Mom Writes Podcast

Twitter pitching. I always said I’d never do it. And then my friend Lidija Hilje, the Pitching Queen, talked me into it. Lidija also helped me put the final polish on my query letter, so since she also said she would help me polish my Twitter pitch, I agreed. Of course she talked me into it two days before PitMad! So after many iterations of my pitch (lots and lots of back and fo

We had a really great question come in from my friend and fellow writer, Mindy. She wanted to know about “the nudge.” She wanted to know when it was okay to nudge an agent who has your manuscript. (Side note, Mindy has been working her butt off querying agents while writing her second book. She’s had quite a bit of action on her query, which is super exciting! She’s killing

This is not a full episode. This is an invitation. I’ve decided (very spontaneously, mind you) to do something a wee bit different this week. As some of you may know, PitMad is on Thursday. PitMad is a Twitter pitching contest. Now, as some of you may also know, I’ve sworn I will never participate in a Twitter pitching contest. Mostly because I’m not that good at The Twitter.

My first rejection is in the bag! Actually, my first two. Jennie made me promise to screen record opening my first response from an agent. So this episode starts with me (actually) opening and reading my first rejection and Jennie’s response to it. The theme of today’s episode is don’t take it personally. It’s easy (very easy, because we are storytellers at heart!) to make

Today Jennie and I talk about the toxic “Pick Me!” attitude that many writers have towards querying. We look at the different types of energy we as writers bring to the pitching process, and how feelings of desperation hurt more than help. As I look to continue to query, I know I need to personalize each one for the agent it’s being sent to. Seems easy, right? You just take o

This episode actually made me feel a zillion times better about querying, and it gave me some patience with the process. It’s really no surprise that after only a single week (we’re talking not even seven full days) I’ve heard nothing from the one (ONE!) agent that I exclusively queried. It’s very easy to take this personally. But should you? I mean, you sent her (or him!)

Hip hip hooray! Today we invite you to join us as we press send on my (Abby’s) first (and exclusive) pitch. There’s not much to sum up today, except to say that Mel makes her first appearance in Season 3! She comes to give us an update on where she’s at with her book and to support me while I make the big leap. The three of us catch up and share all the feels as I read my que

In this episode, we review the overall pitching process. Here's a run-down if you've missed it: Get your manuscript in "good enough" shape to pitch. Remember, there's still more work to be done once you get picked up! Make sure your query is stellar. (No pressure, right?!) Write short personalizations for each agent on your short-list. Double-check each of those agent's submission

It's the Query Letter Episode!!! I have written my query letter no less than 45 times (and it feels like 45 ka-zillion times). Some passes over my query letter have involved big, sweeping changes. Others have been small tweaks, looking to do things like cut an overabundance of adjectives. But every change brought me closer and closer to what Jennie has deemed a query that is "KILLE

When you finally choose an agent to pitch (or 20 or 30), what do you do? I'm interested in sending out a series of exclusives. It's a weird strategy, and it might not work. (As a matter of fact, I might scrap the whole thing after this first round. You never know!) But for whatever reason, this is where my gut is telling me to start. In this episode, we discuss the one cardinal rul