Pitch Session Information
- Find a publisher who best matches the work you are pitching. The number one reason a book is rejected is because it is not a good fit for a publisher. To find the right publisher, you must read the publishers’ writers guidelines which we’ve provided below. The publishers hearing pitches this year are: Ignatius Press (Eva Muntean), Ave Maria Press (Heidi Hess Saxton) and Loyola Press (Vinita Hampton Wright).
- Email us at pitch@catholicwritersguild.com to tell us the first and second choice publisher you’d like to pitch to, and the name of your book. You may only pitch to one publisher.
- Write up an elevator pitch for your book. This is a 150-word (or so) summary of your book. In our Pitch Presentation linked below, we have samples of how to do this. This is what you’ll tell the publisher first when you meet with him or her.
- Create a proposal or summary of your book that you can give to the publisher. We have a template linked on this page that you can use.
- Attend the pitch instruction session on Wednesday being presented by Ann Lewis and have any questions answered there. A link to the slides you’ll see at that presentation is below. We provide this, even though it is a spoiler, so you can see if some of your questions will be answered there. Usually, we can tackle them all.
- One more thing to note:
- If you are a writer who has never been published and are pitching fiction (a novel) you must have the manuscript complete. You’ll also need a proposal.
- If you are a writer who has never been published and you are pitching a non-fiction book, try to have three chapters done. The publisher will want a proposal.
- If you have been published before and are either pitching non-fiction or fiction, you need not have the manuscript finished, but you should have a proposal completed.
