Making the perfect pitch: how to catch a literary agent's eye

Introduction / Katharine Sands

Chapter 1. A morning in the life of a literary agent / James C. Vines

Chapter 2. Five questions to ask before sending your query letter / Kristen Auclair

Chapter 3. Notes to the new writer / Anna Ghosh

Chapter 4. I am willing to be seduced, amazed, charmed, or moved / Sarah Jane Freymann

Chapter 5. Practicing pitchcraft / Katharine Sands

Chapter 6. Setting, protagonist, problem : an interview with Donald Maass / Katharine Sands

Chapter 7. Talent always jumps off the page / Ethan Ellenbert

Chapter 8. The providential diamond / Joseph Regal

Chapter 9. Getting ahead of the curve : an interview with Robert Gottlieb / Katharine Sands

Chapter 10. Niche your pitch : from first proposal to profitable career / Michael Larsen

Chapter 11. It's the quirks that make it interesting : an interview with Barbara Lowenstein / Katharine Sands

Chapter 12. Making your book into a movie / Laurie Horowitz

Chapter 13. Pitches that worked / Rita Rosenkranz

Chapter 14. In the singles bar of the literary persuasion / Esmond Harmsworth

Chapter 15. The secret is reduction / Andrew Stuart

Chapter 16. The serendipity of slush : an interview of Jane Dystel / Katharine Sands

Chapter 17. I want to hear a diva do opera : an interview with Sheree Bykofsky / Katharine Sands

Chapter 18. I love to tell a publisher: "Have I got a virgin for you!" : an interview with Harvey Klinger / Katharine Sands

Chapter 19. 15 minutes to fame : pitching at a conference / Jason Cangialosi and Andrew Welchel

Chapter 20. A nation of many tribes : an interview with Jim Fitzgerald / Katharine Sands

Chapter 21. How much is a black dress? : an interview with Meredith Bernstein / Katharine Sands

Chapter 22. Adventures in copywriting / Debbie Babitt

Chapter 23. Don't be buffeted by whims : interview with David Vigliano / Katharine Sands

Chapter 24. Booking in L.A. / Erin Reel

Chapter 25. The art of the poetry pitch / Amy Holman

Chapter 26. Pitching your children's book / Andrea Brown

Chapter 27. Confessions of an acquisitions editor / Phoebe Collins

Chapter 28. Crafting the nonfiction proposal / Elizabeth Zack

Chapter 29. The nearly perfect proposal / Robert Shepard

Chapter 31. The telling detail : an interview with John Ware / Katharine Sands

Chapter 31. It has to be cutting-edge work / Peter Rubie

Chapter 32. How I learned to sell sex, death, & rock 'n' roll / Lori Perkins

Chapter 33. Pitchcraft, the Zen of, and the secrets of the galaxy / Patrick Lobrutto

Chapter 34. The perfect pitch : low and inside / Andrew Zack

Chapter 35. Intelligence and imagination : an interview with Ellen Levine / Katharine Sands

Chapter 36. Publishing as a circus / Elizabeth Pomada

Chapter 37. This pen for hire : pitching collaborative projects / Tonianne Robino

Chapter 38. Pitch perfect : in three or four easy steps / Jandy Nelson

Chapter 39. Pitch and catch : building a relationship / Jeff Herman

Chapter 40. Selected resources : how to find and contact an agent / Katharine Sands.