Pitching your book.

By Susan J Berger
If you are going to the 2016 Summer Conference, you may be pitching your book.
First thing you need is a good elevator pitch. John Grisham says. "If you can't describe what a book is about in one or two sentences, you don't have a story worth telling." Harsh and I think he's wrong. I think it means you don't know your own story well enough to narrow it down. So start practicing now.

 

Why do you need a pitch?   The Writer's Workshop post explains how your book will be sold to retailers.

A good pitch might include:
The name of your protagonist with a brief description.
Their "want". It needs to be selfish. World Peace doesn't make a good story want.
What stands in their way?  - Their antagonist or opponent.
What's the worst thing that could happen to the hero or what could happen next.

Hero. Eleven-year-orphan Anne
Their "want",  Dreams of a family of her own.
What stands in their way?  - Their antagonist or opponent. But her red-headed temper and an overactive imagination keep her constantly in hot water.
What's the worst thing that could happen to the hero or what could happen next. Will her latest mistake get her sent back to the orphanage?

Hero. Kindly Wolf
Their "want",  Needs to borrow a cup of sugar to make a posset for his cold.
What stands in their way?  - Their antagonist or opponent. But his terrible sneeze keeps blowing down pigs' houses
What's the worst thing that could happen to the hero or what could happen next. Will he be vilified forever in the annals of fairytaledom?

I have a longer better template for you.. Writing Coach Michael Hauge's pitching formula is available on his  website Follow the link and click on the download. I've downloaded it for myself. It's a perfectly safe word doc. This one was specifically aimed at pitching a romance, but it's adaptable to pitch any story.

Want to share your pitch with us? Oh please share!  Leave it in the comments. Happy pitching!