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ASA Events

Picture Book Matchmaker

If you have been offered a booking at Picture Book Matchmaker, we strongly recommend you read the below information carefully, even if you have pitched at a Literary Speed Dating event in the past. This will ensure you understand how to prepare for this pitching event and what to expect from it.  

 

How to prepare for Picture Book Matchmaker

Picture Book Matchmaker is the ASA’s new Literary Speed Dating event dedicated to picture book creators. It works a little differently to our Virtual Literary Speed Dating events — think of this as a first date, set up by our panel of expert assessors.

If you’ve made a match and have been offered a pitch appointment at this event, you may now be wondering how you can make the most of your six-minute pitch.

Prepare your pitch

The application materials you submitted for assessment have only been reviewed by the assessment panel. They will not be provided to the attending publishers and agents before your pitch, so it is up to you to choose which of these materials you wish to proceed with pitching, and in what way. Depending on whether you are an author, author-illustrator, or Style File illustrator, you can pitch between 1 to 3 of the manuscripts you submitted, or your portfolio of illustrations, and supplementary materials in your six-minute pitch appointment.

The core information you want to convey in your pitch appointment remains the same as in our three-minute pitch formula. That is: the WHAT, the HOW, and the WHY. With the longer pitch appointment time of six minutes, there’s scope to include additional information in your pitch: the WHAT ELSE. You want to try to answer the following questions in your pitch:

  • What are you pitching? What is your hook, or your point of difference? What is going to make a bookseller want to stock your book and handsell it to children and their families? What is the deeper meaning of your story, or what themes are you passionate about exploring through your illustrations? Who is your ideal reader? What are your comparison titles?
  • How have you come to write or illustrate this work? Why this story, and why are you the one to tell it? What makes you credible and qualified? Have you done anything to deepen your knowledge or depiction of this subject? What is your publishing history?
  • Why are you pitching this? What has inspired your work? Why are you passionate about this story? Why tell this story through the picture book format? What pain points or questions does your manuscript address? Why have you chosen to pitch to this publisher OR Why are you seeking an agent?
  • What else? What is your future publishing potential? Is there series potential? What other manuscripts or projects are you working on or planning for? Are there other themes or concepts you’re eager to explore?

Showcase your work and your range

  • Be ready to answer questions from the publisher or agent with examples of your work — either via sharing your screen or with physical printouts (more details below).
  • Offer to read out an excerpt of your manuscript, in case the publisher/agent would like to get a better sense of the story, text, or rhythm. Make sure you’ve practised and that you perform any reading enthusiastically, as though you’re reading to an audience of small children!
  • Be aware that you are also being assessed. They are not just assessing your work, but how they can work together with you, how adaptable and willing you are to work with others and collaborate, and your engagement with relevant elements of the industry and the children’s literary community.
  • Be polite and professional, but also make sure to enjoy yourself and the conversation. Publishers and agents are just people, too, and they’re attending the event to get to know you.

Be adaptable

You don’t want to just talk at the publisher or agent for the full six minutes — you want to leave room for them to ask questions and to get to know you as a creator and as a professional they might wish to work with.

  • Try to engage them throughout the appointment by asking them what else they’d like to see from you. 
  • If you have physical examples of your work, you could have these ready to display in case the publisher/agent asks to see something.
  • Pay attention to how your pitch is landing — if you can tell the publisher or agent is having a negative reaction, politely enquire as to whether they have any specific feedback or questions about what they’ve seen so far. This gives you the chance to course correct.

Familiarise yourself with Zoom

To make the most of this pitch opportunity, our number one tip is to make sure you’re confident with Zoom.

  • Create a free Zoom account if you don’t already have one.
  • Learn how to join the meeting room with the name you booked under. If you don’t join the Zoom room with your name, we don’t know who you are or when to bring you in for your pitch appointment.
  • Check the aesthetics of your space, and make sure it’s quiet for the day.
  • Test your video and audio functionality ahead of time.
  • Practise with a friend or family member.
  • Have a back-up plan (second device at the ready).
  • Arrive in the Zoom meeting waiting room at least 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment.

You will have the option of screen sharing at this event. Screen sharing is when you share your computer screen so the publisher or agent can see what you see. This will allow you to showcase material like a portfolio, storyboards/flatplans, and so on. To learn more about how to share your screen in Zoom, view the instructions provided by Zoom support. If you’re not confident with the technology, why not have printouts prepared so that you can display your work in front of your camera instead. It’s better to know and work within your capabilities than waste precious time on fiddling around with the technology.

Things to keep in mind

Your idea of success for this opportunity, or the sense of achievement you feel afterwards, will depend on what you expect from the pitching experience. The reality of picture book publishing is that, due to the size of the Australian market, publishing opportunities are extremely limited. More than other categories of publishing, picture book publishing is driven by relationships. This event represents a chance to meet with a publisher or agent to discuss your picture book manuscript, concepts, or illustrator portfolio, which is a foot in the door. While you may not immediately secure representation or a publishing deal, your pitch could lead to something further down the track, if the spark is there.

Listen to yourself. You will notice when you lose someone’s interest or if you weren’t clear. Use this knowledge to refine your understanding of your pitch and improve for next time.

Getting a ‘no’ from the publisher/agent isn’t the end of the story. It is not a formal rejection either. Unless they specifically ask you not to, you can still submit your work to the same publisher after pitching to a member of their staff.

If you have any further questions about your pitch appointment, please contact us at [email protected] or 02 9211 1004 before the event date so we can assist you.