Daniela Rapp has been an editor at St. Martin’s Press since 2003 after stints in the performing arts and the agenting world and considers herself an omnivore when it comes to reading and books. This is reflected in her rather eclectic list of projects, which ranges from literary and commercial fiction, pet and humor books, to serious narrative nonfiction titles. Here are a couple books that Daniela has handled.

*Sign up for your pitch early. They go quickly.
*On the day of your pitch don’t be late.
*Don’t walk into the pitch pushing a wheelbarrow containing your manuscript.
*Don’t bring a three ring binder that contains your original manuscript held preciously in plastic. Don’t bring a life-sized poster of yourself and what you think would be a great bookcover.
*Don’t walk up to the agent or editor with a tray full of drinks and inform them that this is going to take awhile.
*Do be polite and introduce yourself and tell them thank you for talking to you.
*Give them the brief, brief explanation of what your book is about.
Example…I’ve finished an 80,000 word novel about a young woman who finds out on her 30th birthday that she’s actually the child of an alien being and Bill Clinton. Or…I have a non-fiction book telling the story of a man who was born in an old hippy compound in the 60s, and when the compound disbanded, he lived there alone for the next 20 years, never talking to another human being.