Yesterday Maggie posted THIS VIDEO with editors previewing their most exciting fall titles. Which ok, on it's own its just awesome--you get to hear Cheryl Klein, Arthur Levine and David Levithan + more talk.
But if you listen and watch closely, you'll see that what they are essentially doing is giving you, the viewer an elevator pitch for each of their books.
I know the whole elevator pitch can be a HUGE cause of stress for anyone searching for an agent or attending a pitching session at a conference. Believe me, I know. It's stressful and scary and it sounds like the most. awkward. thing. ever. Even when you're a pro.
But I've listened to a lot of pitches and have been known to force my friends to "do it again" and "again" and "again" until they have their pitch down!
So my biggest tips on this:
1. Let the editor/agent your pitching know:
A. The identity of your character
B. The situation that sets their story in motion
C. The quest they must undertake, or mystery they must solve, or person they must come to love.
2. Keep it under 30 seconds.
3. Be confident. Even if you feel silly, fake it till you make it. Its just 30 seconds, put on your brave face.
4. Smile.
And watch how the editors in this video do it--study their poise and tone.
So hopefully that helps!
Interesting. Thanks. I'm so scared and weirded out by the whole elevator pitch, but I must practice one because you never know who you may meet.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I'm going to the RWA national conference next month and I'm going to do my first pitch ever. Thanks for the insights and the link. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I always try my hand at this when I'm home, but can never do it. I end up talking to myself for like 5 minutes, trying to explain what the book is about. Not. Good. I've also tried to come up with the "log line"--I have the same problem. I feel like I always need to over explain everything just to make sure whoever it is, get "it"
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks so much, Frankie. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd remember, every time someone asks you what your book is about, you're giving your pitch. So even agented and published authors should have their pictches down perfect!
ReplyDeleteLove these tips, because mostly I feel like a babbling idiot when I pitch my project. But, it needs to be done so best do it right. Thanks for the tips :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Frankie. And thanks for the link to the Scholastic video. That's helpful for booksellers, too (and as a bookseller, I "pitch" books all the time to customers).
ReplyDeleteI've tried to come up with a brief pitch for my first novel and it's totally not working - which I suspect means the novel doesn't work either! I'm only about 30 pages into my new novel and I already have a workable pitch.