The Kansas Writer’s Association’s Scene Conference is less than two months away. I am, indeed, excited. There is new knowledge, old friends, and opportunities.
One of those opportunities is a thing called PitchaPalooza, described on some web sites as the American Idol for Books. Apparently without Simon. The idea is that you get one minute to pitch your book with the winner getting a meet with a literary agent. It condenses all the frustrations or all the joys of sending query letters into sixty seconds of your life. Live. In front of other people.
Oh, what the hell! I’ll give it a go. Sure, I get nervous in situations like that. But if I hide behind my Tikiman persona and figure I’ve got nothing to lose, then everything will be okay.
Except…I’ve got two books I could pitch and I don’t know which one to go with.
Which pitch to pitch?
There’s Swansong, my first NaNoWriMo from 2007 which I have fleshed out and developed over the last four+ years. A good piece of hard-boiled crime fiction. Detailed locales from here in Wichita, KS. Really out-there characters (as you would expect from something detailing the dark underbelly of the crime world). A troubled yet heroic anti-hero.
On the other hand, I’ve got Weekend Getaways, or Adventures in Contract Killing. Darkly comic and Transgressive. (Think Brett Easton Ellis or Chuck Palahniuk.) Looks at the notions of self-improvement and the extreme angst of call center customer service. Unusual fonts and integrated paragraphs of non-linear description. Probably unpublishable. But I absolutely love it.
Traditional vs. non-traditional.
Dark vs. dark comedy.
Fitting into the mainstream vs. swimming upstream.
Good work in a genre of a lot of good work vs. standing clearly outside the lines and daring the reader to step over.
I know it’s not much to go on, but I’m asking you who read this…
Which pitch to pitch?
The Tikiman Says... 
Step into the unknown. You only live once.
Bonnie j.–
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I did when I married my wife. But I don’t think that’s what you’re talking about.
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Weekend Getaways sounds the most exciting…and dangerous!
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And since it’s a no-lose situation, what’s wrong with a little danger?
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One of my favorite movies (based on a novel I’ve never read) is The Ice Harvest which takes place in Wichita (and has none of the detailed locales LOL on purpose according to director Harold Ramis) so Swansong sounds really interesting.
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Saw the movie. Read the book. Both were just so-so. And nothing exciting about Wichita. Maybe a NYC literary agent might want to know what crime is like here in Doo-Dah.
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I’d pick the second one. Go with what you love. Your passion for it will sell it, or not, but either way you’re talking about something you love. From the way you described both of them alone, the second one sounded more compelling (probably because it’s closer to your heart).
For the record, I can’t wait to read both of them, but I really want to read the second one from the teases you’ve dropped about it.
Hope that helps!
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Well, it looks like I’d better do SOMETHING to get them published so you CAN read them. Thanks for the input.
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This was a very nice post. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading your blog today very much.
Love to write? Writers Wanted:
Writing Jobs Available</
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I want to say the dark comedy one. But, that is just me.
Good luck bud! I know you got this! š
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Well, I sure as heck will be entertaining. You can count on that.
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Hey HB. I would go with the dark comedy. I honestly don’t know what agents are looking for so it’s just what I would like to read.
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Maybe I’ll be throwing them a curveball. Either they’ll say “What the HECK is that?” or “Hmm, sounds like a winner.” We’ll see.
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I don’t know which one I would choose. I guess the one you feel the most passionate about.
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In the end, the passion is the thing that drives us all. Thanks, Lawrence.
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Personally, Swansong sounds more intersting. I really like that title by the way.
That said, I think you should pitch Adventures in Contract Killing, because from this post it seems that your passon lies with it. But, maybe I’m reading it wrong.
Good luck whicever way you go – and I hope the conference is GREAT!!!! lucky guy!!
(by the way, is it possible for you to alter the font in novel #2 just for pitching reasons? should it be picked up, you can swerve away from the more traditional route. it would be a shame to be discarded just because the agent / editor coudn’t look past the font. If you love it — and it seems you do — and say it’s unpublishable, make it publishable.)
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Perhaps, my own sentiments came out in my description inadvertently. I love both and how they are structured and I love the differences between them. I wll report on the choice and the results.
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