Pitch Your Story at the Stratford Writers Festival

With the success of #CanLitPit, we wanted to give writers an opportunity to meet with editors face-to-face while attending the Writers Festival in Stratford. Space is limited for our #CanLitPit Live event, so register now to secure your spot!

How a Pitch Session Works

Writers meet one-on-one with an industry professional from a panel (an editor, publisher, or literary agent) to pitch their story idea and the first few pages of their writing. The industry professional will provide feedback and also choose their favourite pitch from the session. These favourite pitches will be presented to the entire panel for further comments, and a winner will be chosen. The winning pitch will receive a free marketing consultation with DigiWriting.

Pitch Tips

If this is your first time pitching to an editor, follow our tips below:

1) Don’t reserve plot details

Authors sometimes withhold important details from their pitches so as not to spoil their manuscripts. The result is a vague pitch that sounds flat. While your pitch shouldn’t reveal major spoilers, a twist may be necessary to showcase what makes your manuscript exciting and unique.

2) Avoid wordiness

Keep your language clean and straightforward. This strategy will allow you to express important information clearly and concisely, and will keep your audience’s attention riveted.

3) Avoid too much detail

Authors may try to express too many aspects of their manuscript at once, resulting in a pitch that’s difficult to read and understand. Choose a few key points within your manuscript on which to focus, and be sure to make them shine.

You might also want to check out our pitch workshop for further ideas.

Share With Us…

Have you ever pitched your story to an editor face-to-face?