The 30 Second Sell: Pitching Your Book to an Editor

Intimate Moments with the Shepherd

Christian Publishing Tips is pleased to present our guest blogger today, author Phyllis Benigas. Phyllis serves on the Assemblies of God World Missions Board and enjoys speaking at women’s meetings, retreats and conferences.  Be sure to check out Phyllis’ website and pick up a copy of her book, Intimate Moments with the Shepherd. Today Phyllis writes about the intimidating and pressure-filled experience of pitching your book idea to an editor.

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The opportunity of presenting, often called “pitching,” a book idea to an acquisition editor of a publishing house is daunting, to a new author.  I found myself in this position a few years ago while attending the International Christian Retail Show.  Even with the certainty that God was directing me to put into print the ever-comforting message of the Shepherd’s care in our lives, I faltered as I looked into the knowing eyes of an editor who had heard it all.  My idea was not a new, earthshaking concept-David handled it quite well in Psalm 23-but when we truly grasp its truth, our world is never the same.

I had the understanding that acquisition editors will politely give five minutes to an author to present an idea, but all may be lost if the author has not grabbed their attention within the first 30 seconds.  No pressure!  While grooming and a winning smile are all part of the package, my acceptance that day was more or less hanging on 30 seconds.  I’m not sure whether or not my understanding of this process is completely based on fact, but my personal experience at ICRS seemed to confirm it.

The first acquisition editor I met glanced at my book proposal, listened to my pitch for…about 30 seconds and then started doodling on paper.  This was not a good sign.  At three minutes into my presentation, he handed my proposal back to me and said he wasn’t interested, and I knew that he wasn’t.  Although my presentation was concise, my book proposal orderly, and my appearance, well, I did my best with what I had to work with, I failed to plant even a seed of possibility in his mind.  This was not his fault.

I returned to my hotel room dejected, determined to return home in the morning.  After sharing this experience with my husband on the phone he encouraged me to pursue what God had placed in my heart and to toughen my “thin skin,” and then he prayed with me.  He asked the Lord to reveal what He knew would capture the attention of the editors and that my passion for this project would be evident.  It wasn’t as though we hadn’t prayed over this in the past, but perhaps form and substance had stymied divine revelation.

Later, as I sought the Lord’s direction, He reminded me of a book by Philip Keller that I had run across a few weeks before in a Christian bookstore, “A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm.”  He also brought to mind a conversation with a pastor friend who expressed the desperate need we have for the Lord to guide us through all the challenges in our homes and relationships.  The faithful Shepherd had given me just what I needed.

The next day I had the privilege to meet with six acquisition editors, with a “pitch” that began, “Back in the 70’s, a man by the name of Philip Keller wrote a book entitled, ‘A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm.’  Over a million copies of that book have been sold, and my book is a 2lst century dimension of that same theme….”  Well, needless to say, when an editor hears “one million copies,” you have his attention.  I went on to share with passion the desperate need readers have for the Shepherd’s guidance.  At the end of the day, five editors kept my book proposal and later responded.  For a newbie like me, this was monumental.  Strang Communications published my devotional book last year, “Intimate Moments with the Shepherd – Guidance Through the Challenges of Life.”  With the many struggles we are facing today, we need Him more than ever.

My book is light-years away from a million copies sold, but as it moves out into the marketplace, I know from the dozens of testimonies I’ve received that it is touching lives, one by one.  I will never forget that night in a lonely hotel room when the Lord guided me through my challenge. Whether it is a pitch, a query letter or a book proposal, our ideas can be presented with confidence when the Lord is directing our first 30 seconds.

By Phyllis Benigas
Visit Phyllis at www.shepherdmoments.com
“We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3

Tags: author, book, book pitch, Phyllis Benigas, pitching, selling books, story pitch