You guys know that I usually do this at the unsurpassed  New York Writers Workshop Pitch conference, but if you live in the Montclair area, and don’t get into the city very often, here’s a cool alternative that writer and blogger Stacey Gill sent my way:

The Book Doctors, aka, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, will be making a house call at the Montclair Public Library in partnership with Watchung Booksellers.  They want YOU to pitch your book at their acclaimed event, Pitchapalooza, which was recently featured in The New York Times. Pitchapalooza is like American Idol for books–only without the Simon. Writers get one minute to pitch their book ideas to an all-star panel of publishing experts, including Dominck Anfuso (VP & Edior-in-Chief, Free Press), Liza Dawson, agent extraordinaire (Liza Dawson Associates Literary Agency), and Pamela Redmond Satran, bestselling author/blogger (How Not To Act Old) and founder of MEWS. The winner receives an introduction to an appropriate agent or publisher for his/her book. Plus, anyone who buys a book gets a free consultation worth $100.

February 10, 2011 at 7:00 at The Montclair Public Library, 50 S. Fullerton, Montclair, NJ, 973-744-0500

So, haul out your manuscripts, get cracking on those pitches…sure, they’re beasts tantamount to the worst of the winged monkeys, but here’s a great opportunity to put them to use!