Pitch Me at Authorcon!

Good news, everybody!  My house, French Press Publishing, is actively acquiring (completed!) novels, novellas, and collections.  After testing the waters in the UK at World Fantasy Con, US authors will have the chance to pitch me at Scares That Care Authorcon next week.  

“What is a pitch session?” you conveniently ask, dear straw man reader?

 

Well, I’m glad you asked!  A pitch session is your opportunity to sit down with an editor or agent and sell them on one of your manuscripts.  Now, for the 5 Ws of this particular event:

 

Who? 

 

You, with your completed, ready-for-primetime manuscript, will have the opportunity to meet me, Stephen Kozeniewski.  What am I specifically looking to acquire?  I will consider novels, novellas, and collections.  Broadly speaking I like horror and sci-fi, but click on the “About Us” section of this blog for a little more info.  You can also watch our past open call announcements during the Buzz Book Expo (2023, 2022) to get a better feel for what I like.

 

What?

 

You should be prepared to:

 

- introduce yourself like a human being, for Christ’s sake

 

- give me a one sentence elevator pitch (think the teaser on a movie poster)

 

- elaborate on your story (think the back jacket of your book once it’s on the shelf)

 

- answer questions if prompted

 

Bear in mind this all has to be accomplished in about fifteen minutes, so polish your pitch until it shines like a diamond.  You don’t have to be a robot, repeating a carefully memorized routine by rote.  (In fact, that would kind of defeat the purpose of an in-person pitch session.)  But if you punctuate every other word with “um” and trail off mid-sentence, I'm going to mark you down as “that flop sweat-soaked wretch” instead of “that author I desperately want to work with.”

 

Then, if I'm interested, I’ll ask to see more, so you’d better not be pitching me some glimmer in your eye.  Make sure your manuscript is ready to go.

 

Where? 

DoubleTree by Hilton
50 Kingsmill Road
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

When?

Friday, 6:30 pm - "French Press Publishing Pitch Session" - 2nd Floor, Room E
Saturday, 11:30 am - "French Press Publishing Pitch Session" - 2nd Floor, Room E
Sunday, 11:00 am - "French Press Publishing Pitch Session" - 2nd Floor, Room E

Why? 

 

I don’t fucking know.  You’re the one that wants to get published.  You tell me.

 

But for real, we have so far published 16 books, including the Imadjinn award-winning You’re Mine by Somer Canon, and Kit Power’s British Fantasy Award Finalist novella, Millionaires Day.

 

 

How? 

Purchase a ticket here or attempt to buy one at the event if they're not sold out yet.  All money goes to the charity, and purchase of a session does not guarantee acceptance of your pitch.

I'm excited to hear about your work.  See you in Williamsburg!