Well Played, Sterry

Related Content

• Pencils Down
  November 30, 2011
• Now Appearing: Practically Everyone
  October 5, 2011
• Hey Lazybones Musicians! Record An Album This Month!
  February 1, 2011
• Soccer Succor
  May 26, 2010
• "Love" for Sale
  July 29, 2009

More About

• Arielle Eckstut
• Laura Mazer
• David Henry
• Chris Baty
• National Novel Writing Month

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

You're a writer and you have one minute with Soft Skull Press executive editor Laura Mazer: How do you pitch your book? This isn't a rhetorical question -- you really do have one minute with Mazer. At Pitchapalooza, she's sitting next to NaNoWriMo's Chris Baty and self-described "book doctors" Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, the founders of the five-year-old event. To prepare, start speaking in public ASAP, because you're pitching before a room of people. Try to compare your book to what's already out there, but don't say, "It's like Foer got drunk with Godot at Twilight and started puking Seuss," because we're going to say that. There might be agents scattered around you in the audience, like at the Pitchapalooza in New York, so don't mutter profanities and scribble on a matchbook when awaiting your turn -- or, better yet, do exactly that. The winner gets "an introduction to an agent," which is surely better than it sounds. The losers get the opportunity to buy Sterry and Eckstut's book The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It…Successfully!, which comes with a "free consultation" worth $100. Of course, it should be clear that Pitchapoolza is, at its core, a drop-dead genius way for Sterry and Eckstut to market Essential Guide -- they know their shit, to be sure. They're the book doctors.
Thu., Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m., 2011