Written by Laura and Helen
When we last left our hero, he was standing the elevator after a late-night of partying, facing off against a beetle-browed[1] Acquisitions Editor[2]: now is the time for him to sum up in thirty words or less[3] the grand sweep of his narrative arc[4]—the superb world-building, the subtle yet definitive characterizations, the political machinations of a precarious royal court, the passionate yet secret love affair of its prince, his stalwart allies, his implacable foes, his love of horsemanship, husbandry, and heraldry; that one time at summer camp when he experimented with…[5]
I think that’s probably enough. Here’s the bit where we tell you how to get to the point.
Keep it Simple, Spock
1) The pitch conveys the dramatic story in the most abbreviated manner possible.
2) It presents the major throughline of the dramatic narrative without character intricacies and sub-plots.
3) It’s a window into the story.
Developing Your Description
One of the key components of an elevator pitch is a simple yet sufficiently dramatic description of what your book is about. This isn’t the same as a synopsis, exactly. Your description needs to be streamlined, pared down, and simplified. Every word needs to pull its weight in conveying audience, genre, setting, character and plot.
So here’s how to do it.
- Start with writing out a synopsis. Then cut.
- Cut again.
- Cut again, but really this time.
- Test it on someone who has never heard of your book. Ask them what works, what doesn’t work, what doesn’t work yet.
- Revise and prepare multiple versions.
- Internalize, don’t memorize.
Case Study
Let’s start by taking a look at Neil Gaiman’s super-mega success, American Gods. For a synopsis, we’ve taken the plot summary from Wikipedia…
Draft 1: The First Cut is the Deepest
Draft 2: Trimming the Fat
Draft 3: Re-assess and Revise
Draft 4: Shabaam!
This hard-boiled urban fantasy follows ex-convict Shadow and his boss, the confidence man and possible Norse deity, Mr. Wednesday, along with a cast of burned-out mythological deities on a cross-country attempt at a comeback tour.
Helen’s Take:
This sacrifices clarity for punchiness (“comeback tour”?) but I think it still works. Old gods vs. new gods? Intriguing. Mr. Wednesday? Clever. Cross-country tour? Nice setting. I’d say it’s definitely worth a look.
Laura’s Take:
Hard-boiled urban fantasy? Possible cross-genre promotions. American setting? Sellable to a major market. Confidence man? That could be fun to play with. Mythological deities? Always a good idea. It’s got a fantastic hook with potential mass appeal. I’m sold.
We’re not done yet. Join us next week for more on elevator pitches and the elusive art of the logline…
I think that keeping it simple is one of the best pieces of advice. If they’re interested, they’ll ask for more. That’s better than turning them off with trying to shove too much information at them at once.
Exactly! When they try to tell me the entire plot and all the subplots I start to tune them out. I just want something short and snappy so I can decide if I want to hear more.
I read footnotes.
When Words Collide (Calgary readercon-style convention) has instituted having actual pitch sessions. The sessions have two purposes:
(1) authors get to pitch their book to actual acquisition editor who says whether they are interested in seeing their submission package; that is, actually try to sell their book to the editor when the editor is actively paying attention rather than trying to, you know, ride in an elevator;
(2) the editor provides feedback on their pitch technique. Sometimes the ‘not for us’ actually means it sounds like an okay book, but not the sort we publish; the editor is then happy to refine pitch for when author goes to another publisher, perhaps even suggesting possible market. Other times, feedback is that the book sounds too generic, and editor helps author refine pitch to highlight what makes their book special.
And so on. I thought it a very useful exercise, particularly as authors got to hear pitch from, and feedback to, other 10 authors in the room. Other conventions should consider the same sort of session.
(Editors love it because they can be left alone the rest of the convention; and because they do occasionally hear a pitch where they ask to see the submission; authors love it because they can learn a lot in a single workshop, and because they can get access to an editor without having to know somebody to invite them to the parties where the editors are hanging out or work up the nerve to button hole them.)
I’ve done pitch sessions at World Horror, as an editor, and I’ve found it an enjoyable enough experience! It’s not so far off from reading the slushpile, actually, in that there are a proportionate number of mis-pitches (that is, pitches that just don’t fit our guidelines in genre or content or length). I’m less keen on getting pitched while I’m at the dealer’s table though, because there it is my job to sell books. And if I’m listening to a pitch, it is hard to tend to customers without be outright rude. Time and place!
I agree that there can be mis-pitches, not just off topic for my press, but not very good pitches or not very good books. But the educator in me loves being able to explain (okay, let’s be honest– to pontificate) to authors on what can be improved. With slushpile one often doesn’t have the opportunity to give very much feedback, but one can say a lot in a five minute conversation in person.
Totally agree with your time and place comment.
As for the current example, I think writers (and readers) do good pitches all the time if they just recognized they were doing it. They are often terrible pitching their own books, but when they pitch a book they have read by somebody else to a friend they want to read it, they often have no trouble at all. I have pitched American Gods to dozens of people (love that book!) and I usually just say something like “what if the Norse gods immigrated to American? and were trying to set up operations here?” That’s usually enough to get their attention.
This is absolutely true, and I believe there are specific reasons for this. It is much easier to sell someone else’s books than to sell your own. When you go to pitch your own (to an editor, buyer, etc.) you are suddenly in a direct relationship with that person that puts a kind of pressure on both your responses. The other people will typically recognize it is 1) a pitch; and 2) a pitch with self-interest attached. It means their rejection of said pitch now has direct ramifications for the person pitching. It’s a more uncomfortable position. This is why it’s best to travel with a wingman. In casual settings it can be effective to let your wingman do the pitching because it comes off as more sincere but it also leaves the pitchee a way to gracefully get out without offence if it doesn’t work.
Travel with a wingman–great insight. I guess that’s essentially what an agent is, eh–a hired wingman. But if you can’t have a wingman with you when you pitch to an editor, maybe at least ask the wingman what they would say about the book, rather than trying to work it out for oneself. A little emotional distance probably lets them describe the book better than the author can themselves….
Reblogged this on The East Block Irregulars and commented:
This is fabulous advice on the famous “elevator pitch” for your novel from Helen and Laura Marshall. If you don’t know the names, Helen is the Managing Editor of ChiZine Publications while Laura is ChiZine Publications’ Marketing Director. What this means is this blog post, and their blog Movable Type, gives writers the point of view of both the Editor who will be acquiring your manuscript as well as the Marketer who will be trying to sell it.
Thanks, Matt! We appreciate it!
I hope I am not paraphrasing here, but something Robert J. Sawyer has said about summarizing a novel is to use theme and relevance to today. So, using American Gods, one might say “We live in a culture where religion no longer defines our day to day lives. But what if today’s priorities—technology, beauty, consumerism—became deities themselves? And the old gods are not too happy about it.” Not perfect, but it’s 8AM and I need to get to work, but I hope this gets the idea across as another element one might bring into the pitch.
You are definitely on to something there! That is a great teaser for American Gods. Makes me want to go back and re-read it.