A Chance to Present My Pitch at Pitchapalooza?
My heart started beating fast.  Was I going to be called?  How would the judges react?  What pearls of wisdom would they offer me?  These are the thoughts that ran through my mind as the presenters took the podium, one by one.

I don’t know exactly how many presenters out of 60 actually gave pitches, but I do know that I wasn’t one of them.  That is okay.  Clearly, I was not meant to present the pitch I had prepared because it never would have made it out of trash mode. 

When I heard the pitches, I heard several times from the judges that the pitches resembled book reports and not book pitches.  What was lacking was excitement, “specifics” and anything that would hook the reader from the beginning.

Staring at my pitch in my hands, I didn’t have to reread it to know that it fit into the too-polite school-librarian book report which would have been acceptable for a G-rated audience.  See below.  What do you think of my pitch?

My book pitch for “A Slice of Faith”
Hi everybody. My book is called “A Slice of Faith.”  I hope to inspire people with stories about bad situations from my life and how I got through them by using faith.  My stories include distant memories and current events that caused me to ruffle my feathers and have lots of problems.  Every story concludes with lessons learned and the unique ways I made sense of the bad situations by using faith.

In my book, I distinguish between religion and faith.  Religion is more about rules whereas faith is boundless and free and exciting.  I know what you’re thinking – faith is pretty boring, but don’t worry about that because I jazz up all my stories and make them contemporary. 

I think my book appeals to a wide audience as a tool of inspiration. I am here to help people realize that we all have faith within us and we can make the choice to activate faith at any time we want.  Remember, all it takes is a mustard seed.

Rewards for Pitchapalooza Attendees
Shortly after 8:30 p.m., the Pitchapalooza event had ended.  No more pitches that night.  Those of us who didn’t get a chance to deliver our humble attempts at book pitches sat forward in our seats, clenching our notes with sweaty hands, still with anticipation that somehow, our efforts would be rewarded.  And rewarded they shall be. 

David Henry Sterry announced that all 60 Pitchapalooza participants were eligible to receive a free 20-minute telephone consultation from the Book Doctors.  He distributed clever business cards shaped like a book, with email addresses and a phone number.  We were encouraged to call to discuss any topic of interest to us within the scope of book publishing.  Sterry emphasized that he wanted to help all of us sell our books.

My eldest daughter and I stormed the stage, amidst throngs of people seeking to do the same.  We finally got to meet Sterry.  I graciously shook his hand and thanked him for this truly informative and educational event. 

After everything was said and done, I was secretly relieved, albeit disappointed, that I had not been selected to pitch my book.  It was a favor to the judges.  I had actually spared them and gave the opportunity to others whose book pitches were far more exciting than mine.

No matter!  I sat through words of wisdom that were abundantly scooped out after each presenter, filling my page with notes of action, descriptions, and specific calls to action that we, as book authors, were supposed to do. 

Read parts one and two of this series on Patch. Check back on Thursday for the final installment.