Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Preparing For The Frankfurt Book Fair

The Frankfurt Book Fair in October is approaching, only a two hour drive away from where I live. You can so bet your ass I'm going.

I've never been to a book fair, not even the one in Stuttgart, where I live. It just never worked out. Plus, I never thought so many agents/agencies from English speaking countries would attend.

After going through the program of the Frankfurt Book Fair, I realized that this is actually a golden opportunity. I mean, when else will I get another chance to pitch my novel and communicate with American agents other than via the good old query?

Never, unless I win the lottery.

So now's the time to dive into the details of the "elevator pitch". That's the right term, I think. Many agents have already put in their two cents as to what a good elevator pitch is, and I did always skim over them, never assuming I might need these particular grains of wisdom in the near future.
Good think I realized this now, not two days before the fair. That might have ended in a mess. By 'that' I mean both my pitch and me by extension.

Therefore, my guess is that my next few posts will be elevator-pitch related. Maybe I'll even post what I come up with in the end here on the blog.

Maybe.

Either way, I'm looking forward to October. My first ever book fair. Squeeee!



4 comments:

  1. Squeeeeeeee!!!! Exciting. :)

    Good luck with your elevator pitches.

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  2. Thanks! Yep, veeeery exciting. I really hope I'm not so nervous that I won't get a single coherent word out... I'm already all jittery and it's only August. Oh boy.
    :-)

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  3. LOL I understand. But you have several months to practice and get it perfect.

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  4. How did your pitch preparation go in the end? I live in Zürich and just decided today to also visit the fair as a first-timer. Like you, I was overwhelmed by the number of English agents and media attending.
    Despite what some Blogs and advisors say, this has to be an opportunity if approached carefully.

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