The New York Pitch Conference, the third day: Two “Someones” listen to me

Today’s good news is that it’s stopped snowing. Navigating New York City on foot in snow and ice is not an activity for sissies. Last night, to get out of the weather, I cut through Penn Station to catch the 7th Avenue subway. I felt like the ball in a hotly contested Foosball game. I stopped counting after the 32nd commuter shoved me out of his way. OK, so I exaggerate – but not by much. And to think I used to do this every day – somehow it seems like a rougher sport these days.

The city is quieter on a Saturday morning so I sprang for a cab to get to the conference for Day 3. As soon as I got in, the driver launched into a tirade about “these new moron drivers who don’t know how to find

New York Pitch Conference: The Second Day

And then there were thirteen – two of our group didn’t come today. I don’t know whether they’ll be back tomorrow – I hope they didn’t run screaming into the night. Maybe, instead, they met their soul mates in a Village restaurant and took the red-eye to Phoenix to start a new life. Good plot possibility there – feel free to steal it.

This morning, my group met with Sillisa Kenney, an associate editor at St. Martin’s Press.

She began by discussing the role of an editor: “the middleman between the author and the reader.” An editor, she said, is not only a representative of the company but also of the reader so “Trust Your Editor” should be the byword. “Trust and listen and try to put aside your ego and your love for what you’ve written,” she urged. And always remember that publishing is a business and the realities of the market affect us all.

While the volume of submissions has increased, Kenney said, the number of outlets for sales has decreased. This is particularly true in regard to mass market books. Changes in retail merchandising have resulted in a reduction in shelf space in such outlets as Costco, Target