Okay, so the title makes it all sound easy, and it was... once I'd spent twenty years getting to that pitch. :  I then sold the manuscript ten days after the senior editor received it. Now that was fast. But if it hadn't been for the Desire Pitch Challenge here on eHarlequin, I could still be trying to climb out of that slush pile and onto an editor's desk.

To be truthful, I wasn't at all sure I should enter the Desire Pitch Challenge. Yet something kept drawing me back to reading the Q&A thread given by Melissa Jeglinski, senior editor of Desire. I knew I had a manuscript that would fit the new guidelines with a bit of rewriting. And being a short story writer, I figured I could write a logline to catch Melissa's eye. Yet I was at a point in my writing where twenty years of trying for publication, entering contests, becoming a finalist and then being disappointed was catching up with me. Did I want to take the time to write the perfect logline, then put myself through the stress of pitching in a chatroom if I won? But I'm a writer and this is all part of the writing business. When you're down, pick yourself up. Take that gamble and give it another chance... and aren't I glad I did!

The contest consisted of writing a sentence or two of a manuscript describing the hook, conflict, characters, and plot premise. 33 entries were sent to Melissa, and the next day Hosty Rae had the names of the six winners (Melissa definitely knows what she wants when she sees it!) plus three alternates in case one of the six couldn't make it.

So what was the logline that caught Melissa's eye?

"Kia Benton knows one of her bosses wants her - unfortunately it isn't the nice, safe boss she's engaged to but the womanizer who reminds her of her father. Brant Matthews, desires one thing - to have his company secretary in his bed. When the sheets are pulled back to reveal a fake engagement, can Kia resist the Aussie CEO who believes no woman can remain faithful?"

After the initial excitement of winning a chance to pitch, I then had a month to concentrate on how to go about pitching the manuscript in a chatroom. Never having been in a chatroom, I was daunted. What *was* a chatroom anyway was my first reaction? Everyone else seemed to know what to do except me. And how did I go about pitching? What questions would the editor ask? How long did I have to pitch? What if I made a mess of things? Perhaps God would take pity on me and crash my computer. :

I set to reading over my manuscript to include an external conflict required by the new guidelines. Then I started revising, hoping that if Melissa had been interested enough in my logline then she would want to see the full manuscript. At the same time I worked on the pitch itself. I asked questions of others who had been through an online pitch before, picking their brains until I felt satisfied I'd covered all bases. And I entered the Desire chatrooms and made sure I could get into them and knew what to do once I was in. It certainly made me feel better once I'd done that a few times.

And then the big day arrived! After entering the chatroom I was directed to a virtual waiting room with the other ladies until it was my turn to pitch. We were chatting nervously, then someone would exit and do their pitch and come back all excited telling us what Melissa had said.

And then it was my turn. Melissa put me thoroughly at ease as she began asking questions about my writing and then the manuscript. I remember her saying that she loved my logline and to send her the full manuscript. I had only one question that really needed serious thinking.  And then it was over.

Actually it had only just begun….

I sent the manuscript the following week, and ten days later Melissa bought it. The day was January 26th - Australia Day in my country. Now, a year later, "The Millionaire's Seductive Revenge" is out on the shelves in North America and has already sold out right here on eHarlequin. In the past year I've sold three more manuscripts to Desire.

Since that first sale wonderful things have happened to make me feel like I'm a real author, whether it's holding my first book in my hands, someone telling me they can't wait to read my book, or writing articles like this one for the biggest romance publisher in the world. : After twenty years of trying for publication it happened to me, so I know it can happen for you too.

Perhaps this note from Melissa will encourage you all:

So there you have it. Melissa is still looking for new authors for Desire. Believe it. Believe in yourselves.