Years go…
(many, many)
I was in advertising…
And attended a seminar.
The speaker stood at the podium…
And announced his topic…
Intellectual incest.
A collective, “HUH!” gasped ‘round the room.
Just the reaction he wanted.
He then went on to explain the concept.
I don’t have his exact words…
But here is what I found on the Internet:
Intellectual incest is a situation where too many people in a group all think alike and exclude legitimate diverse viewpoints. Not all points of view are intelligent arguments but sometimes when people become too uniform, they fail to evolve for lack of fresh new ideas. The concept is similar to genetic inbreeding. Realists are encouraged to exchange ideas with people who are not of the same mindset because it gives both individuals the opportunity to learn something new. When people hang out with people who agree on everything then there is less opportunity to learn from a new point of view and it leads to stagnation.
Why do I even bring this up?
Yesterday…
I had a meeting with someone in marketing and advertising…
To talk about me as an author…
And how best to market myself…
After I’m published.
(yes, I will be one day)
I happened to bring two versions of my query letter…
Ones that I’ve been working on for more months than I want to admit.
I showed them to him…
Not for a critique…
But rather so he could see what my book is about.
He read them …
Then looked at me and said, “Pitch me.”
My head reeled. Was he kidding? Pitch him?
“You’re going to a national conference next week and hope to pitch, so pitch me.”
My mind spun trying to find the rehearsed words…
I did…
And I pitched…
Rather clumsily I might add. But pitch I did.
He then looked at me and smiled…
“I don’t see the conflict,” he said, “the high stakes.”
HUH! I gaspe
Could it be?
That the query and pitch I’ve worked on for months…
Has a hole?
Big enough to drive a Mac truck through?
Am I too close to my own story?
Not objective?
Yes!
As painful as it is to admit, yes.
So here I sit…
Again…
Revising my query…
And reworking my pitch.
With RWA Nationals just a week away…
I’m feeling the pressure.
Do I work better under pressure?
Not sure how to gauge…
But I'll keep you updated.
Always, Em-Musing
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