SMFS Member Guest Post: YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU PITCH by Kathleen Marple Kalb (Nikki Knight) SMFS Vice President

Please welcome our Vice President, Kathleen Marple Kalb, to our SMFS blog today.

 

YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU PITCH

Guest Post by Kathleen Marple Kalb (Nikki Knight) SMFS Vice President

           

            Never be afraid to pitch.

            At SMFS Watercoolers, we hear that a lot from people like Michael Bracken and Robert Lopresti, who sell and/or edit incredible amounts of great work.

            But it applies to us ordinary hopefuls, too.

            With one very important caveat.

            Unless you’re a legend, if you pitch widely, you’re going to get a lot of rejections. I’m (mostly) okay with that. If I take a long shot and it doesn’t pay off, well, at least I have the consolation that I took a risk.

            But your mileage may vary. So, if you’re one of those folks who curls up in a pained ball for weeks over a rejection, the following advice may not be for you. If, on the other hand, you view rejection as simply an annoying and painful part of the process, ride with me.

            Submitting work is never going to hurt you.

            Well, clarifying a little: properly submitting your best work is never going to hurt you. That means rigorously following call rules and submission guidelines, and turning in clean, well-thought-out pieces that really represent what you can do.

            As long as you’re doing that – fire away. 

            Got a great story that probably fits an anthology call? Easy – send it.

            Think your work is good enough for one of the top magazines? Go ahead, take a chance.

            The absolute worst that happens is that an editor looks at your work, decides it’s not for them, and rejects it. If you’ve followed all the guidelines and you’re not doing anything stupid or outrageous (submitting a rom-com fairy story to a noir mag, say) you’re doing your job as a writer, and everyone respects that.

            Of course, in rejecting it, they’re also doing their job as an editor – so you have to deal with all of those no’s in the in-box.

            But you might also get acceptances. Or you might impress the editor with the quality of your work and your professional approach and get a personal rejection of the “I’d like to see your next piece” variety.   

            The editors I’ve asked say they don’t send rejections like that to be kind – they do it because they really DO want to see more from you. So that’s definitely a win. Or at least a move in the right direction. It’s never bad to have someone aware of and interested in your work.

            On a larger level, it’s never bad to be out there, doing good work, whether or not you’re selling to a given editor at the moment. Remember, writing is a small world, and it does you no harm to develop a reputation as a pro who does good work. At least that’s what I tell myself when I get one of those nice graceful rejections!

            And sometimes, taking a wild chance really does pay off.

            Just ask Grace the Hit Mom.

            Back in the winter, I heard about a new startup publisher who was looking for lighter mysteries, but not conventional cozies. I knew one of the editors at Charade Media, so I pitched. With the understanding that this proposal wasn’t for everyone, and if it didn’t work out, I’d be back again later with something else.

            And so, I sent off the proposal for WRONG POISON, a cozy mystery featuring an amateur sleuth who’s a suburban mom with a secret life as an assassin.  The proposal had been written for another publisher who took one look and ran screaming into the night.

            I’d even had a hard time selling a short story featuring Grace the Hit Mom. (To this day, it’s in my files waiting for a home!)

            But Charade Media said they wanted different, out-of-the-box ideas, and this definitely met that bar. So I sent the proposal, figured it probably wouldn’t go anywhere, and went on with my day.

            Except…

            They got it. They loved it. And the first Grace the Hit Mom mystery, WRONG POISON, was published July 11^th.

            Never be afraid to pitch!

 

WRONG POISON: She's a nice suburban mom and an assassin...and Grace Adair’s secret life has just become a problem. When a death at the Library Book Fair turns out to be murder – by a poison used only by Grace’s ancient sisterhood, she knows she’s in trouble. Now, she’ll need all her skills as a PTA mom and former prosecutor to find the killer and protect her friends…and their secrets. Hopefully without using her other skills. About those other skills: Grace and her sweet senior pal Madge are members of a 700-year-old order of lady poisoners, sacred to the Archangel Gabriel and sworn to remove evil men who elude human justice. Think #MeToo with untraceable poison.  Call it a cozy with a twist. You’ve never met anyone like Grace…and you’ll never forget her.   

Check it out here: Wrong Poison: Knight, Nikki: 9798987684740: Amazon.com: Books

 

 

Kathleen Marple Kalb ©2023

 

Nikki Knight describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York City’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels. Her stories appear in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Black Cat Weekly, online, and in anthologies – and have been short-listed for Black Orchid Novella and Derringer Awards. Active in writers’ groups, she’s currently Vice President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and Co-Vice President of the New York/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in Crime. As Kathleen Marple Kalb, she writes the Ella Shane and Old Stuff mystery series. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat. https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/nikki-knight