

Why am I, an unpublished writer, going to ThrillerFest? Because today, I may be just an author wannabe, lost among the unwashed masses of query composers filling the slush piles of the world. But I aspire to be much more. I have accepted my WIV positivity and embraced the writing bug. I’m going to ThrillerFest because I need to go. I need information and advice for living with WIV. I need the fellowship of others who share my condition. I need hope and inspiration.

I want to meet debut authors who recently crossed the magic threshold into publication and tell myself, that could be me next year. I want to listen to authors who have more experience and say, I can apply their knowledge in my work. And of course, I want to meet an agent who will fall in love with my manuscript and tie the contractual knot on the spot (hey, it doesn’t cost anything to dream!).

It does cost something—rather a lot, in fact—to register for ThrillerFest, to fly from California, and to stay almost a week in New York. But I believe it’s worth it, because one day, I’m going to see my name on a bookshelf, and then I’ll say WIV is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Dr. Amy Rogers, (unpublished) author of The Han Agent

Pitching An Agent Part II-The Screeching Halt

Okay, here I go again being upbeat about the agent pitching process and rejection. Last week I wrote about my take on the painful pitching process. This week I would like to write about another aspect that I see only too often-what I call the “screeching halt.” It’s when the writer gets a detailed rejection from an agent, and then never contacts that agent again.
Whenever an unpublished writer explains this scenario to me, and it’s more often than you would imagine, I usually respond with “Huh? That’s it? You get a letter explaining what didn’t work and you don’t follow up? What’s up with that?”
It is at this stage that the writer begins speaking in slow, measured tones, as if I am deaf and not quite getting the gist of the conversation. The writer says something usually along the lines of, “Um, I just said he rejected me. He doesn’t like it. End of story.”
This response on the part of the writer baffles me to no end. I understand it in regards to form rejections, those are not worth a follow up, you're best just moving on, but a one page typewritten letter with specific critiques? That's quite different. Here’s this hardworking agent, snowed under with piles of paper all around, who could have easily hit the “no” form letter and lighten his load, but instead takes the time to give some feedback, and what does he get? Nothing. No “Thanks, I’ll think about what you said,” no, “How about I rewrite those sections and you take another look?” or even just, “Thanks for your time, I love it the way it is, but should anything change I’ll take another look with your thoughts in mind.”
Detailed rejection letters are gold. They are often some of the first words from a professional in the industry about a new writer’s manuscript. You may not like them, you may not agree with them, but you should, at the very least, acknowledge them with gratitude. And my guess is, if you’re like me and strive to read the words with an open mind, you just may find some of them are correct. And if you do, just revise it, write a letter to the agent explaining that you took their words to heart, and ask to resubmit. Nine times out of ten they’ll say yes, reread it, and with any luck you’ll be on your way!
Another suggestion: if the detailed rejection comes right before Agentfest, and you know that agent will be attending, do your very best to acknowlege their work in person. It always helps to put a face with a name. A handshake and a "thanks for the letter. I'm looking the manuscript over with an eye toward your suggestions. May I send it again when I'm finished?" That's what Thrillerfest is about, meeting and greeting. It's a lot of fun.
I'd be interested to hear views from other authors and agents on this subject. Specifically, if you're an author who's been rejected initially, did you ever resubmit with success? If an agent, do you accept resubmissions? Am I leading the unpublished astray here? Thanks in advance!

Jamie Freveletti
Running from the Devil
May 5th
www.jamiefreveletti.com