I’ve had some great experiences pitching and having projects pitched to me since first arriving on the convention scene in 2005. In the last year alone I've taken pitches at The World Horror Convention in Austin, The Bram Stoker Awards in Long Island, and KillerCon in Las Vegas. Pitching a project is not the mysterious dark art most make it out to be, but it is your one chance to make a strong impression with an agent or publisher. I'll be taking pitch sessions for Cutting Block Press and The Editorial Department at The World Horror Convention 2012 in Salt Lake City and am always on the lookout for the next big thing in the horror/suspense genre. Introductory Critiques, Manuscript Evaluations, and Query Submissions Packet Evaluations are a great way to make sure your work is pitch-ready, but the face-to-face pitch is up to you.

Here are a few cautionary Do's and Don’ts I’ve learned over the last few years, making it from one side of the pitch table to the other. Whether you've already booked your convention registration, or are just considering attending a writing conference, these tips will help you present the best possible pitch, and give your project a chance to stand out from the convention noise.

"What's your book about?"

If anyone knows that you are an aspiring writer, you have probably heard this question. It can come at awkward times - when another parent sees you typing away on the soccer field sidelines, or across the Thanksgiving table from a distant cousin. Or you can hear it at a writer's conference, when you find yourself in an elevator with the editor or agent who would be a perfect match for your Work In Progress.

So what do you say? You have spent months - even years - writing tens of thousands of words. You have agonized over the physical details of your characters or just the right anecdotes to help your readers understand your message. How can you possibly summarize it in the time it takes Uncle George to pass the gravy, or in time it takes your dream publishing partner to reach the twenty-second floor?

In the last part of the How to Build Your Author's Platform series, I featured Dora Machado, a traditionally published author who came to platform building late in the game. For today's feature, I interviewed Georgia McBride, a YA author with a very different perspective. Georgia is not yet traditionally published, but she has an impressive social media presence, and is very active in both promoting her writing and mentoring and supporting up-and-coming authors. She also speaks to teens about writing, promoting within her target audience, and nurturing the next generation of writers. She has a background as a marketer and manager in the music industry, and has been a part of the launch of several teen and tween music brands including N'SYNC and Fall Out Boy. She's no stranger to promotion and branding, and her expertise can help both new and established authors refine their web presence.

TED: There are many ways to connect with potential readers and publishers. Which do you consider the most essential?

GM: You want both potential readers and publishers to recognize your name when the time comes. However, the attention span of a consumer (potential reader) is so short that spending lots of time trying to get their attention (and God forbid money) now, when there is no book/physical product to promote is like playing the boy who cried wolf. When you finally do have a book out they will be so tired of hearing about you, they may move right on past.

In part two of my series on Building an Author's Platform, I've asked a few authors to share their experiences. First up is Dora Machado, author of the Stonewiser series of award winning fantasy novels. Dora is a client of ours who has had great success with her debut novel, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, and the sequels The Call of the Stone and The Lament of the Stone. All are published by Mermaid Press, a small press specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and historical novels. Like many authors, Dora poured all her energy and focus into achieving publication, and didn't give much thought to the need for a publicity platform. She was gracious enough to share her thoughts on publicity before and after the book deal.

What was your platform like before your first book was published? Did you have an online presence related to your writing?

I had no platform when my first book, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone was published. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. I'm embarrassed to say it, but it's true. I had been so busy writing that I had given little thought to the writing life away from the keyboard. In retrospect, I understand having an early platform may have helped me to publish earlier, but back then my mind was consumed by the idea of perfecting my manuscripts. I think writing can be such a demanding craft that sometimes it's hard to see beyond the end of a story.

In the past few weeks, there has been a surge of interest in the topic of building a platform. Agent and industry blogs are buzzing about the importance of having a platform, but few are pointing to resources for authors. To help fill the gap, I'm starting a short series on platform building. I'll begin with a round-up of helpful links, then share tips on maintaining your platform, and focus on a few authors who are doing it right.

First off, what is an author platform? In its simplest sense, a platform is a public presence. This means you have, at the very least, a web site and an account on any of the major social networking sites. It used to be that book publishers would handle a fair bit of a book's marketing and the author's publicity, but these days the publishers expect you to do the lion's share yourself. In fact, most expect you to have a presence before you approach them with your manuscript. Yes, you need to have a platform before you have a book to promote.

It's more than the numbers

It is fairly easy to create a Twitter account and amass hundreds of followers, but publishers don't care about the numbers.

Instead, I'll let Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford do it for me: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/06/stepping-up-your-game.html

I'm pointing everyone I can to this blog post because a)he's hilarious, and b)everything he says here is completely true. I try to balance out my "omg but it's sooooo hard" posts (this one) with the occasional "glimmer of hope" posts (yesterday's rundown of some recent debut deals) and I think Nathan's post is a good middle-ground.