Pitch Perfect Online Workshops
Every month or so, I organize a pitch and first page workshop for querying authors. The workshops last about a week, they’re go-at-your-own-pace, and they take place inside a secret Facebook Group, with the number of participants limited to 5.
You get one-on-one assistance with your query and first page, and if there’s a forthcoming contest, like #NoQS or #PitchWars or #PitMad, we usually do a critique of your contest entry.
THESE WORKSHOPS ARE FREE
There is a wait list for these workshops. If you want to get on the list, or if you have questions, email me 🙂
What is it?
Cook your manuscript down to its juiciest bits and tantalize your audience.
Pitch Perfect is a week-long, online workshop led by author and Literary Agency PR Manager, Colleen Oefelein (pen name CM McCoy). This workshop is an offshoot of Colleen’s SELL THAT BOOK, an Author’s Guide to Book Promotion.
In this workshop, authors learn the anatomy of a pitch, see successful pitch examples (from queries, in-person pitches, and TV interviews), and craft their own book pitch in a fun, friendly, interactive workshop. We kick off with an ice-breaker “post-it-note” game to get the creative juices flowing before we segue into a tutorial on “how to talk about your book.” With a mock pitch-session/talk-show and personal critiques to wrap things up, those who wish to shine up their submission get an opportunity to do so and receive personal feedback from me and the other participants.
Craft the perfect hook to sell your book to agents, editors, reviewers, and readers.
Today, a successful author is equal parts great writer and great promoter. Whether they’re selling their book to an agent, a reviewer, an individual reader on social media, or a TV audience during a morning news show, authors need to know how to describe their book with a hard-hitting and memorable pitch.
At the very least, authors leave the workshop with an answer to that ubiquitous prompt at the ready: So…tell me about your book 🙂
Nuts and Bolts
How to sign up: Email Colleen to get on the wait list. contact @ cmmccoy.com Put WORKSHOP in the subject line.
When: Varies.
Duration: 7 days. Go at your own pace.
Where: Online, inside a secret Facebook group
What:
Workshop Itinerary
- Introduction
- Pitch Game: Three Words
- Define Your Plot with 5 Sentences
- Craft a Skeletal Pitch
- Craft a “Talk Show” Pitch
- Craft an “Elevator” Pitch
- Craft a Query Opening (Hook #1)
- Examples of Successful Queries
- Craft/Evaluate Query synopsis & Compare to Skeletal pitch
- Edit Common Pitfalls Out of 1st Page
- Query + 1st Page Critique
Colleen’s Bio
CM McCoy has one pointed ear, a 70-pound puppy from Hell, and a very active imagination. She’s well aware nobody can say or spell her real last name. You can call her Colleen. She’s a retired Air Force officer, an author, a blogger, and an Associate Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York. When she’s not chatting with her imaginary friends, she’s either stuck in a book or interviewing with PEOPLE Magazine, ABC’s 20/20, the local morning news show, or INSIDE EDITION, where she promotes writing for mental and emotional health. She also mentors pre-published authors through workshops and contests and runs Totem Head’s Annual Free Writing Contest for Kids, now in it’s eighth year. Though she holds a BS in both Chemical Engineering and German, she’s far happier writing near misses and awkward kisses. Some of her off-the-wall talents include speaking in 10-codes (which she learned working 911-dispatch for Alaska State Troopers), flying helicopters, and Irish dance.