Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent's Eye

Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for All Writers
Review: I'm the author of two non-fiction books and am preparing to sell my first novel. In studying and listening to agents, I found that each one required something a little different, which was not only confusing but scary. I had heard Katharine Sands speak about Making the Perfect Pitch at a writers conference and bought it. I felt like I'd been let in on the secrets of the publishing world. The agents contributing to the book explained what they want and what they don't, and while each may want things a little different, the basics are the same. The day I received Making the Perfect Pitch, I read it straight through. This book should be required reading for all writers - first-time or seasoned.
Sharon Magee
Author of Geronimo! Stories of an American Legend
Co-Author of Arizona Goes to War

Rating:
Summary: A strongly recommended, "hands-on" instructional guide
Review: If you are a writer who seeks to be published by an established major press, then you are going to need the services of a good literary agent. The problem is that acquire the services of a really good literary agents, a writer cannot simply go out and hire one. The best agents must be persuaded by the writer to take him or her on as a client -- and that requires a considerable body of information and effort. Enter Katharine Sands' Making The Perfect Pitch: How To Catch A Literary Agent's Eye, a strongly recommended, "hands-on" instructional guide revealing all the elements and practicalities of crafting a successful pitch. Making The Perfect Pitch is composed of forty insightful articles from top literary agents and other authorities in the publishing field, providing everything any aspiring author needs to know in order to get themselves an agent who will, in turn, sell the publishers on accepting the manuscript for publication.

Rating:
Summary: At last... some clarity on the subject
Review: In the freelance writing world, the right marketing skills can mean the difference between survival or a career dirt nap. Talent often takes a back seat to persistence and preparedness --and only the strongest and savviest survive. Sands' book offers professional ammunition for the battle which will help any writer--both professional and neophyte--hone his or her target eye. I have been writing for a living for nearly ten years and don't often read how-to books. But Sands' keen insights and her no-nonsense but supportive voice gave me a bracing shot of career espresso. It is now on my work shelf next to the other tools of my trade: a twelve ounce coffee cup and Roget's Thesaurus.

Rating:
Summary: Gives you the ammunition you need
Review: Katharine Sands, a successful literary agent with the Sara Jane Freymann Agency in New York, corrals 40 top agents and experts from CAA, Trident Media, Meredith G. Bernstein, Jane Dystel Literary Management, and more and gets them to tell what really excites them about pitches, query letters and proposals. "Making The Perfect Pitch" is well organized and the approach is unique. While it's informative to have the expertise of one agent it's invaluable to have the opinion of a number of different agents'. Ms. Sands brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to writers they desperately need and seldom receive. If you're hunting for an agent, you need to know how to pitch and "Making The Perfect Pitch" gives you the ammunition to be dead on target.

Dee Power
co-author of "The Making of a Bestseller," March 2005

Rating:
Summary: Confidence Booster and Guide
Review: Sands offers her readers an insightful and inspired collection of essays that cover a range of issues including writing, pitching and the publishing process. The best part is that Making the Perfect Pitch is enjoyable, often funny, to read. It's not a clinical text of "how to pitch" your book, although it gives fantastic tips and often a "step-by-step" on how to write an effective query. Every aspiring first time author needs this book in their back pocket and a resource and confidence builder.

Rating:
Summary: At last... some clarity on the subject
Review: This book is fantastic. It's clear and easy to understand, and the perspectives are from the agents themselves. After working on my query letter for months, reading everything I could on the subject, and talking to other writers, I still had a mediocre query letter and felt very confused.
This book gives examples of great queries and clear guidelines for writing one that will get the attention of an agent. With what I learned from this book I wrote a query letter that is getting positive responses. I finally feel I understand the submission process and the elements that make a good query letter.
The writer and the agents who contributed to this book have done writers a great service. Anyone serious about being published should definitely have a copy.